Report: Steelers plan to retain offensive coordinator Matt Canada

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A report on Tuesday indicated that the Steelers put any decisions about changes to their coaching staff on hold while head coach Mike Tomlin handled a personal matter, but that things were expected to move forward this week.

One of the decisions that many people have been waiting to hear is whether they will be holding onto offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports that there are no plans for the team to part ways with Canada.

There were points during the 2022 season when that would have seemed like a great surprise, but the Steelers won their final four games of the season and saw clear progress from rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett during that stretch.

Holding onto Canada would be a vote for continuity helping to boost that progress next season because scoring 18 points a game again won’t make anyone feel good about sticking with the status quo in Pittsburgh.

41 responses to “Report: Steelers plan to retain offensive coordinator Matt Canada

  1. I wish I could be a horrible failure at my job in front of millions of people and retain my job.

  2. You look as good as your QB is playing and Pickett was on fire 2nd half of the season. No reason to rock the boat.

  3. Sigh…. Name the last team that went deep in the playoffs that barely score more than 20 points per game. Huge mistake.

  4. Steelers were fifth in the league in time of possession and this was demonstrated by a late season drive that was 20 plays long and over 10 minutes…almost a whole quarter. So keeping the high scoring offenses off the field may have been a strategy. I know this big time silver linings playbook here.

    They did finish 7-2 and everything seemed to be jelling with the very young offensive…Pickett, Pickens, Najee, the offensive line and Friermuth.

    Rather have the Steelers going into the next season versus what they did in 2020 when they were 11-0 and then lost 5 out of the next 6 including the home playoff loss to head coach-less Cleveland when it was 28-0 in the first quarter.

  5. I’m getting a little sick of “the standard is the standard” and keeping people around because that’s just what the organization as a whole does.

    Sometimes to bake a cake you have to crack a couple heads. My 8 year old could read his play calling.

  6. Obviously, the offense coordinated by Canada was not necessarily going to scare anybody this past season but there is something to be said for continuity when developing a young quarterback. As Pickett settled in, the team began performing better and there’s no reason to think that it won’t continue to do so in 2023. However, if the Steelers offense looks like it did the first part of 2022 the next time around, Pittsburgh’s map forward will not include Canada.

  7. I think this is a joke. Canada rarely schemes receivers open….always contested catches. This is tough on a young qb.

  8. Yay. I hope Canada has at least learned how many yards it takes to get a First Down by next season.

  9. I’m sure bengals, browns, and ravens fans approve.

    Ya, those guys are real geniuses….right? Lol

  10. Anyone pointing to the steelers late season success is blind…. The steelers lost 2 of 9 games, sounds good but they played 6 teams with losing records and won a nail biter against the ravens with a backup QB by a FG. At a glance it looks nice but in reality, they were barely winning games against teams they should be beating.

  11. Look at Tomlin’s coaching tree! This is what you would expect. This is a decision you make when you don’t have to worry about being fired. Tomlin & the weak grandson Rooney continue to lower the standard. Which apparently now is mediocrity.

  12. Let’s not forget…during the entire ‘21 season Ben Roethlisberger just about changed every play Canada shot in at the line of scrimmage.

  13. PERFECT example of why Tomlin should be fired. Stays with the same trash for way too long even when everyone knows it’s wrong. Everybody applauds him for his mediocre seasons because the wins are more than the losses. Why don’t we count payoff wins? It’s been a looooong time since they had one of those. Steelers will never get it.

  14. Super Bowl 9: Steelers 16 Vikings 6. Super Bowl 10: Steelers 21 Cowboys 17. Hast thou forgotten whom thoust are? Or from whenst thou came? Defence wins championships. The Steelers held their opponent under 20 points in 4 of their 6 championships. We doan need no stinkin’ offensive Co-ordinator! We need Joe Greene, Jack Lambert, Mel Blount. We need defence and a grinding, clock consuming offense.

  15. As a fan of another AFC North team whose offensive coordinator suffered verbal decapitation on a weekly basis this past year, I understand and feel for the Steelers faithful. The only difference is that tomorrows press conference with John Harbaugh and Eric DeCosta will hopefully include the information that Greg Roman is no longer with us. If not, the comments section on that news on this web site will be red hot.

  16. fsstnotch says:
    January 18, 2023 at 2:11 pm
    Anyone pointing to the steelers late season success is blind…. The steelers lost 2 of 9 games, sounds good but they played 6 teams with losing records and won a nail biter against the ravens with a backup QB by a FG. At a glance it looks nice but in reality, they were barely winning games against teams they should be beating.

    You could just as easily make the opposite argument. At the beginning of the season they played 5 playoff teams and 2 that were in playoff contention until the final week. It all evens out over the course of the season for everyone. They were about a .500 team and that’s where it ended up.

  17. We need defence and a grinding, clock consuming offense.

    It’s defense. Go back to Canada you hoser

  18. 7-2 at the end, Look at the records of the teams the Steelers beat down the stretch , smoke and mirrors is all it is, Pickett will be an average QB but a .500 record each year isn’t shameful.

  19. Steeler fans R E L A X. All they have to do next year is target George Pickens 37 times per game. He will catch 29 for 18 touchdowns every game and Canada will then get a country named after him.

  20. Guarantee Harbaugh will keep Roman. So Ravens fans feel the same pain as Steeler fans.

  21. WHAT?!!?!? I’m hoping this report is wrong.
    Everyone keeps talking about this vast improvement in the second half of the season. Sure, look at the opponents the Steelers played. I sure hope we improved and won those games. But we would have been 12-5 had we scored 21 pts in each of our games.
    Too many games against good and bad teams where we go 2 or 3 quarters without scoring a TD. Needs to change. Matt Canada’s play calling and scheme is terrible. So change the plays or change the OC. You have 2 years of crap to back his resume up.

  22. Chunk Life says:
    January 18, 2023 at 2:41 pm
    You could just as easily make the opposite argument. At the beginning of the season they played 5 playoff teams and 2 that were in playoff contention until the final week. It all evens out over the course of the season for everyone. They were about a .500 team and that’s where it ended up.

    Exactly, they were a mediocre team and keeping mediocre coaches will surely keep them there.

  23. Tomlin always has a scapegoat handy and Canada is perfect for that roll. He genuinely stinks as a play caller, but who do you think called for an ultra ultra conservative scheme?

  24. Exactly, they were a mediocre team and keeping mediocre coaches will surely keep them there.

    I don’t have enough crayons to explain just how wrong you are, but ponder for a second, sorry about the crayons here, what their record would have been had TJ Watt been healthy….?

  25. oh boy. what do you think, diontae? maybe you can squeeze in a td next year? meh.

  26. Two things: Canada had 1 yr left on contract & Steelers hate paying guys to not work for them. Second, Tomlin is ultra conservative & has totally dumbed down the playbook. That’s why they had 2 plays of 40+ yds all season. They utilize a 1950’s playbook that will ultimately result in 9-8 again next yr. Mediocre Mike strikes again.

  27. Get Diontae Johnson and George Pickens to learn where the sidelines are and the scoring average will go up.
    I see the same plays the Steelers run being run by other teams with success. Maybe, just maybe, the ability of the players to execute properly improved and that led to the second half turn around.

  28. Everyone knows Canada is in over his head. Even commentators were calling it a Saturday offense late in the season and that to me was a compliment, more like Friday night offense.

  29. So two playoff teams fire their OC but we are choosing to stick with ours despite our terrible offensive production and not making the playoffs. Goes to show how badly the steelers DON’T want it. So irritating when we have some great defensive players that will go to waste

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