Pittsburgh – It’s been a little over a week ago Steelers They were eliminated from the playoffs, however no news has emerged about the future of the team’s coaching staff, including offensive coordinator Matt Canada, from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
It turns out that there was a reason for the delay.
Personnel decisions were delayed, according to two members of the organization who were not authorized to speak publicly, because head coach Mike Tomlin was dealing with a personal matter. One person said that player exit meetings, which are expected to start this week, will be held virtually for those who have left the city since the end of the season.
Historically, Tomlin would have exit meetings with all players not long after the season ended and then make any changes to the staff shortly thereafter. Tomlin hinted during his final press conference last week that he would take his time assessing his team after the Steelers finished with seven wins in their last nine games and narrowly missed out on the playoffs.
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The Steelers’ offense has shown growth, but will that be enough to save Matt Canada’s job?
Canada was at the Steelers’ facility last week and this week, according to another employee of the team. The evaluation of the coaching staff could start sooner rather than later.
#steel Kept silent on Matt Canada’s firing/running back since the season ended. Indeed, deafeningly silent. However, I’m told he was at the facility as recently as TODAY. You can read about this a number of different ways but information is limited at the moment.
– Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 13, 2023
It was rare for Tomlin’s coaching staff to remain the same from year to year. The last time they did so was after the 2016 season. Tomlin kept his original staff for the first three years of his career, but since then he has had 27 assistant coaches who are either fired, retiring, or not having their contracts renewed.
With a small staff and the same coach for 16 seasons, this is a relatively high turnover rate from year to year.
Canada could be the next country to join that list.
The abused coordinator is still under contract for another season, and the Steelers usually refuse to fire coaches. Speaking last week, Tomlin credited Canada for making improvements but failed to welcome him back.
“I thought he got better, just like our team did,” Tomlin said. “I’m not going to talk about him or anyone standing here today. … I’m just not there. We’ve got some work to do, but I pretty much thought it was an improvement in the ways we’ve improved, so it was encouraging.”
Canada’s assessment is difficult for Tomlin.
Fight offense with the rookie quarterback Kenny Beckett In the first half of the season, but looked better in the second half. There is always a fear that Pickett will be brought back through a change of regulations, or if Canada comes back and the offense remains as conservative as it did last year.
Steelers 2022 scores: Kenny Pickett, the entire offense should be judged on a curve
via @tweet https://t.co/CLTngaOmGi
– Mark Kaboly (@MarkKaboly) January 12, 2023
In 13 of their 17 games, the Steelers gained over 300 yards, but they scored at least 30 points only once and at least 20 points only eight times. In 34 games under Canada, the Steelers scored 30 or more points only twice.
It is not known when Tomlin will start evaluating his coaching staff, but there is plenty of time.
Five head coaching positions and six offensive coordinator positions on teams that don’t need new coaches remain open across the league, potentially limiting candidates to choose from if Tomlin decides to replace Canada. According to reports, Cliff Kingsbury is not interested in coaching this year, and Jim Caldwell is just looking for coaching opportunities.
Names like Frank Reich, Nathaniel Hackett, Joe Brady, Mark Whipple, Brian Johnson and Byron Leftwich (if fired at Tampa Bay) were thrown in there for the Steelers. The internal candidates to replace Canada should the organization decide to make a move include bringing back coach Eddie Faulkner and quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan.
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