We know Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada is out. We don’t know with any real certainty who fired him.
Coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday that the decision was “mine and mine alone.” However, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported the move this morning like this: “Steelers president Art Rooney II has fired offensive coordinator Matt Canada, per team sources.”
Dulac also said this in his story at the newspaper’s website: “The decision came after a meeting with team president Art Rooney II, who grew weary of seeing the Steelers average just 16.1 points in 10 games and watching Pickett, last year’s No. 1 draft pick, struggle the past three games.”
So it sounds as if, at a minimum, the owner was involved in the decision. Or, possibly, he let it be known to Tomlin that the preferred decision entailed moving on from Canada.
Rooney quietly and subtly has exercised plenty of influence over the decisions made in Pittsburgh, at every layer and level of the organization. The franchise’s success under his stewardship makes that acceptable. And many thought it was unacceptable to keep Canada in place as long as he was.
While it remains to be seen whether the post-Canada offense is any better, Steelers fans generally are happy that Canada is gone. If the offense doesn’t improve, however, someone else will quickly become the focal point of the wrath of Steelers Nation.