Steelers Can’t Hire This Coach

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Steelers will be searching for a new offensive coordinator at the end of the season, and many have released their list of early candidates to replace Matt Canada permanently in 2024. On that list is a familiar face to the Steelers’ Week 13 opponents. A former Arizona Cardinals head coach, now spending time at USC as an assistant, Kliff Kingsbury, has been tossed around as a fit for Pittsburgh. “This isn’t a name many expect to be on the list, but Kingsbury and Tomlin have a relationship, and before he became the head coach of the Cardinals, he did spend some time hanging out at Steelers practices,” I wrote in my list of early candidates.

“If Kingsbury wants to get back into the NFL as an offensive play-caller, teams will likely be thrilled to hire him, including the Steelers.” Well, sometimes everyone is wrong, and this time, I was. During the Steelers’ preparation for the Cardinals, All Steelers spoke with All Cardinals publisher Donnie Druin. During the conversation, Kingsbury’s name was mentioned as a potential for the Steelers. Druin warned against it. “I’ve only seen Kliff as a head coach. And Kliff as a head coach – this is not slander at all – just couldn’t cut it,” Druin said. “For him to be the OC and the head coach, there are reasons why guys like Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan are just so rare. … If Steelers fans were tied of screen passes and halfback draws, do not turn on a Kliff Kingsbury game.

“The amount of times the Cardinals had been in 2nd and 10, or 3rd and 15 because of a halfback draw or because of a screen pass. The amount of time spreading the field horizontally instead and not vertically – astounding.” The Steelers are looking to move forward without much of the same, which included plenty of unsuccessful screen plays and horizontal plays under Canada. But, apparently, if they’re looking for something different in their next offensive coordinator, Kingsbury is not it.