The Pittsburgh Steelers, on Tuesday morning, fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada. For the first time in decades, the Steelers have fired a coach/coordinator midseason, and it was well warranted. Since Canada became the OC, Pittsburgh has never finished above 21st in the NFL in offensive yards gained or points scored. They are currently 28th in both categories.
For the rest of the season, it appears the Steelers will be splitting Canada's duties between Eddie Faulkner and Mike Sullivan.
Now it's time to look ahead. There are many worthy candidates to take over the vacancy next season. Here are five offseason Matt Canada replacements Steelers have to consider.
Matt Canada Replacement #5: Shea Tierney
Shea Tierney is a young (37) coach who already has solid NFL experience. Tierney is currently the quarterbacks coach in New York for Brian Daboll and the Giants. Prior to New York, Tierney was an offensive assistant and quarterbacks coach in Buffalo with Daboll, Ken Dorsey, and Josh Allen.
Tierney landed with Daboll in 2017 on the offensive staff at Alabama. The coach was impressed enough with Tierney to bring him along to different stops in the NFL.
Things obviously aren't looking great for the Giants right now, so let's brush some of that aside because of the injuries and think about what Tierney has been part of in the NFL. He was front row for the Josh Allen reclamation project, and directly involved in Daniel Jones getting paid.
Tierney isn't my favorite name on this list since he's been only with Daboll in his NFL tenure. But something got Daboll's attention and has held it, all these years. If I'm Pittsburgh, I want to find out what it is.
Matt Canada Replacement #4: Joe Bleymaier
Next up is Joe Bleymaier. Bleymaier has spent eight years in Kansas City working for the Chiefs and head coach Andy Reid.
Bleymaier is currently the team's pass game coordinator but has spent time in the organization as a wide receivers coach, offensive analyst, and assistant quarterbacks coach. Getting that many different perspectives under a mind such as Reid gives someone a great breadth of knowledge.
Bleymaier was coaching the Chiefs' wide receivers directly in 2021 and 2022. This is key because in 2022, we saw a wide receiver room declining in talent make plays over and over again en route to the Chiefs winning the Super Bowl.
Despite their "struggles" on offense this year (keep in mind, Bleymaier is no longer directly coaching the receivers) the Chiefs are still eighth in the NFL in yards and sixth in passing DVOA.
You can pick almost any name associated with the Chiefs and Andy Reid and they'd be a good name to consider. But Bleymaier's range of experience is intriguing.
Matt Canada Replacement #3: Zac Robinson
Zach Robinson is currently the quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams. He's been with the Rams since 2019, and in his current role since last year.
Pittsburgh's offense needs an infusion of new ideas and modern NFL offense influence. There's no better way to bring that in than going to the Sean McVay tree.
Robinson has been involved in some varied offenses with McVay and the Rams going back to the early Jared Goff days through the peak-Matt Stafford days. As the quarterbacks coach, he's instrumental in working with the most important position, but as passing game coordinator he is involved in the game planning of the entire offense week-to-week.
Robinson has also spent time with the Rams coaching wide receivers. Giving him experience coaching different position groups - and seeing the likes of Cooper Kupp up close. He is also a former NFL quarterback, talent evaluator for PFF, and trainer for college quarterbacks getting ready for the NFL draft and combine.
These different experiences can give Robinson a wholistic viewpoint to coaching, and make him familiar with many levels of process within an NFL organization.
Matt Canada Replacement #2: Chris O'Hara
Chris O'Hara isn't a household name, but the 33-year-old is the exact type of younger influence the Steelers could use in this role. Despite being just 33, O'Hara has been coaching in the NFL since 2014. He is currently the quarterbacks coach for the Minnesota Vikings, a role he's held since last season.
I came to O'Hara because I wanted to see who was on Kevin O'Connell's staff. O'Connell has proven to be an excellent coach in Minnesota. Not only should Pittsburgh find candidates from good offenses, but also assistants who work for good, smart head coaches.
O'Hara is a native of Pennsylvania and went to Temple University (closer to Philadelphia, but still). He's made NFL stops in Jacksonville, Washington (under Jay Gruden), and...the Rams. So he's been an offensive assistant/quarterbacks coach under Gruden, Sean McVay, and now O'Connell.
Quarterback Kirk Cousins has had arguably his best year (and then some) under O'Connell and O'Hara. Same with Matt Stafford in their one year of overlap in LA.
With O'Hara's youth and experience already to this point, he could be the next Ben Johnson in terms of the next coordinator we don't really know making his mark early.
Matt Canada Replacement #1: Ken Dorsey
Honestly, the list for Pittsburgh should start and end here. Pittsburgh should call Dorsey today and offer whatever it takes to bring him on as a "consultant" for the rest of the season before naming him the official coordinator for next year. Dorsey was of course just let go from Buffalo as their offensive coordinator, but he should definitely get another job in 2024.
Dorsey joined the Bills staff in 2019 as the quarterbacks coach and was instrumental in Josh Allen's development. Dorsey became the Bills offensive coordinator last year after Brian Daboll left for the New York Giants.
Under Dorsey in 2022 the Bills were second in the league in points scored and yards gained on offense and were second in DVOA. So far in 2023, they have been seventh, sixth, and third in those categories.
Let's also not forget the personal aspect. Head coaches Mike Tomlin and Sean McDermott go way back. Tomlin can easily call McDermott and get the lowdown on Dorsey. These sort of things go a long way in the NFL, and Pittsburgh in particular.