With rumors heavy leaning toward Matt Canada getting promoted as the Steelers next offensive coordinator, I decided to take a hard look at the rest of the Steelers offensive coaching staff and try to figure out who they will hire to fill their coaching vacancies. At the end of the day these positions will be filled by the discretion of head coach Mike Tomlin, but I would anticipate that Canada will have some say in the matter.
Kicking things off, let’s quickly look at the offensive coaches the Steelers have retained. Only two positional coaches remain from the 2020 season, those being Eddie Faulkner who will reprise his role working with the running backs, and Ike Hilliard will once again lead the receiving group. Outside of that the Steelers have two offensive assistant coaches on the roster in Adrian Klemm, who was the understudy of former offensive line coach Shaun Sarrett, and Blaine Stewart who helps out coach Hilliard.
This leaves job openings at offensive line, tight ends, and quarterbacks which I think should be a separate person than Matt Canada. Assistant positional coaches are impossible to predict as they really could be anybody with college/pro experience. But I will put on my guessing cap to deduce who will lead the remaining positional groups.
Tight Ends Coach:
Dave Bucar
Coach Bucar worked under Matt Canada during Canada’s time as the university of Marylands head coach. Bucar worked as the Terrapins tight end coach but has since moved on to become the assistant head coach, offensive line coach, and run game coordinator for FCS’ Valparaiso Crusaders. Matt Canada himself was quoted as saying Coach Bucar is “one of the great young minds in the game of football today. He is a tremendous teacher and has a work ethic that is unmatched.”
Offensive Line Coach:
Doug Marrone
The former head man in Jacksonville has found himself out of work. While he failed as a head coach, Marrone did lead the Jaguars to their best season since 2007 when he led the Jags to a 10-6 and an appearance in the AFC title game. Marrone got his start in coaching as an offensive line coach before working his way up the ranks until he earned the top position in the game.
Marrone does have a link, albeit small, with the Steelers having spent the 1991 training camp as a guest coach under Chuck Noll. The Steelers coaching staff should see its average age dropping this offseason I think the Steelers need someone like Marrone who Canada could lean on for guidance while he rebuilds the struggling offensive line. This hire would be a no brainer to me.
Quaterbacks Coach:
Tim Kelly
This was by far the hardest coach to predict. The Steelers love going with guys with some sort of ties to the organization like Pittsburgh area native, Ben McAdoo. Or maybe someone with more experience like Jay Gruden. But I really think the Steelers need to follow the trend of employing a younger coaching staff.
Kelly is just 34 years old and by all accounts is a bright young mind of the NFL. Thankfully for the Steelers, Kelly was apart of a dumpster fire Texans organization that will likely keep him from getting an offensive coordinator job for at least another year. Kelly has done a fabulous job of developing Deshaun Watson into one of the top quarterbacks in the league, and his tutelage could really help guys like Mason Rudolph and whoever the Steelers choose to one day replace Ben Roethlisberger. This would be a major win if the Steelers could land this guy.
What do you think? Do you agree with my choices for the Steelers next offensive positional coaches? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.