Steelers Changes Already Begin; Randy Fichtner OUT As Offensive Coordinator
A day after Mike Tomlin's end of season press conference where he proclaimed he would not "maintain status quo", the Steelers announced Offensive Coordinator Randy Fichtner will not be back along with o-line coach Shaun Sarrett and DB coach Tom Bradley.
Thank God.
Now will come all the hot takes on Twitter about how "oh yeah well what about the head coach? What about the quarterback?"
But anybody with a brain who watched this team more than twice this season, or hell even last season for that matter, know this was a necessary change. The offense became too stagnant. Too predictable. And yes, Big Ben's play had something to do with that, but too many times were defenses making adjustments and preparing for what was coming without the counter happening from your OC.
Lack of creativity. Lack of production down the stretch once teams figured you out. That'll get you out as a coordinator.
A lot of speculation is already happening about whether the Steelers will elevate Matt Canada to offensive coordinator now, but I'd really like to see a fresh perspective from the outside come in and mix things up. Yes, that probably means even more of a chance that Big Ben would retire. Not many 39 year old quarterbacks who want to learn a whole new system.
But like I wrote on Monday of this week, that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. New outside OC. Build up the O-line again. Figure out a new plan at quarterback whether it be a trade or the next two drafts and let's roll into a new era.
