Thomas Brown’s stint as OC for the Panthers was rough, but the Steelers clearly saw something they liked.
Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin knows his team’s offense needs a breath of fresh air. Air from outside the Steelers facility. On Wednesday, he took a step towards achieving that goal.
The Steelers confirmed that the organization interviewed Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown for the same job, per the team’s account on X (formerly Twitter.) Pittsburgh fired former OC Matt Canada midseason, after issues on offense threatened to torpedo the team’s playoff chances.
Widely expected to take a step forward under second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett, the Steelers offense was among the most unproductive in the NFL this season.
Matt Canada
Pittsburgh was the fifth-lowest scoring team in the league. Its offense ranked eighth in total yards per game and passing yards per game.
Pickett, surrounded by a talented group of playmakers, failed to take a step forward in his first full season as the team’s starting quarterback. He only played in 12 games because of injury, but when he did suit up, the results weren’t pretty. His 38.4 QBR for the season ranked 27th among qualifiers; only Mac Jones, Bryce Young, and Zach Wilson were worse.
Canada was let go on November 21, following a 13-10 loss to the Cleveland Browns that saw Pickett threw for just 106 yards on 28 pass attempts.
What would Brown bring to Steelers?
Brown has been a popular name around the NFL, conducting two interviews with the Tennessee Titans for their head-coaching job already. He’s also been linked to the Chicago Bears’ open coordinator position.
It’s a testament to Brown’s reputation that he is still a hot commodity after the season he just endured with the Panthers.
Carolina was one of four teams to score fewer points per game than the Steelers, and the offense ranked at the bottom of just about every meaningful offensive statistic.
Brown took over play-calling duties during the season after head coach Frank Reich gave them up to try to jolt the offense. But in a desperate bid to save his job, Reich took them back after three games. Once Reich was canned, Brown again took over calling plays for the remainder of the season.
