Jan 20, 2018 4 min read

In all of the predictions that came before last weekend’s AFC Divisional Playoff game between the Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars, nobody had either team scoring in the 40s.

Heck, the point total set in Las Vegas by the time the game kicked off was 40½ points.

Who knew the Steelers would score 42 points against one of the stingiest defenses in the NFL? Who knew the Jaguars would put up 45, the most the Steelers have allowed in a playoff game since the 1985 AFC Championship against Miami.

Only there was no Dan Marino on the field for the Jaguars last Sunday.

The result of that was the Steelers’ playoff season ending almost as quickly as it started, a disappointing finish to what was once a promising journey.

The fallout from that defeat has not been overwhelming changes on the defense – at least not yet. No, the first move head coach Mike Tomlin made was to not renew the contract of offensive coordinator Todd Haley.

He told the members of his defensive coaching staff their jobs were safe.

Haley was let go not because of on-field performance. The Steelers have been a top-10 team in scoring and yardage in each of the past four seasons, the first time that has happened in Pittsburgh since the 1970s. And he did what he was tasked to do when hired, which was to keep quarterback Ben Roethlisberger upright and playing into his late 30s.

But, at the end of the day, it was his relationship with Roethlisberger that cost him his job.

Haley can be, to put it nicely, an abrasive individual on the sideline. And Roethlisberger doesn’t like to be told what to do.

Tomlin decided that the relationship wasn’t something that could be salvaged, though it was obvious that both men benefited from working together.

Roethlisberger got what he wanted. But, as the old adage goes, be careful what you wish for.

Roethlisberger has not been shy about throwing his coaches under the bus. Now that he’s gotten his hand-picked coordinator, Randy Fichtner, in place, there’s nobody to point the finger at when things go wrong.

The other problem with allowing the quarterback to pick the offensive coordinator is the message it sends to the rest of the team.

After all, if you’re Antonio Brown, with the retirement of wide receivers coach Richard Mann, shouldn’t you get to pick your position coach?

Get ready for receivers coach Chad Ocho Cinco.

Can this whole thing work without massive changes? Sure. The Steelers still have a talented roster returning in 2018. It’s one that put together a 13-3 record and was within one reviewed play of beating the Patriots at home and being the top seed in the AFC playoffs.

In the end, the defense was unable to account for the loss of linebacker Ryan Shazier, the one player capable of making plays at all three levels of the defense.

That is essentially what Tomlin is telling us when the only change he makes on the coaching staff is in offensive coordinators.

• With the promotion of Fichtner, the Steelers have a coaching power structure that helped lead Arkansas State to a 4-8 record.

Fichtner was the offensive coordinator for the Red Wolves that season. In 1997, his receivers coach was a young Mike Tomlin.

But in 1998, Tomlin moved over to the defensive side of the ball to coach defensive backs. The defensive coordinator on that team was current Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler.

• The NFL announced Gene Steratore will be the referee for the Super Bowl.

The Washington County resident will be officiating his first Super Bowl but won’t be the first member of his family to do so.

His brother, Tony Steratore, worked Super Bowl XXXIX in 2005 and Super Bowl XLVI in 2012 as a back judge.

They also are not the first officials with area ties to offciate the NFL’s biggest game.

Fayette City native and California University graduate Dale Hamer worked two Super Bowls as a head linesman, the last one in 1988.

And Charleroi’s Joe Connell worked three Super Bowls as a head linesman, in 1972, 1976 and 1978.