NFL Exec Says Steelers Might be Out of Luck for Quality OC

The Steelers organization seems to be in a constant cesspool of mediocrity, with everything continuing downhill since losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 2017 NFL playoffs. While there are necessary questions around Mike Tomlin, with one year left on his deal, he likely comes back without an extension and coaches on that last year. He pointed the finger at himself on Monday for this season’s struggles.

“A lot of it; that’s why I opened my postgame the way I did. I said that it starts with me. Forget the coaching staff; it starts with me,” Tomlin said.

Tomlin is not wrong. The coaching is failing this team. From a schematic perspective, they continue to play man coverage in the red zone with less-than-ideal components. It all comes together to make little sense. But on the offensive side of football, they lack any life. So, if Tomlin is kept, the most significant hire of the offseason is that the Steelers must find another offensive coordinator, and a quality one at that. But Mike Sando talked to one executive who thinks coaches like Tomlin and the Steelers organization might just be out of luck.

“Who are the offensive coordinators of the future?” an exec asked to Sando. “If there are 10 openings for head coaches, who the hell is filling these positions? It is not all offensive gurus. There are just not enough.”

The executive is pulling on recent history. For example, Dan Campbell brought Ben Johnson, and DeMeco Ryans brought Bobby Slowik. Oftentimes, defensive coaches have a hard time finding those guys to pair with them out of the blue when established, but it has not stopped some coaches. Sean McDermott had Brain Daboll and seems to be now cooking with Joe Brady. To his credit, he course corrected by firing Ken Dorsey.

For Tomlin to keep the gig after 2024, he must find someone who can reboot this offense into something that resembles an NFL unit.  They have yet to have a game this season where they have gone off consistently throughout a game, and the most basic of issues pop up time and time again.