Getty The Buccaneers will seek a replacement for offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich after Thursday's firing.
M
att Canada’s rollercoaster reign as Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator is officially over. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin has already named quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan and running backs coach Eddie Faulkner as his replacements. However, the Steelers can make a change in the offseason depending on how the team finishes their 2023 campaign.
Ben Roethlisberger, Plaxico Burress and Willie Colon have all been vocal about wanting Byron Leftwich to inherit the role as the best possible candidate on the market.
Burress and Colon pushed Leftwich on The Carton Show, with the latter saying this:
“Byron Leftwich has been out there. He should be the next guy in line,” Colon said. “He knows what it takes. He knows what it looks like…he knows how to appeal to a locker room.”
Leftwich Carries Invaluable Championship Pedigree as Player & OC
Leftwich certainly knows what it takes to lead an offense to championship status. He won Super Bowl LV in 2020 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator. That year, the Bucs finished third in the NFL with 492 points scored.
He coached Tom Brady and the passing game to 4,626 yards, which only trailed Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs who they downed in the big game.
Not to mention, Leftwich won Super Bowl XLIII as the Steelers’ backup quarterback. Burress and Colon are likely galvanized by their fraternal connection in backing him enthusiastically.
Roethlisberger Supports His Former Teammate Getting Steelers OC Job
Meanwhile, Roethlisberger has grown increasingly outspoken on a myriad of NFL topics, hosting his “Footbahlin” podcast hosted on YouTube. Having played and won alongside Leftwich, Roethlisberger too went in to how the Steelers would be wise to bring him on board and remedy some of the issues they face:
“I think if the team was to move on from Matt, I would love to see Byron Leftwich come in here and be the OC,” Roethlisberger said. “He was there. He played under Coach [Mike Tomlin]. He understands what it means to be a Steeler. I think he’s a great OC.”
Big Ben knows what kind of eye Leftwich has for the game of football, especially as a quarterback. He’d know better than anybody what Leftwich can do for the Steelers offense. They are dead last in passing yards (1,848 yds) and second to last with 7 passing TD’s. The Steelers also have need for a boost in the efficiency of their run game and their ability to generate more possessions.
What Sullivan and Faulkner Can Achieve With Steelers’ Offense Down the Stretch
Sullivan has been the Steelers’ quarterbacks coach since 2021. He’s nurtured starter Kenny Pickett into a deliverer late in games, but the second-year talent has dealt with other struggles in his game that have yet to be polished.
The Steelers don’t execute on big plays down the field or generate enough yardage on third down. He and Faulkner are culpable for that. Faulkner has recently gotten the wheels going on his running game, particularly in Jalen Warren’s case. However, they too have slightly underachieved when assessing their overall production on the year.
They’ll inherit Canada’s role with the burden of improving the offensive scheme he’s implemented. The Steelers only mustered up 10 points in their most recent loss to the Cleveland Browns with Pickett struggling mightily behind 106 passing yards on the day.
Pittsburgh’s next matchup against the Joe Burrow-less Cincinnati Bengals this coming Sunday, Nov. 26 will be Sullivan and Faulkner’s first chance to make an impression and prevent management from entertaining a switch this Spring.