Not too far in the past, I recall a time when Steelers fans were fickle over their new offensive coordinator; with calls to “Fire Todd Haley” between nearly every other social media post I read the morning after a game (particularly those which the Steelers had lost.)

The iconic phrase soon followed the social media trend of being turned into a hashtag: #FireHaley. The tag would trend on Twitter, sometimes for days following a game.

I could sympathize with Steelers fans. They were upset for several reasons, some of which had nothing to do with Haley’s coaching, and other criticism which was, at times, appropriately deserved.

When the team lost a player due to injury, or an individual dropped a pass, those were not times to criticize Todd Haley.

If the team ran an ill-advised draw play, that could draw the ire of fans, despite a specific reason for doing so; 3rd and long, with trying to gain kicking position for a punt or field goal attempt is one of them, while losing 4 yards on a 3rd and 1, trying to “outsmart” the other team… not a good idea.

Truthfully, a lot of the venom spewed at Coach Haley had more to do with the “retirement” of the previous OC, Bruce Arians, an architect of 2 Super Bowl appearances, and a coach who had a public rapport with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The unceremonious release of Arians ushered in the hiring of Haley, who was fresh off of his own mid-season firing from his head coaching position with the Kansas City Chiefs.

The initial reaction was confusion from fans, who saw Haley’s overall work in Kansas City as a failure. With Haley’s firing, KC gave their defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel, a failed head coach with Pittsburgh’s division rival the Cleveland Browns, a shot at running the team.

That’s how low the Chiefs had fallen, or so it appeared, with Haley at the helm.

It would appear, at least to the Steelers faithful, that Haley’s only success was running the Arizona Cardinals offense, which he did under another former Pittsburgh offensive coordinator, Ken Whisenhunt. Considering Wiz’s success in Pittsburgh, and his offensive acumen, this further short-changed Haley’s credibility to Steelers fans.

However, beneath the surface lied other issues for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Ben Roethlisberger, the team’s franchise quarterback, was getting sacked like a pinata at a kid’s birthday party. Near the end of his tenure, the offense often failed to score touchdowns, if any points at all, with Arians’ brand of offense. Pittsburgh leaned heavily on it’s top-ranked defense, which by Haley’s arrival in 2012, had become long-in-the-tooth with aging superstars, crushing injuries, and departures via retirement and free agency.

With the team struggling on both sides of the ball, Todd Haley soon became the whipping boy of every Steelers loss… and there were plenty of them in Haley’s first two seasons, 2012 and 2013.

While Haley could do no right, his predecessor, Bruce Arians, could do no wrong. After leaving Pittsburgh, Arians accepted the OC position with the Indianapolis Colts; a job which soon turned into an interim head coaching position when the team’s newly hired head coach, Chuck Pagano, had to leave the team for leukemia treatment.

In Pagano’s absence, Arians would step into a role where he lead the Colts from week 5 through the end of the regular season, posting a 9-3 record as head coach. Arians’ work was lauded for taking a 2-14 franchise, who had released QB Peyton Manning in the offseason, to an 11-5 turnaround and a playoff berth. Arians would go on to be named AP’s Head Coach of the Year for 2012, further fanning the flames of the “Haley haters.”

Those flames would intensify when Arians left the Colts after one season, taking the lead job with the Arizona Cardinals.

In his first season in the desert, Arians would transform a 5-11 Cardinals squad into a playoff contender, narrowly missing the second season with a 10-6 record. The following 2014 season, Arians would lead the Cardinals to an 11-5 record on way to being named as AP Head Coach of the Year for the second time in three seasons.

During the same time span, the Steelers would post dual 8-8 records, missing out on the postseason twice due to a myriad of injuries to star players such as Maurkice Pouncey, Ben Roethlisberger and previous defensive team captain, Larry Foote (who was actually replaced by a street free agent.) The Steelers also had a terrible draft class in 2012, one in which David DeCastro is the only remaining pick from that year (and he too missed most of his rookie year due to injury.)

While the team had failed to live up to expectations, some due to valid reasons, Todd Haley was still the scapegoat in many’s eyes.

Other distractions also became the norm. Wide receiver Mike Wallace, a 3rd round pick in 2009, had turned the page from rising star to prima donna, becoming a media distraction by sitting out offseason workouts, in hopes of landing a big money deal with the Steelers.

Haley’s offensive system was under scrutiny, with reports that he and Roethlisberger were at odds: obvious to observers, Haley was attempting to turn the scrambling prone, play-extending Big Ben into a rhythm pocket passer, which reported the QB didn’t like. The gossip became so strong that NFL insiders began citing that Ben was seeking a trade.

The Steelers looked like a mess, on and off of the field. Fans started to fear the team was ready to take a slide, headed into “rebuilding mode.” Worse, many believed they were doing so because the team chose Haley over Arians. The Steelers missed the playoffs for 2 straight seasons in ’12 and ’13. 2014 saw the team off to a slow start with a 3-3 record, trading wins for losses every other week (while the Arians’ led Cardinals started off 4-1.) The Steelers appeared to be going nowhere fast, having barely beat the Jaguars a week before an ugly loss to the lowly Cleveland Browns, 31-10.

The Haley offensive machine was sputtering, and Steelers Nation wanted him gone.

For good.

Then week 7 arrived, as Pittsburgh rebounded against the Houston Texans with a late second quarter scoring flurry, on their way to a 30-23 win. Yet fans were quick to point out the scoring was a product of incredible field position, handed to them by the team’s defense. There was still skepticism, as a hot Colts team came to town the following week.

However, the turnaround continued with Roethlisberger having a career day, throwing for 522 yards and 6 touchdown passes against Indy, then smoking the Baltimore Ravens in similar fashion, with another 6 touchdown performance; placing his two-week numbers as one of the best in NFL history.

Those 3 wins didn’t stop the Haley chants, which would crank back up when the Steelers lost on the road to a struggling New York Jets the following week. At this point, Pittsburgh was on the outside looking in on the playoff picture, with a 6-4 record. Meanwhile, the Haley doubters lamented Arians’ Cardinals, who continued rolling to an 8-1 mark, atop of their division and conference.

It wasn’t clear if the Steelers would jump into playoffs, or regress back to the 8-8 records of the previous two seasons. The 2014 Steelers would end up winning 5 of their last 7 games, ending the year by beating the Bengals at home in the final regular season game, en route to winning the AFC North division title.

Super Bowl talk was quickly silenced when, a week after beating one division rival at home, the Steelers would succumb to another at Heinz Field, losing their playoff contest against the Ravens, in an ugly game where Le’Veon Bell was missing in action, and Ben would be knocked out for a few plays.

While the Haley chants had lessened to a whisper prior, they had resurfaced following Pittsburgh’s exit from the postseason… and another Arians’ Head Coaching title.

Yet, Haley had assembled a trio of Ben, Bell and Antonio Brown, who would all post franchise numbers during the 2014 season for passing, all-purpose yards and receiving. Despite the stats, everyone wondered if the season could be a one-year-wonder for Haley.

The skeptics were still skeptical, and some fans are still uber-critical of the coordinator, pointing out any shortcomings, such as Haley’s lack of experience as a football player. While this may seem like a valid criticism, it’s not: a quarter of less of the NFL’s head coaches have played at the highest level in recent years, including the Steelers own head coach, Mike Tomlin. Add to the list legendary coaches such as Vince Lombardi, Paul Brown and Bill Walsh, who never played in the NFL.

Pointing out Haley’s lack of playing experience is a moot point in the face of his accomplishments, especially as of late.

Ben Roethlisberger had the highest Pro Football Focus passing grade among quarterbacks in 2015 (91.5) while also being the least-pressured at his position.

Also according to PFF, before his injury, Le’Veon Bell was the highest ranked running back in 2015.

Antonio Brown has also posted 3 straight seasons with at least 110 catches, 1,400 yards and 8 touchdowns.

All of this is under Todd Haley’s tutelage, who orchestrated offenses who were 7th and 4th in points, and, 2nd and 3rd in yards, over the last two seasons.

Furthermore, Ben Roethlisberger has been dropped back the least, been sacked the least, thrown the most percentage of touchdowns and yards per average, and the least number of interceptions, all under Todd Haley.

Not Ken Whisenhunt.

Not Bruce Arians.

Unfortunately this won’t stop the Todd Haley drama anytime the players do not execute, or the Steelers fail to win. For some, the numbers will be tossed aside. Coaching the “next man up” is thrown away. All because Coach Haley has yet to take the Steelers to the promised land: the Super Bowl.

For that reason, #FireHaley will continue trending until Pittsburgh adds a seventh Lombardi to their trophy case.