Steelers' Cameron Heyward Names List Of His Absolute Top Offensive Coordinator Choices

The Pittsburgh Steelers' offense has been in a bit of a rut for a while. To remedy the problem, and correct what was clearly an error to begin with, Head Coach Mike Tomlin made the nearly unprecedented move of firing Offensive Coordinator Matt Canada in the middle of the season. Pittsburgh is well known for "standing by their man" and many did not think a change would happen until the offseason. After all, the firing marked the first time they have made a coaching change like that since 1941. However, this empty spot has everyone guessing at how the team will fill it, including their defensive captain Cameron Heyward. 

The firing of Canada happened after the Steelers lost to the Cleveland Browns during Week 11. The offense had been lackluster and uninspired under Canada. Of course, when he left, the new Interim Offensive Coordinator Eddie Faulkner and play-caller Mike Sullivan took over. 

Steelers' Cameron Heyward Has Some Ideal Offensive Coordinator Candidates

Heyward, a defensive tackle for the Steelers, just finished his 13th season in the league, all of them in Pittsburgh. He has seen his share of offensive coordinators come and go. Since he was drafted in 2011, the Steelers have had five different coordinators, including the current duo. On his podcast, Not Just Football With Cam Heyward, his co-host, Hayden Walsh, asked him who his ideal offensive coordinator is.

"A guy like Eric Bieniemy, who's had a lot of success in Kansas City. A name that's been talked about, not just with the Steelers, talking offensive coordinators in general, is Shane Waldron, Brian (sic Bobby) Slowik. I don't like to play GM, but there are some interesting names out there. It's got to be a guy that's able to get a lot of guys involved and lead a group, so it's gonna be interesting."

Eric Bieniemy, as Heyward mentioned, was the offensive coordinator with the Kansas City Chiefs, but joined the Washington Commanders in 2023. While the Commanders did not perform well, it is hard to hold Bieniemy completely responsible. Shane Waldron is the current offensive coordinator of the Seattle Seahawks. He has worked under football gurus like Bill Belichick and Sean McVey. 

The last name he mentioned, is actually Bobby Slowik, not Brian, who is the current coordinator of the Houston Texans. Slowik comes off of the impressive Mike Shanahan coaching tree and has done impressive things with this young Texans offense.

Tomlin indicated during his end-of-season press conference that big changes are coming, which has led many to speculate that he is referring to the offensive coordinator position. He also indicated that it "sucked" to be in the position the team is in, where you make it to the playoffs year after year, but can't advance. 

He knows that he cannot make the same mistake with this new hire that he made with Canada. Fortunately, he has said he plans to look outside the organization for a replacement. That is a relief because the Steelers love to promote from within. Canada had been the quarterbacks coach for a single year before being handed the reins to the entire offense. 

Walsh made a now familiar comment about the amount of talent the Steelers have on their offense. Most agree that the talent just isn't being used correctly. While the Faulkner/Sullivan offense was far from perfect, we did see the ball getting spread out to more skilled players than we have in a long time. Walsh believes that any offensive coordinator should be excited about the opportunity to come in here and turn this talent into a functioning offense. Heyward agrees with him. 

"Yeah there's a lot of talent there and it's about marrying that all together and letting that team grow, I mean letting that side of the ball grow. I think we see that both sides of the ball have to continue to grow and continue to just keep evolving," added Heyward.

One thing is for sure, and that is that this new offensive coordinator will be walking into an interesting situation. In one regard, it is probably good that he doesn't have the biggest shoes to fill, but there are very high expectations coming from fans. 

The last time the Steelers had an arguably solid offensive coordinator was when Todd Haley held the position from 2012-2017. The Steelers had a top-10 scoring offense for four of his six seasons, something they haven't even sniffed in a long time. Of course, Haley had some "Killer Bs" with Ben Roethlisberger, Antonio Brown, and Le'Veon Bell. That may have also been his downfall as it was reportedly his relationship with Roethlisberger that led Tomlin to choose to not renew Haley's contract. 

There is a lot of pressure on Tomlin to pick well this time. After the disaster with Canada and his predecessor Randy Fichtner, who was also promoted from within, there doesn't feel like there is much room to blow this selection. The heat on Tomlin from the fan base has been intense, they want to see the team hoist Lombardi's not "winning season trophies." 

What do you think about the names mentioned by Heyward? Who would be your dream offensive coordinator? Click to comment below. 

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