Steelers don’t have a coach worth poaching to replace Urban Meyer

The Jacksonville Jaguars need to replace head coach Urban Meyer, but here’s why the Steelers don’t currently have a coach worth poaching. 

Well, I can’t say I didn’t see this one coming. After being named the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars, Urban Meyer lasted just 13 games with his new team before he was fired this week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports.

In addition to his dismal 2-11 record this year, Meyer has been under scrutiny for several questionable incidents that took place this season. Most recently, comments he made to his coaching staff and players — even supposedly kicked one of them.

It seemed like only a matter of time before Meyer got the boot, and he becomes only the second non-interim head coach that lasted less than a full season since 2000 (Bobby Petrino was the other in 2007).

The Jaguars might view this loss as addition by subtraction, but there’s no doubt that owner Shahid Khan and general manager Trent Baalke are going to be searching for a replacement, unfortunately, the Pittsburgh Steelers don’t have a coach worth poaching at the moment.

Steelers don’t have a coach worth poaching

I word it this way because I think most fans would actually be excited to see Pittsburgh clean house at this point. Obviously, Mike Tomlin isn’t going anywhere unless it’s on his own terms, but the head coach can’t be stolen from the Steelers.

While Jacksonville is legally allowed to snag a coordinator like Matt Canada or Keith Butler, I can’t think of one logical reason why they would be inclined to do so. Canada has been a big disappointment for the Steelers this year. After showing some promise early in the 2020 season with his scheme that consisted of a lot of pre-snap motion, Canada’s offense has been predictable and bland in 2021.

Meanwhile, Keith Butler has a much better pedigree than Canada and he has led some pretty stellar defenses in the past, but his unit has been one of the bottom-ten defenses this year, and at 65 years old, I’m sure Jacksonville will want to go with some younger blood and likely an offensive-minded coach.

There are good options out there for the Jaguars. Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore comes to mind. So does Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy. These coaches have helped elevate the offensive performances of their teams tremendously during their respective coaching tenures so far.

With dozens of innovative, fresh-thinking minds ripe for the picking to be the next head coaching candidate, it’s hard to think of a good reason why the Jacksonville Jaguars would be interested in a Steelers coach. The fact that we as fans know that other teams have no interest in our scraps probably means that Pittsburgh should consider some coaching changes in 2022.