Art Rooney II saw enough from the Pittsburgh Steelers offense in 2020 after losing to the Cleveland Browns in the first round of the 2020 playoffs. The Steelers have decided they will not bring back Randy Fichtner and replace him with new offensive coordinator Matt Canada. That is how the Steelers love to operate by promoting from within instead of bringing a new offensive coach who doesn't know their system inside out yet.
Matt Canada was the Steelers quarterback coach in 2020 and the Steelers feel good enough to promote him as their new offensive coordinator. Since Matt Canada was with the Steelers in 2020 that means he already knows what they expect from him going forward.
New offensive coordinator Matt Canada had his first interview with the Pittsburgh Media this morning before going into Mini-Camp. He had a lot to say in regards to the Steeler's offense going forward, but one of the most interesting things he said was the orders he received from Art Rooney II. Matt Canada said he was told the Steeler's offense must run the ball more and be more physical on the offensive side of the ball. Those were direct orders from Mr. Rooney II himself which is very unusual because he doesn't like to overstep Coach Tomlin. I think Art Rooney II has seen enough from the offensive side of the ball and wants change immediately going forward.
It sounds like the Steelers will take a run-first approach and that could be very good news for Ben Roethlisberger especially in regards to maintaining his health with a 17 game season. If Ben goes down at any point during the 2021 season you can kiss their season goodbye because they have the toughest schedule in the NFL. Ben Roethlisberger gives them the best chance to win going into the 2021 season and I think their season is going to hinge on him staying healthy.
Najee Harris will walk into Pittsburgh as being their new starter. He is an elite-level running back and it looks like Art Rooney II doesn't want to see the Steelers ease him in. They're going to use him as a first-round prospect and let him see the football field right away.
I believe Najee Harris is going to become a superstar in Pittsburgh and Matt Canada feels the same way as he said some really nice things about Harris today especially in regards to his football IQ. It's about time the Steelers recognize the need to run the ball and be more physical on the offensive side of the ball because in 2020 it was pretty embarrassing.
Hopefully, we start to see the change on the offensive side of the ball with Matt Canada in 2021... The problem is who the heck will be the Steelers starting quarterback once Ben Roethlisberger rides off into the sunset? A lot of questions will be answered in 2021 and 2022.