It’s a little telling about the state of the Pittsburgh Steelers that we in this city have become heavily invested into who takes over the offensive coordinator. Instead of talking about a team potentially still in the playoffs, we’re here instead.

That being said, this offseason does prove to be a very interesting one. With a lack of stability at quarterback, a very deep draft class at several positions, and conversations surrounding several key members of the roster, all that may be subject to who the Steelers hire at offensive coordinator.

The Steelers already did a distinctly un-Steelers thing regarding that position earlier during the season, when they fired Matt Canada midway through the year. Pittsburgh had not fired a coach mid-season since 1941.

Now, they are doing another distinctly un-Steelers thing: pursuing an outside hire.

Interim offensive coordinator Eddie Faulkner (previously the running backs coach) and interim play caller Mike Sullivan (previously the quarterbacks coach) did an alright job in relief of Canada, but the Steelers are very wise to look to the outside for their next hire at the position.

We already know of three names that the Steelers have already interviewed, plan to interview, or have confirmed interest in for their offensive coordinator position. They come from a wide range of backgrounds within the NFL, and all prove to be interesting names for the Steelers to look at.

NFL insider Peter King revealed yesterday during The Cook & Joe Show on 93.7 The Fan that the Steelers are set to meet with Kliff Kingsbury.

Kingsbury was the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals from 2019 to 2022. Under his reign in Arizona, the Cardinals experienced mixed results. In his first year, the offense experienced some growing pains under first overall pick Kyler Murray during his rookie season.

Arizona finished 5-10-1 that year, ranking 21st in the NFL in yards for and 16th in points. Despite their passing game being lacking, the Cardinals finished 10th in rushing yards.

In 2020, the Cardinals improved to 8-8, with increased rankings in yards (6th in the league) and points (13th in the league). They peaked in 2021, making a Wild Card game while recording their best win total (11) since 2015.

However, the team came crashing down in 2022. While all phases of the team were bad that year, the offense cratered, ranking even worse than Kingsbury’s first year in the NFL. An offense ranked 22nd in yards and 21st in points, as well as a 4-13 season forced Arizona to fire him.

This season, he worked as an offensive analyst and quarterbacks coach at the University of Southern California, where potential first overall pick Caleb Williams quarterbacked the USC Trojans.

Klingsbury also had prior experience in college, during which he had Patrick Mahomes at quarterback for three of his five years as head coach at Texas Tech. Despite having someone who would be a surefire Hall of Famer if he retired this very moment, Kingsbury could never win more than seven games in a season while Mahomes was there.

Whoever the Steelers end up with at quarterback, the Steelers will not have someone of the talent that Mahomes does. In that way, there should be some cause for concern that the quarterback position would still struggle with Kingsbury at the helm.

Kingsbury himself does have experience with the position; he played quarterback in college (at Texas Tech), was drafted, and spent time on NFL rosters and practice squads.

However, if he couldn’t do much with Patrick Mahomes, how could he with Kenny Pickett, Mason Rudolph, or whoever else the Steelers may have?

There’s also Zac Robinson, who comes from the Sean McVay coaching tree out in Los Angeles. Hired by the Rams in 2019 to be an assistant quarterbacks coach, Robinson was bumped up to wide receivers coach in 2020. He returned to his previous role in 2021, but since then, has excelled as a passing game coordinator for the Rams.

The Steelers are far from the only team interested in Robinson, and for good reason. While with the Rams, Robinson has watched the LA offense excel in the NFL. In 2021, when the Rams won the Super Bowl, LA finished 7th in points and 9th in yards.

This past season, now as a pass game coordinator, the Rams finished 8th in points and 7th in yards. It was also an offense that allowed rookie fifth round pick Puka Nacua turn into a contender for Offensive Rookie of the Year, setting an NFL record for most receiving yards by a rookie.

Robinson also has a deep connection to pending free agent quarterback Mason Rudolph. Robinson helped Rudolph prepare for his combine ahead of the draft back in 2018. The two were even roommates at one point.

If the Steelers are in need of ways to convince Rudolph to stick around, bringing in Robinson might help swing Rudolph back east towards Pittsburgh. That’s not to take away from Robinson’s success with the Rams, however.

He wouldn’t be the first person with Rams ties to come over to the Steelers recently. Heck, he wouldn’t even be the first “Robinson” from the Rams to join Pittsburgh.

It’s also worth noting that Rams head coach Sean McVay had Robinson call the plays during a preseason game this year for LA. So while he may have no previous experience with that title, the concept wouldn’t be completely foreign to him.

Though this next candidate is a little less directly linked to the Steelers, we can use some deductive reasoning to assume that Pittsburgh is one of the teams interested in him.

Thanks to reporting from Dianna Russini of The Athletic, we know that former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith has “received serious interest from more than seven teams about joining their offensive staff as the offensive coordinator.”

There are eight teams that currently have a vacancy at the offensive coordinator position. “More than seven” means at least eight, so we have to assume that the Steelers are amongst those teams.

Smith, coming off a recent firing as head coach in Atlanta, went 7-10 in all three years at the helm with the Falcons. His time with Atlanta came to an unceremonious end, with him being rather heated at New Orleans Saints head coach Dennis Allen, after the Saints had run up the score in the season finale.

Smith’s time as a head coach did not go all that swimmingly. Under his reign, the Falcons underused key players. Running back Bijan Robinson, the eighth overall pick in last spring’s draft, had 11 or fewer rushing attempts in eight games this season. For a Steelers-related comparison, Najee Harris had 11 or fewer carries in just three games this year, none of which came after Week 8.

Bijan Robinson was one of several players who could be described as underused in Atlanta over the last few years.

But maybe this was a sign that Smith is a far better offensive coordinator than he is head coach. That’s just how it shakes out for some people.

Smith’s better days came in Tennessee, where he spent the majority of his coaching career. Elevated to the offensive coordinator job in 2019, Smith really hit his stride that year, when his offense helped lead the Titans all the way to the AFC Championship game.

With Ryan Tannehill at quarterback, the Titans defeated the Patriots in New England (Tom Brady’s last year there), then put up a convincing 28-12 win against the Ravens in Baltimore, who were 14-2 that year.

Smith’s offense benefitted heavily from having a future Hall of Famer by the name of Derrick Henry at running back. Henry led the NFL in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and rushing yards per game that year.

While the Steelers may not have a running back on the same level as Henry, they do have two great backs in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. Smith also has several years of experience as a tight ends coach, maybe helping unlock an underused position group for Pittsburgh that includes Pat Freiermuth, Connor Heyward, and Darnell Washington.

For how good Tennessee’s offense was in 2019, it was statistically much better in 2020. Despite a much earlier playoff exit, the Titans were 2nd in the NFL in yards per game and 4th in points per game.

Those eye-popping numbers are what landed him the Atlanta job, and while things did not ever reach the same amount of success there, that’s not to say he couldn’t rekindle that progress as an offensive coordinator again.

(Featured photo of Zac Robinson by Cooper Neill/Getty Images)