Steelers Want Fresh Start With New Offensive Coordinator

Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin wants new blood calling his offense next season.

PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers have a vacancy at offensive coordinator as they enter the 2024 offseason and head coach Mike Tomlin is approaching the search for a new play-caller with an open mind to different voices joining the organization. 

His goals for a new Steelers play-caller are fairly straightforward - the new scheme led by new personnel has to be adaptable, able to pressure opponents and, most importantly, high-scoring.  

"I want us to be versatile and dynamic," Tomlin said. "Obviously, we have to score more points. We have to keep defenses off balance. I want to utilize all the talent we have at our disposal." 

Tomlin said the Steelers are not looking at interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner and play-caller Mike Sullivan, who combined to fill in for the dismissed Matt Canada, are not candidates for the job "at this juncture" and that the organization is looking primarily at outside candidates to fill the job. 

"I'm looking at outside candidates and lining up the pecking order there," Tomlin said. "I'm appreciative of [Faulkner and Sullivan's] efforts there and what they did for us down the stretch, but I'm looking at outside candidates at this juncture."

Tomlin added there will be further changes to the offensive staff and he is open to adding additional members to that group over the offseason.  

He provided more detail to what the select group of Steelers brass - Tomlin himself, general manager Omar Khan and owner Art Rooney II - charged with leading the search will be looking for. He said the Steelers want someone who has prior play-calling experience in the NFL and can help their second-year starter, Kenny Pickett, grow as he enters year three as a professional football player. 

"This game is quarterback-driven, offenses are quarterback-driven," Tomlin said. "And so their expertise in that area is a significant component of the search from that perspective." 

The Steelers are expected to go through a number of changes this offseason, few bigger than the one at offensive coordinator. And Tomlin is eager to take on that search and wants to keep an open mind about where his offense can evolve. 

"I'm excited about this process and the talent pool out there based on what I've see so far," Tomlin said. "I'm really open to kind of learning through this process and seeing what people have to say about their visions. So certainly have a vision for what it will look like but open to learning through this process."

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