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At Mike Tomlin’s end-of-season press conference Tuesday, he told media he wasn’t sure what would happen with his coaching staff, and that he needed some time to sort things out.
Well, in just 48 hours Tomlin has dismissed Todd Haley as his offensive coordinator, and now officially promoted quarterback coach Randy Fichtner to take over where Haley left off.
We have named Randy Fichtner offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach.
— Pittsburgh Steelers (@steelers) January 18, 2018
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While this will be a smooth transition for the offense, considering Fichtner was the team’s wide receiver coach before moving to quarterback coach, Ben Roethlisberger and company will be able to not just pick up where they left off from a terminology standpoint, but also will not have to go through the process of learning from an outsider trying to put their stamp on the offense.
This from Steelers.com regarding Fichtner’s new job:
“I want to thank Coach (Mike) Tomlin and Art Rooney II for giving me this opportunity to be the offensive coordinator for this organization,” said Fichtner. “We have a tremendous roster, and it will be my charge to continue putting our offensive players in position to succeed and score points. We have the nucleus to be successful, and I am thrilled about the chance to lead the offense as we have already started preparing for the 2018 season.”
Fichtner will also continue to be the team’s quarterback coach, along with his duties as offensive coordinator. Fichtner was an original hire for Mike Tomlin in 2007, and before going to the NFL was the offensive coordinator at Memphis from 2001-2006.
Stay tuned to BTSC for the latest on this story, and any other coaching changes for the black-and-gold.