It’s most logical to assume an offensive coordinator fixates only on his side of the ball. Scoring as many points as possible, no matter if it’s expected to be a cakewalk win or tit-for-tat shootout. But context is everything and when Todd Haley served as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator, the type of game the Steelers were expected to be in devised his game plan.
Joining 93.7 The Fan Wednesday afternoon, NFL reporter Aditi Kinkhabwala shared a story of how Haley would confer with Mike Tomlin to see how many points the Steelers needed to score. Based on his answer, Haley would adjust his game plan.
“Todd Haley told me once that every Friday he used to say to Mike Tomlin, ‘how many points do we need?'” she told The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi and Chris Mueller. “And based on that, he would sort of figure out a plan of, ‘where should we sort of be? Run or pass?’ And if you remember the best Todd Haley years, they could throw the crap out of the ball down JuJu Smith-Schuster, that whole slew of group. They could also run the ball really well behind Le’Veon Bell.”
Essentially, if Tomlin figured the Steelers’ defense could keep the points down, Haley would lean into the Steelers’ running game. Control the clock and the line of scrimmage even if it meant a more conservative game plan that might only score 20 points instead of 30. If the opposition figured to move the ball at will, Haley would open up the passing game to fight fire with fire. Having enough talent to do either gave Pittsburgh flexibility.
In the early portions of the game, Haley would get advice from QBs Coach Randy Fichtner, letting him know if the play calls were syncing with the plan.
“He used to have Randy Fichtner in the box, kind of keep him on track at the end of the first quarter. Where are we run and pass? Where are we run and pass in the second quarter? Just to kind of get a sense.”
Kinkhabwala made clear that number didn’t become a mandate. As game circumstance unfolded, Haley would adjust with whatever was working or needed. Even if the Steelers came into the contest with a plan to pass, if the run game was successful and the offense built up a lead, Bell would close things out. The opposite applied, willing to go pass-heavy if required.
It’s an interesting window into how coaches thing. While it might feel like their jobs should be done in a vacuum, be the best offense or defense you can be, context matters. Understanding the opponent and the type of game you’re getting into is vital information to build out a game plan.
While Haley had his faults and while this strategy could be debated, the results largely shined through. Stacked with talent, the Steelers’ best offenses of the last 15 years came from Haley’s time as coordinator, a top-ten scoring unit from 2014-2017. And Pittsburgh won more often than not, making it a strategy with a track record. Until the playoffs, that is.
