Rarely ones to change, change may be what’s needed for the Steelers
It’s no secret that the contract of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley has expired. Whether it will be renewed or not is up for speculation, following what has been a reportedly tumultuous time with the team since joining the Steelers back in 2012. I had mentioned on yesterday‘s Steel City Underground podcast about “paths”. Just because you are on a path, doesn’t mean you’re on the right one. Sometimes you have to get off of the path to see if the next one takes you further.
Ironically, here we are talking about coaching changes amidst a bad playoff loss coming off of a regular season with that showed great promise. I say “ironically” because as noted above, Todd Haley joined the Steelers the very offseason in which a 12-4 Pittsburgh team suffered a disappointing loss to an underdog team with a “subpar” quarterback.
That would be the infamous 29-23 overtime loss to a Denver Broncos team led by Tim Tebow, exiting the playoffs that season in their very first game, a year removed from playing in the Super Bowl.
The Steelers aren’t known for dumping coaches or making kneejerk reactions, as evidenced by having only three head coaches since the 1970’s. However, following the loss, the team parted ways with offensive coordinator Bruce Arians, making the way for the Haley hire. Similarly, an early playoff exit in the 2014 season prompted the team to “not renew” long-time defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. The move was criticized but understandable, as the defense had fallen on hard times following the loss of several key veterans on that side of the ball. Linebackers coach Keith Butler was promoted to take LeBeau’s spot.
Now, the Steelers are at an impasse once again.
An early exit from the postseason may have the Steelers front office thinking change once again. Much like Arians and LeBeau before him, Todd Haley’s contract has yet to be renewed. He was signed through the 2017 season and there has been no word about a potential return.
All indications are, he could be the scapegoat for the Steelers 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Haley has always been on a figurative hot seat ever since arriving in Pittsburgh. Some of that has been influenced by fans, other is media speculation of Haley’s on and off again relationship with the team’s franchise quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger. Big Ben has been sacked the least of his career and put up ungodly numbers since Haley’s arrival, yet the accusation is that things could be better. With world-class talents such as Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers may have had their most talented offense ever this season. The sentiment is that this team has underachieved and with an unhappy Ben hinting at retirement last season, the team didn’t jump at a chance to renew Haley.
Other hints that Haley is all but gone for good is the quick response Big Ben had to returning for next season, indicating that he came to such a fast conclusion because he’s aware that the current offensive coordinator won’t be back. Some are speculating that quarterback coach Randy Fichtner is set to take over. The rumor carries some weight, as Fichtner moved from the press box down to the sideline following the team’s bye week. The team described the change as “communication issues” between the quarterback, which took the Haley/Ben drama to a new level. Lip readers were all over the OC that week as well, noticing that Haley may have told Ben to “shut the ‘F’ up” during a sideline spat.
Could that have been some stress carried over from Fichtner’s impending promotion? Possibly. Haley denied he was talking to Roethlisberger (and instead Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith) with the quarterback also denying any wrongdoing. However, with some of the calls made in yesterday’s loss, along with comments made not only by the quarterback but also other players such as David DeCastro, there appears to be smoke. And where there’s smoke there’s fire.
If the players were in fear of any retaliation or destroying locker room chemistry, I personally doubt they would be so open as to throw a fellow coach under the bus. Yet, that doesn’t appear to be the case here. The team looks prepared to move on from Todd Haley, regardless of whom his successor is.
Change can be good. Sometimes it can be bad. But one thing is for certain: the Steelers are looking to do something different and not waste their franchise quarterback’s last few seasons on dueling egos. They’re going to make the best of Ben’s last few seasons and attempt to get back to winning a championship.
Whether or not that path is the proper one is unknown. But at least the team will know they’re veering off of the current course without making a major overhaul, which also maintains at least a portion of their traidtional coaching consistency.
