Art Rooney II

Latest On Steelers’ OC Situation

November 24th, 2023 at 12:20pm CST by Sam Robinson

After Matt Canada spent Monday preparing for the Steelers’ Week 12 game against the Bengals, Mike Tomlin informed him Tuesday morning he would not finish out his third season as offensive coordinator. This marked historically rare territory for the Steelers, who had not fired a head coach or coordinator in-season in 82 years.

Steelers players had voiced frustrations about the offense for weeks behind the scenes, according to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini, and Najee Harris‘ public comments came days before Canada’s ouster (subscription required). While the team was united on keeping Canada during September and October, the run of poor performances on offense eventually led to the course change.

Regarding whose call this truly was, conflicting reports have come out. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac indicated Art Rooney II made this decision, while Mike Tomlin said Tuesday he was behind the call. The 17th-year coach taking responsibility is certainly on-brand, though The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly expresses doubt Tomlin truly decided to break with tradition and fire Canada. That said, Russini offers that it was indeed the veteran HC’s decision — after multiple discussions with Rooney — that produced the shakeup.

Calls for Canada’s firing came down last year and intensified this season. Tomlin gave Canada a third year, doing so after Kenny Pickett showed some promise late last season. The 2022 first-round pick has struggled this year and will enter Week 12 with just seven touchdown passes. The Steelers have been outgained in all 10 of their games, and they have not produced a 400-yard offensive game since Week 2 of the 2020 season.

Pickett’s close relationship with QBs coach and new play-caller Mike Sullivan did not affect this decision, Tomlin said. Sullivan worked as mostly a non-play-calling OC during his two-season Giants tenure. Though, he finished the 2017 campaign calling the shots for the Eli Manning-piloted offense, with Ben McAdoo being fired late in that season. Sullivan called plays for the Buccaneers from 2012-13. As the wheels began to come off for Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay ranked 13th and 30th offensively during Sullivan’s two seasons; the second came as the team transitioned to rookie Mike Glennon at QB.

The Steelers promoted their QBs coach to OC in 2021 (Canada) and 2018 (Randy Fichtner). Todd Haley was the team’s last outside hire for the position. Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner is the interim OC, though his lack of play-calling responsibilities do not point to long-term consideration here. Sullivan would seem the likelier candidate for the gig, based on his role and the team’s history. If the Steelers opt to go outside the organization, Kaboly adds Byron Leftwich has expressed interest in the job. The former Bucs OC made his interest known before Canada’s firing.

Leftwich would technically be an outside hire, but he has a past with the Steelers. He served as a Ben Roethlisberger reserve in 2008 and from 2010-12, joining longtime backup Charlie Batch in a deep QB room. Leftwich made one start for the Steelers, in 2012. The former QB spent four seasons as Tampa Bay’s OC. Despite Bruce Arians being an offense-oriented HC, he gave Leftwich the play-calling reins. This setup helped the Bucs win a Super Bowl in Tom Brady‘s first season and the ageless legend led the NFL in TD passes (43) and yards (5,316) in 2021. Brady and Todd Bowles expressed dissatisfaction with Leftwich last season, however, and the Bucs canned him in January.

Leftwich, 43, interviewed for the Ravens’ OC job this offseason but is not currently coaching. Although Rooney may or may not have insisted Tomlin fire Canada, Dulac adds the longtime HC will be the one who selects the next OC. Though, ownership will obviously need to approve Tomlin’s pick.

Steelers Fire OC Matt Canada

November 21st, 2023 at 10:08pm CST by Sam Robinson

Matt Canada will not be given an opportunity to close out a third season as Steelers offensive coordinator. While Canada had long been expected to be fired after this season, Mike Tomlin instead informed the third-year OC of an in-season dismissal Tuesday morning.

The Steelers will pivot to a co-OC setup of sorts to replace Canada, 51. Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner will take over in the coordinator role, according to NFL.com’s Tom Pelissero, who adds quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan will move into the play-calling role. Tomlin is not believed to have made the final call here, with the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac reporting owner Art Rooney II insisted this move be made. That being the case would add intrigue to a Steelers offensive situation that has been one of the NFL’s worst for years, though Tomlin (via The Athletic’s Mark Kaboly) has since said he made the call.

Sullivan has been an OC with the Giants and Buccaneers previously; he has been with the Steelers since 2021, Canada’s first OC season. Faulkner has been in place as Pittsburgh’s RBs coach since 2019. Faulkner, 46, will play a lead role in game planning, per NFL.com’s Mike Garafolo. But Sullivan, 56, will be the assistant given headset responsibilities.

The Steelers are 6-4, but their offense has struggled throughout Canada’s third season. Pittsburgh holds a minus-29 point differential, being in the historically strange position of holding an over-.500 record after having been outgained in each of its 10 games this season. Canada’s struggles predate this year as well. The Steelers have not produced a 400-yard offensive game since the 2020 season, Randy Fichtner‘s last as OC.

The team’s 249-yard outing in Cleveland represented its 58th straight game coming in below 400 yards. The Steelers’ most recent such outing came in Week 2 of the 2020 season. Kenny Pickett, who completed 15 passes for just 106 yards against the Browns’ menacing pass defense in Week 11, has not taken a step forward in his second season. The 2022 first-rounder’s status is secure for the time being, but the Pitt product may soon be on the clock as well.

Prior to the Browns matchup, Canada had been expected to be given a chance to foster Pickett improvement to close out the season. Tomlin kept Canada on as OC — to the chagrin of many — after Pickett put together a promising stretch to close out a statistically unimpressive rookie season. Instead, this will be the first Steelers OC in-season coordinator removal since Bill Cowher relieved Ray Sherman of play-calling duties during the 1998 slate. That was not technically a firing, since Sherman finished out the season in a lesser role. This will mark rare territory for the old-school franchise. But the Steelers have been a defense-dependent outfit for years, transitioning from the “Killer B’s” era to a period of low-octane offense that has encompassed most of the 2020s.

Tomlin initially hired Canada as quarterbacks coach in 2020, but the longtime HC did not renew Fichtner’s contract for the 2021 season, promoting the ex-Maryland leader ahead of Ben Roethlisberger‘s final season. This marked Canada’s first NFL coaching gig. Prior to joining the NFL ranks, Canada had been an OC at seven schools (Indiana, Northern Illinois, Wisconsin, NC State, Pitt, LSU, Maryland) from 2007-18. Finishing his Maryland tenure as interim HC amid a scandal involving former HC D.J. Durkin, Canada surfaced with the Steelers despite not coaching during the 2019 season.

While it could certainly be fair to say Canada did not have an above-average quarterback during his tenure, Tomlin will aim to see if someone else can coax better Pickett play. Roethlisberger was a shell of his Hall of Fame version by the time Canada took over, and Mitch Trubisky did not inspire confidence to start last season. Pickett, however, has flatlined during this year’s opening stretch. Pickett ranks 28th in QBR and has managed only six touchdown passes in 10 games. He finished his rookie season with seven in 13 contests. The in-state product’s yards per attempt (6.1) and completion percentage (60.5) figures are down from 2022 as well.

As a team, the Steelers rank 29th with 14 touchdowns this season. They only put up 30 points twice during Canada’s OC tenure, and this edition ranks 31st with 170 passing yards per game. Although the team missed Diontae Johnson and Pat Freiermuth for extended spans this season, Pickett’s slow development predated those injuries. The Steelers have also enjoyed quality health along their offensive line throughout Pickett’s tenure.

This still figures to be an uphill battle for Faulkner and Sullivan, with the 2024 offseason likely to serve as a pivotal Pickett point. But the team will attempt to salvage what could still be a playoff season. Tomlin famously has never had a losing season, and the historically high-floor operation will reassemble pieces to keep that streak going.

Sullivan’s OC opportunities came from 2012-13 (Tampa Bay) and from 2016-17 (New York). Sullivan previously ran the Bucs’ offense during Greg Schiano‘s HC tenure, which covered the end of Josh Freeman‘s run and a handful of starts from then-rookie Mike Glennon. After the Giants received the last of Odell Beckham Jr.‘s dominant seasons in 2016, they struggled amid injuries in 2017. While the team fired Ben McAdoo late in the ’17 campaign, Sullivan finished that season. He was out of football for two seasons following the 2018 slate, which he spent as the Broncos’ QBs coach.

Faulkner and Canada had worked together in the college ranks, with Faulkner following Canada from Northern Illinois to Wisconsin. Faulkner spent six seasons at NC State, being on staff at the ACC program before Canada. Faulkner handled a number of duties with the Wolfpack, but he was last a coordinator during a two-year stay (2009-10) at Ball State. Sullivan will bring 22 years’ worth of NFL assistant experience to his new role, while Faulkner joined Canada in having never coached in the pros until Tomlin offered him a job.

Art Rooney II Backs Steelers QB Mitch Trubisky

February 7th, 2023 at 9:57am CST by Adam La Rose

The Steelers faced quarterback uncertainty for the first time in a generation last offseason, after Ben Roethlisberger retired. That ultimately drove the team to draft Kenny Pickett as his successor, but not before adding veteran Mitch Trubisky in free agency.

The contract he signed to join the Steelers – two years, $14.25MM in base value – suggested that he would handle starting duties for a brief stretch before Pickett took over for good. Trubisky had a very modest salary and cap hit in 2022, but those figures jump to $8MM and $10.625MM, respectively, next season.

Given the increased burden Trubisky would represent on the Steelers’ cap, along with the fact that they handed the reins over to Pickett earlier than expected, many have expected the former to be headed elsewhere this offseason. Indeed, it was reported in December that both Trubisky and third-stringer Mason Rudolph were not likely to remain in Pittsburgh for 2023, and that the Steelers would re-build the bottom of their depth chart at the position. In Trubisky’s case, that may no longer be anticipated.

When asked about the former second overall pick’s Pittsburgh future, Steelers owner Art Rooney II said, via Mark Kaboly of The Athletic, “I expect Mitch will be on the roster next year and be an effective backup if we need him. I think he showed that he can be that. We can win with him” (subscription required).

Trubisky, 28, started five games in 2022, making an additional two appearances in place of Pickett, who suffered a pair of concussions as a rookie. The former Bear and Bill struggled in his brief stint as a No. 1 again, throwing more interceptions (five) than touchdowns (four). Pittsburgh’s passing attack certainly did not erupt in efficiency with Pickett at the helm, but the first-rounder put any potential controversy to rest with his play down the stretch in particular.

The Steelers would save $8MM by releasing Trubisky, making him a somewhat logical cut candidate. Pittsburgh could put those savings to good use, given how tight they are against the 2023 cap ceiling, though a replacement would of course need to be signed. Kaboly names Gardner Minshew, Jacoby Brissett and Andy Dalton as experienced passers who could likely be added on short-term, low-cost contracts. If Rooney’s remarks hold true, however, the Steelers could maintain the status quo with their top two QBs next season.

Steelers Likely To Extend Mike Tomlin?

January 31st, 2023 at 12:42pm CST by Adam La Rose

The Steelers seemed destined for their first ever losing season under head coach Mike Tomin midway through the 2022 campaign, but the team rallied to a 9-8 finish. While that was not enough for them to make the postseason, it seems to have been sufficient to earn him another new deal.

Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes that Tomlin, 50, is under contract through 2024. However, the Steelers have routinely extended him during offseasons when he had two years remaining on his existing pact, including most recently in April of 2021. That would make this spring the next expected date for a re-up, which would mark Tomlin’s seventh extension with the Steelers.

2022 saw Pittsburgh turn their offense over to first-round rookie Kenny Pickett, a move which involved growing pains and inconsistency on offense in general. The team’s performance on that side of the ball led to plenty of criticism for offensive coordinator Matt Canada, though he is expected to be retained for at least one more season. A return to health from edge rusher T.J. Watt helped spark another high-end defensive performance, though, which brought the team back into postseason contention.

That concluded Tomlin’s 16th season at the helm of the Steelers, a franchise which has had only three coaches since 1969. His recent tenure does not include the postseason success of his earlier years – Pittsburgh has not won a playoff game since 2016 – but he is still very highly regarded by the team’s front office. That includes president Art Rooney II, who spoke about Tomlin in a recent interview.

“I don’t really evaluate Mike on anything other than I’m glad he’s our coach,” Rooney said, via Dulac. “Hopefully he’ll be our coach into the future. He gives us a chance to win, year in and year out, and put us in a position where we have a chance to compete for a championship.”

While Rooney also cautioned that he did not want to “speculate” on Tomlin’s contractual status, his above remarks certainly point to another multi-year deal coming soon. Assuming that takes place, a two-year re-up would put Tomlin on track to coach in Pittsburgh for 20 seasons, only three shy of Chuck Noll‘s tenure with the franchise. Even without a new contract, he can safely be pegged for another campaign in 2023 as the team looks to build off of this year’s late-season turnaround.

Steelers Not Ruling Out Ben Roethlisberger Return In 2022

August 4th, 2021 at 3:56pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

For a while this offseason, it looked like the Steelers might not bring Ben Roethlisberger back. Then they reached an agreement on a revised contract (with Roethlisberger taking a pay-cut) that would keep him in the fold for 2021, but it seemed the writing was on the wall that this would be his last go-round with Pittsburgh.

Steelers owner Art Rooney II is saying not so fast. Although Roethlisberger isn’t under contract for 2022, “it’s not written in stone that this is his last year,” Rooney told reporters at training camp, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com. He didn’t exactly offer a ringing endorsement of the prospect of multiple more years of Big Ben, however.

“We’re aware this could be Ben’s last year,” he said. “We hope it’s a great one. That’s as far as we can go with it right now. Obviously, if this is his last year, then next year we’ll be making decisions on a quarterback, and we’ll address it as the time comes up.”

Perhaps the Steelers aren’t ruling out Roethlisberger coming back simply because they don’t have many other options currently. They gave Mason Rudolph a mini-extension to make him the only passer under contract for 2022, and the former third-round pick has said he hopes to start in 2022. Rudolph hasn’t looked particularly promising in his nine career NFL starts, but he hasn’t been a complete disaster either.

Beyond Rudolph, the team also has Joshua Dobbs and former Washington first-round pick Dwayne Haskins currently on the roster. Pittsburgh, of course, started off 11-0 last year before completely falling apart down the stretch as Roethlisberger and the offense struggled.

Roethlisberger looked like his arm might not have much left at times last season, but to be fair he was coming off major elbow surgery. Big Ben turned 39 in March, and it’ll be very interesting to see how much he’s got left in the tank physically when the Steelers kickoff their season Week 1 against the Bills.

Ben Roethlisberger Meets With Art Rooney II

February 23rd, 2021 at 12:52pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Plenty of eyebrows were raised last week when Steelers GM Kevin Colbert sounded unenthused (to put it kindly) about the prospect of Ben Roethlisberger returning in 2021. Colbert gave the classic GM-speak kiss of death of “as we sit here today, Ben Roethlisberger is a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” and also said “quite frankly, we need to look at the situation.”

Then adding further fuel to the fire, Aditi Kinkhabwala of ESPN.com tweeted that the team still hadn’t reached out to Big Ben to set up a time to talk about his contract. Either it’s just funny timing, or someone within the building was reading Kinkhabwala’s tweets, because that’s no longer the case. Roethlisberger has met with Steelers owner Art Rooney II, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazzette tweets.

He doesn’t have many details, but sources told Dulac that the meeting “went well.” Of course, we’ve heard all offseason that Pittsburgh isn’t interested in bringing Roethlisberger back at his $40MM+ cap charge, and that he’ll need to restructure his deal to return for one more ride.

To his credit Roethlisberger has said that’s fine by him, and that he doesn’t care what he ends up making in 2021. Right after the season ended it looked like Big Ben returning was something of a done deal, then recent comments from the organization made everything seem very much up in the air.

Today’s meeting is the first step back in the other direction, and it shows the Steelers actually do have some intention of working something out with their franchise icon. We should know a lot more about this meeting and what comes next soon.

Art Rooney II: Ben Roethlisberger Needs To Alter Contract If He Wants To Come Back

January 28th, 2021 at 1:50pm CST by Andrew Ortenberg

Everything we had heard indicated Ben Roethlisberger wants to come back for one more run in 2021, and that much was confirmed today by Steelers owner Art Rooney II. However, Rooney made clear it’s far from a done deal on Pittsburgh’s end.

Rooney said they can’t do it at Big Ben’s current salary, and that Ben knows that, per Mark Kaboly of The Athletic (Twitter link). Roethlisberger is currently set to have a $41.2MM cap hit for next season, which is obviously out of sync with the state of his play down the stretch this past campaign. “I think we’d like to see Ben back for another year if that can work, but as we’ve said, there’s a lot of work to be done to see if that can happen. There may need to be decision to be made for that to happen,” Rooney said cryptically, per Brooke Pryor of ESPN.com (Twitter link).

It sounds like Roethlisberger is going to need to take a significant pay cut, or at least alter his contract to add non-guaranteed years that would reduce his 2021 cap hit, if he wants to play another season in Pittsburgh. As for a potential successor, Rooney said “I think when you look at our room, we’ll have to add somebody to the room this offseason. We’ll look at all the opportunities we have to do that,” Pryor tweets.

Roethlisberger returned from elbow surgery this past year and initially led the team to an 11-0 record, but the offense completely unraveled in the second half as Big Ben was unable, or unwilling, to consistently push the ball down the field.

Roethlisberger isn’t the only key member of the organization who has his future up in the air, as GM Kevin Colbert is on a year to year arrangement and has flirted with retirement. That being said, Rooney did say as of right now he believes Colbert will be running the front office in 2021, Pryor tweets. “I feel like Kevin is going to come back, but who knows,” he said.

Rooney acknowledged the team is in a tough cap situation, especially with the cap expected to fall next year due to COVID-19 related revenue losses. What exactly will happen with Roethlisberger, 39 in March, seems uncertain, but at least we know for sure now that he isn’t retiring.

Rooney made it sound like the team isn’t exactly thrilled to be running it back, but in all likelihood this will end with Roethlisberger and the team agreeing to an altered contract, and we’ll see Big Ben under center come Week 1.

Extra Points: Coaches, GMs, Schedule, OTAs

December 23rd, 2020 at 3:05pm CST by Sam Robinson

After the NFL expanded the Rooney Rule this offseason, it has a “ready list” of minority candidates for head coaching jobs, offensive and defensive coordinator positions and GM candidates, according to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio. Beyond some of the big names — Eric Bieniemy, Marvin Lewis, Todd Bowles, Leslie Frazier among them — coaches like Clemson OC Tony Elliott, Penn State HC James Franklin and Michigan State HC Mel Tucker appear on the HC portion of the list. On the GM side, some first-time candidates include Bills pro scouting director Malik Boyd, Raiders pro scouting director Dwayne Joseph, Ravens exec Vincent Newsome and Chargers player personnel director JoJo Wooden. Former Cardinals safety Adrian Wilson — now the franchise’s pro scouting director — also appears on the GM portion of the list. The Rooney Rule now mandates teams interview two minority HC candidates and expanded the rule to include coordinator positions. Franchises must also open their senior-level executive jobs to minority and female candidates.

Here is the latest from around the league:

Normal NFL offseasons feature several weeks’ worth of OTAs preceding a June minicamp, but the NFLPA would like a schedule that looks closer to this year’s virtual offseason. Union executive director DeMaurice Smith said “there is absolutely no reason” for the NFL to return to full-scale OTAs, per Sports Business Daily’s Ben Fischer (subscription required). Having seen no decline in performance after this atypical offseason, union president J.C. Tretter agrees with Smith. This would be a stretch for coaching staffs, which have steadily seen their time with players cut back. The past two CBA agreements have significantly limited offseason and padded training camp workouts, and 2020’s COVID-19-altered offseason created steeper acclimation challenges for young players.
The NFL has agreed to a formula for its 17th regular-season game, making it increasingly likely this season will be the last one of the 16-game era. In what will be the first shift to the league’s scheduling setup since 2002, the 17-game schedule will feature a fifth interconference game. The schedule will pit an AFC division winner against an NFC division winner, and on down the line within each division, but the extra interconference game will not feature two teams who played the previous year, Albert Breer of SI.com notes. In the event the NFL moves to the 17-game season in 2021, the Chiefs and Buccaneers could not play again next season; the earliest such a regular-season rematch would occur would be 2022.
Roger Goodell may well be on board with shortening the preseason slate from four games to two. The commissioner “seemed in favor” of halving the preseason schedule at last week’s owners meetings, according to ESPN.com’s Seth Wickersham, but some high-profile owners are not. Jerry Jones, Robert Kraft, John Mara and Art Rooney II dismissed the idea of going from three preseason games — the new number as of the 2020 CBA — to two, according to ESPN. No vote occurred on the matter, though Goodell discussing the idea publicly points to it remaining an issue going forward.

North Notes: Ravens, Amos, Steelers

May 28th, 2020 at 7:58pm CST by Sam Robinson

Rumors of the Ravens becoming the latest team to execute a tag-and-trade transaction have not surfaced in months, and Matt Judon is not expecting to be dealt. The franchise-tagged outside linebacker signed his tender Thursday night and expects to be with the Ravens this season, Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com tweets. Although the Ravens acquired All-Pro defensive lineman Calais Campbell, they did not make a big move at outside linebacker this offseason. They will need their top 2019 edge defender back to anchor their pass rush.

Here is the latest from the North divisions, continuing first with more news out of Baltimore:

John Harbaugh said (via Childs Walker of the Baltimore Sun) cornerback Jimmy Smith could see some time at safety. The veteran cornerback re-signed earlier this year and is set to play a 10th season in Baltimore. The Ravens have Earl Thomas and the recently extended Chuck Clark at safety, so it will be interesting to see how they deploy Smith this season.
The pectoral injury Adrian Amos battled in the playoffs did not require surgery, and the Packers safety said he is back to 100%, per Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com, on Twitter. Amos played all but four of Green Bay’s defensive snaps during the regular season but was unable to finish the NFC championship game.
Two of the league’s most influential decision-makers were against the fourth-and-15 proposal, which the NFL tabled Thursday. Both Steelers owner Art Rooney II and HC Mike Tomlin, the latter a member of the competition committee, came out against the proposal — one that gained steam from last year to the point where ownership was split on it. “We’re open to thinking, ‘Is there something we can do with the kickoff in more of a traditional setting that might allow onside kicks a better chance of happening? But this one was too much of a gimmick,” Rooney said, via Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “(Tomlin) and I didn’t like the idea.” Rooney said interest remains in finding an alternative to the current onside kick setup, which has hindered comeback efforts since a recent rule change prevented kicking-team players from running starts prior to the kick.

Latest On Antonio Brown, Steelers

February 16th, 2019 at 5:58pm CST by Micah Powell

We learned yesterday that Steelers owner Art Rooney II and All-Pro receiver Antonio Brown will sit down to clear the air in Florida. We now know that meeting is expected to happen next week, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler writes.

Brown hasn’t been shy about his desire to be traded this offseason, and just recently the star wideout took to Twitter to answer questions about his relationship with the team, coach Mike Tomlin and quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. It marks the latest in a long line of headline-grabbing actions from the receiver in 2019, who in addition to requesting a trade, was also involved in a domestic dispute in January.

Should the Steelers emerge from the meeting with Brown determined to trade him, they will unsurprisingly look to move him to an NFC team first, Ed Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes. It has been reported that Brown desires to play in San Francisco, while teams like the Cardinals, Jets and Raiders have emerged as teams expected to be in the running for his services. It is unlikely that a team would trade a first-round pick for the veteran receiver, who is owed $36.5MM over the next three season, but a team could be willing to part with a second- or third-round selection. Bouchette notes that trade talks are expected to commence at the NFL Combine, which begins in less than two weeks.

Despite the tumultuous end to the season and beginning of the offseason, Brown is undoubtedly still at the top of his game. The 30-year-old widoeut earned his sixth consecutive Pro Bowl selection in 2018, finishing with 104 catches, 1,297 yards and a league-leading and career-high 15 touchdown receptions.

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