Mike Tomlin has made a decision regarding whether or not Todd Haley and Ben Roethlisberger can coexist and it appears Tomlin has come to the conclusion that it cannot happen.
The Steelers are not renewing the contract of Haley, the team confirmed in an afternoon press release, ending his six-year run as the Steelers' offensive coordinator. The story was first reported by the NFL Network and was confirmed by our site.
Tomlin has offered the position to longtime assistant Randy Fichtner, who has accepted. The team must work out a new contract with Fichtner before announcing the move.
As for Haley, Tomlin issued the following statement: "I have made the decision to not renew the contract for offensive coordinator Todd Haley. I would like to thank Todd for his contributions to our offense the past six years, and we wish him the best in his coaching future."
The move doesn't come as a surprise considering Haley and Roethlisberger often clashed both publicly and privately. But Roethlisberger admitted Tuesday on his weekly call to 93.7 The Fan that he also clashed with former coordinators Ken Whisenhunt and Bruce Arians, as well.
"That happens with lots of coaches," Roethlisberger said. "That happened with me and Bruce. That happened with Whiz and myself. It’s not a new thing. I think it just is perceived (as) a bigger deal than it really was.”
Apparently not to Tomlin.
Haley was hired after the 2011 season to replace Arians with a mandate from team president Art Rooney II to change the Steelers' offense from the one that relied on deep drops by the quarterback and deep passes to a more ball-control attack that got the ball out of Roethlisberger's hands quickly. The idea was to try to extend Roethlisberger's career as he headed into his 30s.
With Arians running the offense, the Steelers won a Super Bowl in 2008 and went to another in 2010, but Roethlisberger also was one of the most sacked quarterbacks in the league, taking 186 from 2006 through 2009.
Under Haley, those sack numbers have dropped precipitously. In fact, in six years with Haley, Roethlisberger was sacked just 163 times, including just 21 times in 2017 when he was the least pressured quarterback in the NFL.
The offense also thrived, ranking in the top 10 in the NFL in both yards and scoring in each of the past four seasons, including third overall in 2017. The Steelers hadn't done that since the 1970s.
But there were also off-field issues, including an incident at Tequila Cowboy, a nightclub/restaurant two blocks from Heinz Field, where Haley was injured in the hours after the team's 28-24 regular season-ending win over Cleveland on New Year's Eve.
Haley grew up in the Pittsburgh suburbs and is the son of former longtime Steelers executive Dick Haley. He served as an assistant coach in the NFL for a number of teams, including Whisenhunt in Arizona when the Steelers defeated the Arizona Cardinals in the Super Bowl following the 2008 season. Prior to coming back to Pittsburgh, he spent three seasons as the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs before being fired.
Tomlin also was looking to shake up his staff following a disappointing 45-42 loss last Sunday against Jacksonville in a Divisional Playoff game. And with Roethlisberger telling teammates he wants to play at least three more seasons and the team wanting to sign him to a contract extension that will make that possible, Tomlin had to weigh keeping his star quarterback happy with keeping Haley.
Fichtner, who sometimes worked as a buffer between Haley and Roethlisberger, shouldn't have that issue. Soft-spoken and mild-mannered, Fichtner is the polar opposite of Haley.
He just completed his 11th season with the Steelers, including his eighth as Roethlisberger's position coach. Prior to that, he served as the team's receivers coach.
Fichtner, 54, has no NFL experience as an offensive coordinator but did serve as the play caller for both Arkansas State and Memphis.
