There is nothing like a good Steelers rumor on occasion. Now one has surfaced that Matt Canada could be fired after the Eagles game if the Steelers lose.
Truth or not, Matt Canada should consider himself on notice that this will be his last year in Pittsburgh. It’s not often the Steelers fire a coach mid-season, let alone in general. The last time Pittsburgh fired a head coach was Bill Austin in 1968. You can argue whether the Steelers fired Bruce Arian, Dick Lebeau, or Mike Munchak, leaving Randy Fichtner with that distinction. Yet it has never occurred in mid-season.
Will the Steelers fire Matt Canada?
While fans have clamored for his firing since 2021, no one really thought Pittsburgh would take the step of firing him mid-season until these rumors broke that the black and gold could fire Canada after the Eagles game if their offense goes nowhere. It seems that another loss could spell impending doom for the beleaguered offensive coordinator unless Pittsburgh has some sort of offensive explosion
Is the latest Steelers rumor truth or fiction
While the report has not been verified, on 93.7 the Fan Aditi Kinkhabwala reported she believed the Steelers could possibly fire Canada. She stated that “This is not your grandfather’s Steelers.” Herein lies the issue with her statement. Andrew Fillipponi has never hidden his dislike for Canada. So naturally, he took her statements as the gospel truth. However, following Fillipponi’s tweet later, Kinkhabwala shot back on Twitter, indicating Fillipponi took some liberty with her on-air statements. She issued the following tweet.
Poni!! I did NOT say he’ll be out. You asked me if I thought it was possible that a change could actually be made… I said it was possible. This was not the massively adamant and declarative statement you’re painting it to be!!
— Aditi Kinkhabwala (@AKinkhabwala) October 26, 2022
Yet the controversy did not end there. Apparently, Jeff Hawthorn had made some comments which seemed to confirm what Kinkhabwala said earlier, which then prompted Fillipponi to tweet:
Award-winning @jhathhorn now says on @937theFan that the Steelers will give replacing Matt Canada as offensive play-caller "serious consideration" with another bad outing Sunday. Holy cow.
— Andrew Fillipponi (@ThePoniExpress) October 26, 2022
Is there a plan to remove Canada if the Eagles game goes badly? No one knows for sure, it’s not like we know someone is leaking anything with the Steelers organization. Yet we can tell there is growing frustration within the team. If the offense continues struggling and puts up poor numbers, there may be a breaking point. Thus that breaking point could come as early as Sunday.
Replacement candidates the Steelers could choose
Regarding mid-season replacements in the NFL, they rarely come from outside the organization, as teams can not interview most potential candidates until the season ends. Hence your list of mid-season replacements is not overly extensive. The most likely replacement becomes quarterback coach Mike Sullivan, who has previous experience with the Lions and Bengals.
No one should consider Sullivan a long-term replacement. If Pittsburgh does that, it could be as disastrous as staying with Canada. So, who could be on the shortlist at the end of the season? Depending on who it is, will Mike Tomlin see them as a potential threat to his job? It’s anyone’s guess.
The Steelers have a plethora of options, at least. Here are some possible candidates we could see assuming the job in 2023. Coaches the Steelers could look at are Mike Kafka from the Chiefs, John DeFilippo from the Bears, Adam Stenavich from the Packers, Thomas Brown from the Rams, or Pep Hamilton from the Texans. Perhaps Pittsburgh looks at other tenured offensive coordinators like Kellen Moore, Eric Bieniemy, or Marcus Brady.
If the Steelers do take the step of firing Matt Canada after Sunday, it will be a shake-up for sure, one that will be sorely needed if anything else. It may not get the Steelers back on track entirely, but doing nothing will not get them anywhere.