One thing that often gets lost in the shuffle inside of the sports world is the relationships forged between those involved in a given sport.
It is the very concept of why the firing of Matt Canada Nov. 21 resonates within the Steelers' locker room at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex.
Canada's offense was putrid on all counts, and nobody is second-guessing whether his playbook or play calling was a detriment to any heights the Steelers might have desired this season. Back in July when this team convened in Latrobe, Pa., the optimism for the offense was high with expectations equally high for Kenny Pickett in his second year. Then, in the preseason, Pickett led Canada's offense to five touchdown drives in five chances. The bar was raised even more.
Then, that bar dropped and shattered in a matter of months. At the time of Canada's firing, the Steelers ranked 28th in the NFL in yards per game and points per game and scored 14 offensive touchdowns in 10 games.
So, yes, he was not a good offensive coordinator. Everybody knew that. But, that doesn't wash away the relationships forged with the man across his time in Pittsburgh.
“I didn’t have a quarterback coach my first two years, so it was good to have a quarterback coach," Mason Rudolph told me. "I enjoyed working with him, and we’ve got a good relationship and it’s hard to get hardened by these things because they happen so frequently whether it’s players getting cut or released or trades or coaches going. I wish the best for him and I’m sure we’ll stay in touch.”
That seemed to be the sentiment shared across the locker room. Generally speaking, he was liked. Other players, like Pickett and Pat Freiermuth, were also cordial in expressing their farewells to Canada as a person. Pickett has a longer relationship with Canada than most, as Canada was one of Pickett's main recruiters when he was Pitt's offensive coordinator back in 2017.
• Personal relationships go very, very far in the NFL. Rudolph forged one with Canada when Canada arrived to Pittsburgh from the University of Maryland in 2020, and he considered it to be a strong one.
“It’s a tough business, and I spent three years with Matt," Rudolph said. "I enjoyed it. I think as an offense we need to come together and shut out the noise and continue to work (after his firing). I’ve got a good relationship with Matt.”
• Canada's hiring in 2020 perhaps brought two of his former players along to Pittsburgh. Anthony McFarland Jr., who was just released by the Steelers Thursday, was solid for Canada when he was a freshman at Maryland in 2018.
That season, he rushed for 1,034 yards and four touchdowns and was drafted in the fourth round in 2020 after one additional college season.
"Obviously it’s tough to see because I’m thinking about not just the football side," McFarland said. "As a human being you don’t want to see nobody lose their job at the end of the day. I feel like the whole team feels like that. At the end of the day it’s a business decision. That’s the business we’re in.”
• The other former Maryland player who Canada went back into the past for was Spencer Anderson, who was picked by the Steelers in the seventh round of this past draft. He was in the recruiting class to follow McFarland's, and his freshman year with the Terrapins was Canada's lone season as its offensive coordinator.
Anderson redshirted in that freshman season, but a relationship was rekindled nearly five years later on draft day in 2023.
“I redshirted my freshman year so we didn’t really talk," Anderson said. "… I hadn’t talked to him since then and then draft day comes and texted me and it was a random number and he was like, ‘hey, it’s coach Canada. Congrats, I’m excited to work with you.’ And I’m like, 'oh, wow, it’s a full circle moment kind of thing.' It was a full-circle moment, but I hadn’t talked to him in five years.”
• Canada's offense sputtered at many points in his two-year tenure, but credit goes to those who actually tried to make it work. Over the two-plus seasons Canada spent here, the Steelers drafted Chase Claypool, McFarland, Kevin Dotson, Najee Harris, Freiermuth, Kendrick Green, Dan Moore Jr., Pickett, George Pickens, Calvin Austin, Connor Heyward, Chris Oladokun, Broderick Jones, Darnell Washington, and Anderson to fortify the offense.
Pickett, Harris, Pickens, and Freiermuth are, obviously, major skill players for this current offense, while Moore and Jones are the book-end tackles. So, they've hit on starting depth on just over one-third of those picks. Austin didn't have a strong relationship like Rudolph, McFarland, or Anderson did, but it was cordial in a business way.
“Our relationship was cool in all," Austin said. "It was just business. I was just trying to do whatever I could to — if it’s a fake, make it the best fake I can and just play hard and do what I do.”
• A major theme of the Steelers' three-game losing streak is accountability. Nobody wants to outwardly point fingers at another for a bad-job-done, but it's clear the oftentimes-mentioned "popcorn" stuck to the bottom of the bag is one of burnt taste. The locker room vibe, as of late, has been down the middle. Players are certainly frustrated to a level, but nobody is assigning blame to just one person for blowing the whole thing up. They win as a team, lose as a team.
• Isaac Seumalo is a winning football player. He was my favorite signing from the "Khan Artist" offseason as executed by Omar Khan. He has been to two Super Bowls and has won one since entering the league in 2016. He has played next to Jason Kelce, one of this generation's best centers. He knows how to go about that day-to-day and, most important, he knows what a winning culture looks like.
In the days prior to the Steelers' game against the Colts, I asked Seumalo about accountability. How do the Steelers go about assigning that?
“Culture’s built from the team, but I also think -- which I think the coaches do -- I think the coaches also have to try to look into the mirror and say, ‘what can we do better to make the schemes easier, more simplified, or making the vernacular not as complicated, or understanding it.' It starts with us, but I think it’s a group effort. The coaches understand that, too. We try to make things simple so guys can play faster. Thinking less and playing faster’s always a good thing.”
• I don't have much of a pulse on Mike Tomlin's status with respect to his employment at this time. The offseason's ebb and flow will tell us much more beyond what's out there right now.
• When Blake Martinez was with the Panthers' practice squad, he had a choice between signing with the Panthers' or Steelers' 53-man rosters. Part of that decision was because of the opportunity for playing time, but playing for Tomlin was a solid selling point.
“I think whenever you’re playing the Steelers you know they’re going to be well coached," Martinez said. "Playing against him, always had high respect. Being able to have the opportunity to come here was a no-brainer for me.”
Martinez played for head coaches Mike McCarthy, Joe Philbin, Matt LaFleur, Joe Judge, and Josh McDaniels. All offensive coaches. I'm sure getting the chance to play for a defensive mind like Tomlin was one he was excited for upon signing.
• I'll take these last few bullet points to set the scene of the Steelers' locker room following their loss to the Colts Saturday. First, Pickens booked it out of there really quickly. So did Damontae Kazee, who likely didn't want to answer any questions about what had just transpired over his ejection.
• I know Diontae Johnson gets a lot of flak for a lot of things, but I believe he means well and has good intentions. While other reporters were scattered throughout the locker room, I had approached Johnson for a quick interview. I really just had two questions for him. But, he wasn't thrilled with the idea. One of the Steelers' PR staffers was nearby and assured Johnson it would be fine. Johnson resisted a bit, but eventually turned around to speak of his team's loss. Unfortunately for me, more reporters had come around and I couldn't get him in a one-on-one setting. But, even when he didn't want to do it, he still did it. Contrary to what one play against the Bengals showed, he really does care. He gives a darn.
• In the same manner as I approached Johnson, I tried to get a word in covertly with Harris, one-on-one.
"I'm not talking today," he'd reply.
I gave him a nod, a thank-you, and moved on.
Harris was the last Steeler to exit the locker room. Suitcase and all were on the floor with more belongings in his locker. He left with a PR staffer to go somewhere, but returned to gather his things while myself and others were waiting for a chance to speak with him, if he was willing.
"I'm not talking today."
And we moved on.
• Cam Heyward entering the concussion protocol right after the game against Indianapolis was an event I've never experienced. He played the whole game, but reported his symptoms afterwards. Reporters, myself included, were waiting to speak with him after the locker room, but he was pulled away by the PR staff as the announcement came that he was in the protocol.
Kind of a "now-what" situation for me in moment, but for Heyward's sake, it's good to see him clear the protocol Thursday morning, practice this week, and be in line to play Saturday.
