It's easy to write off the Steelers' 2019 offensive issues simply to the loss of quarterback Ben Roethlisberger just six quarters into the season.
In fact, it's undeniable that many of the team's issues can be tied directly back to that issue.
But the Steelers also are a team that seldom sees a lot of turnover on their coaching staff. Yet in 2019, offensive coordinator Randy Fichtner was dealt a hand that saw him working with first-year assistants coaching the running backs and offensive line in Eddie Faulkner and Shaun Sarrett, respectively, and a wide receivers coach in Ray Sherman who hadn't even been with the team in the offseason. Sherman, who had been with the team in camp in an advisory role, joined the Steelers as a full-time replacement for Darryl Drake after Drake unexpectedly died early in training camp last season.
Add in assistant offensive line coach Adrian Klemm, who replaced Sarrett when he was bumped up to offensive line coach to replace Mike Munchak, and four of the five coaches working under Fichtner were new guys in their first year of their new jobs. The only holdover was longtime tight ends coach James Daniel.
So much for continuity.
And for the Steelers, who encourage all of their assistant coaches to have a voice in building the game plan each week, it put more pressure than ever on Fichtner, who has been with the team since 2007 but was only in his second season as offensive coordinator.
Sherman went back into retirement this year, replaced by veteran wide receivers coach Ike Hilliard, while the Steelers also hired Matt Canada as quarterbacks coach, a job Fichtner also tried to hold down in 2019 and had held since 2010.
Canada, a former offensive coordinator at the college level, has brought some fresh ideas to the Steelers' offensive game plan. But there's also a feeling that all of the offensive assistants, with a full year under their belt, will be in a much better place when it comes to making suggestions, as well.
Any offensive improvements might be credited solely to the return of Roethlisberger. Or the addition of Canada. But it might go beyond all of that.
Munchak, who took a similar job with the Broncos to be closer to family, also held the role of run game coordinator during his tenure with the Steelers. It was a title that helped give him a little more money, but it also was true. As a Hall of Fame player and longtime NFL coach, he had a good grasp on what would and wouldn't work and had a hand in the pre-game scheming.
"Shaun and Klemm are together for one more year. I think that consistency is going to show this year," Fichtner said. "I know that having Coach Canada, another experienced coach in the room, is only going to help Coach Faulkner’s one year in the system and being able to communicate. I just think that as a group, we’re fairly young there.
"You mentioned taking out Coach Munchak. He’s hard to replace in general. He’s a dear friend of mine. He’s a respected colleague. I do believe as a group I do see the, just like you would talk about players, you see a staff having time to mesh and be more coordinated and be more open to other ideas and possible ideas and the best things that we can possibly do to put our guys in the best chance to have success."
Sarrett, who had been assistant offensive line coach with the team since 2012, admits contributing to the game plan might have been an area in which it was tough to fill the shoes of Munchak.
"We work on that game plan together as a whole. It’s not just Coach Randy or even the tight ends coach or whatever. It is all of us," Sarrett said. "We go into a room and we formulate a plan. We stick to that plan. For me being a first-year guy, yeah, you are going to have those jitters and stuff like that. But it is just one those things that you are going to work yourself through. You get more comfortable as the games progress. I was already comfortable with the guys, per se. But just the game planning part, yeah."
Canada will certainly help there. But so will the additional year of experience for Sarrett, Faulkner and Klemm. And Hilliard also has over a decade each of experience as both a player and a coach in the NFL.
"All spring, we talked football till we had to take the break and then it was all done virtually. It was still the same thing," Canada said. "We had the computers and drawing plays. It just wasn’t on a board, it was on a computer and talking. It has been great with him and our entire staff. Certainly, enjoyed getting to know our system and he has done a great job bringing me up to speed with that. It is really good. I really enjoy Randy and the time I have spent with him."
MORE STEELERS
• According to Forbes, 38 percent of revenue for NFL teams comes from stadiums. That's fannies in the seats buying hot dogs, nachos and drinks. So, while the majority of money is TV revenue, that's why the Steelers are taking a cautious approach when it comes to negotiating any new deals before they're permitted to even allow partial crowds in stadium. "Yeah, absolutely. That’s a piece of the puzzle," Steelers president Art Rooney II told me when I asked about the lack of crowds having an adverse effect on the 2021 salary cap. "Obviously, that’s another reason to hope for fans in these buildings. That will have an impact on the cap next year, no question about it." NFL owners and the NFLPA negotiated a cap floor for $175 million prior to the start of training camp. Part of that negotiation was done with the knowledge that there wouldn't be fans in many stadiums across the league -- at least to start. Currently, six franchises will have fans in the month of September. More could come later, but will need government approval. "There were scenarios where the cap could have gone below $175 million if we didn’t agree to a floor," Rooney said. "To be able to agree to a floor and then be able to spread the losses out over future seasons, it was a complicated formula but that is part of the equation for being able to smooth it out over more than one season." -- Lolley
• The Steelers have not announced their 2020 Hall of Honor class and it could be some time before they do so. A reason for the addition of the Hall of Honor a few years ago was to allow former players to have their day in the sun again. It's tough to do that when you don't know when you'll have fans in stadium. And right now, under the current rules, the players wouldn't even be permitted to be honored on the field, anyway. Troy Polamalu will obviously be one of the members of this year's class. And the Steelers would love to do something in-season to honor fellow 2020 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductees Bill Cowher and Donnie Shell, as well. But right now, their hands are tied. -- Lolley
PIRATES
• While I’ve heard that the Diamondbacks are happy with the return they received for Starling Marte during the trade deadline, there is no question they did not get back as much as they traded away to acquire him back in January. Humberto Mejia was in A-ball before this season and is not that highly regarded of a prospect, and Caleb Smith is a 29-year-old starter who fits into the back end of a rotation at best. That is a far cry short of the two top-10 prospects they traded, 2019 first-round pick Brennan Malone and shortstop Lovier Peguero. That one extra year of team control gives a selling team a lot more power in negotiations, and that could be motivation for Ben Cherington to be a more aggressive seller this offseason. Josh Bell, Joe Musgrove, Trevor Williams, Chad Kuhl and Adam Frazier all have just two years remaining, so if the Pirates are hoping to maximize their potential prospect return, it may have to be this winter. -- Alex Stumpf
• The Pirates reportedly signed reliever pitcher Jandel Gustave on Aug.17, but the right-hander has yet to appear at the alternate training site in Altoona, Pa.. The reason why is not known at this time. It is worth noting another pitcher, Henderson Alvarez, ended up backing out of a minor-league deal with the franchise because the Pirates were going to sign Gustave. The Pirates could obviously use extra pitching depth to get through the season, and both were intriguing options. Alvarez, a former All-Star, was hitting 98 mph pitching in independent ball, and Gustave had a sub-3.00 ERA with the Giants last year. However, with only a little more than three weeks remaining, it's looking doubtful either will appear with the team this year. -- Stumpf
• Ke'Bryan Hayes has, at long last, reached the majors, but I was told he and other people in the game felt like that could have happened two years ago after being named the organization's minor-league hitter of the year in 2018. That was obviously unlikely since he didn't need to be added to the 40-man roster and barely had any experience in class AAA. But after being sent down after an impressive 2019 spring training, he began to press and struggled at the plate in the first half of the season, which possibly cost him a September call up in 2019. “The first half of 2019, he was playing against a ghost,” an industry source told me. “He felt like, physically, mentally, emotionally, he was ready for the big leagues, and the front office felt there was some player development seasoning to be had." Hayes eventually clicked offensively in the second half of the season and hit the ball consistently hard during the first spring training in Bradenton, Fla.. He also showcased that raw power and hit tool in his major-league debut on Tuesday, homering and driving a double off of the wall. -- Stumpf
PENGUINS
• A lot of observers seemed to be surprised when Sergei Gonchar was let go in the purge of the coaching staff last month, citing the development of John Marino and Marcus Pettersson as evidence of how effective Gonchar was in his role. That’s fair enough — and it quite conceivable that Gonchar will rejoin the Penguins in some capacity in the future — but if Gonchar gets credit for how a couple of young defensemen have progressed, shouldn’t he also be held accountable for Kris Letang’s curious decision-making at times, or Justin Schultz’s regression during the past couple of seasons (when he wasn’t injured)? How much responsibility Gonchar should bear for the guys who worked under his direction can be debated — certainly, every player has the biggest say in determining the arc of his career — and a case could be made that he should have been allowed to keep his job, but focusing solely on the positive aspects of his work presents a picture that isn’t necessarily accurate. Or, to be sure, complete. — Dave Molinari
• When Todd Reirden was fired as head coach in Washington last month, Mike Vellucci was one of the guys mentioned early as a possible successor. Ironically enough, he and Reirden will now work together on Mike Sullivan’s staff, but had the Capitals been seriously interested in hiring Vellucci — and if he was interested in taking on that job — the Penguins would not have taken any steps to prevent Vellucci from leaving. Now, it’s not unusual for teams to allow staffers to leave for a better position elsewhere, but what made Vellucci’s case interesting was that he not only was coach of the Penguins’ farm team in Wilkes-Barre, but also the general manager there. Nonetheless, Jim Rutherford said the dual role would have not have any impact on giving Vellucci to discuss the head-coaching position with the Capitals. “We don’t hold anybody back when another team calls,” he said. — Molinari
• The merits of the trade that, distilled to its primary components, sent the Penguins’ first-round draft choice in 2020 and forward prospect Filip Hallander to Toronto for top-six right winger Kasperi Kapanen are open to discussion, but at least one thing is pretty clear: It removed the pressure from the Penguins’ scouting staff to identify a prospect available at 15th overall who would have a realistic chance of having an impact in the NHL over the next few years, before Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin have moved completely out of their primes. With the Penguins’ first-rounder in 2021 going to Minnesota as part of the Jason Zucker trade, this year’s No. 1 was the only prospect not already in the organization who could reasonably have been expected to reach the NHL in the next couple of seasons. That’s a non-issue now, as the Penguins continue to mortgage their future for the sake of trying to win another Stanley Cup with their current core. And to do it without hesitation or apology, which is the mindset needed when adopting such an all-in approach to an objective. — Molinari
