The Pittsburgh Steelers have toiled around the bottom of the NFL in total offense since Matt Canada took over as offensive coordinator in 2021. There has been a widespread fan movement to get him fired, from burner account investigations to boisterous anti-Canada chants in Acrisure Stadium.
Canada is the only O.C. since 2021 to not muster at least one game of 400 total yards. Personnel can be blamed to a certain extent — Kenny Pickett is rough around the edges and the Steelers' collection of playmakers leaves much to be desired — but it's a coach's job to put his weapons in the best position to succeed. It's hard to watch the Steelers and not get a sense that Canada's group is not being maximized.
Unfortunately for the Pittsburgh faithful, Mike Tomlin is notoriously loyal to his coordinators and he has the clout to force the franchise's hand on such matters. The Steelers' miraculous come-from-behind victory over the Baltimore Ravens last Sunday probably bought Canada some time too, even if a 17-point outing that hinged on a last-second bomb from Pickett to George Pickens can hardly be categorized as impressive.
One has to imagine the Steelers will move on from Canada eventually. A quality defense can only get you so far in today's NFL and there's no reason to believe the offense will right the ship without inference from the hand of God.
That said, Steelers insider Gerry Dulac has a replacement pick in mind. It is, uh, not ideal.
Steelers insider pitches Jon Gruden as Matt Canada replacement at offensive coordinator
Jon Gruden, who resigned from the Las Vegas Raiders' head coaching gig in 2021 after misogynistic and homophobic emails were obtained by the New York Times, was 22-31 in his most recent 3.5-year stint as NFL head coach. Famed for his understanding of QBs (Canada also comes from the QB coaching tree), Gruden could never get the Raiders' offense humming with Derek Carr under center. It's hard to imagine him unlocking Kenny Pickett.
If it weren't for the $100 million he was owed, there's a chance Gruden would have been fired before he was forced to leave. His performance in Oakland-turned-Vegas was universally maligned. He's an example of someone coasting on reputation and past accomplishments, not current ability.
Gruden won a Super Bowl in 2003 with the Bucs. He spent a decade between coaching stints as the face of football coverage at ESPN, breaking down draft prospects and providing game analysis. He was a huge name when the Raiders hired him, but there's also a reason Gruden went a decade without coaching. And, frankly, after the stories brought forward in 2021, he probably shouldn't get another NFL opportunity.
The Steelers would be replacing one mediocre coach without another, more problematic mediocre coach in the instance of a Canada-Gruden swap. Tomlin deserves some creative freedom when building out his coaching staff, but it's time to get rid of Canada and definitely not time to bring the beleaguered Gruden into the mix. Pittsburgh should avoid this outcome at all costs.