PITTSBURGH — This isn’t the way in which Eddie Faulkner wished to get the most important job of his skilled life.
Faulkner and Matt Canada are pals. Their wives are pals. Their households are pals. It’s a bond that goes again properly over a decade, a bond that hardly ended when the Pittsburgh Steelers fired Canada as their offensive coordinator on Tuesday and changed him with Faulkner, the energetic 46-year-old working backs coach who’s properly conscious of how the promotion might alter the trajectory of his profession.
Not that he needs to speak about it a lot. Yes, Faulkner is grateful and excited for the chance. No, he’s not thrilled it needed to come at Canada’s expense, significantly when the blame for Pittsburgh’s offensive struggles goes far past somebody who means a lot to him.
“We feel like we let (Canada) down,” Faulkner mentioned Thursday.
Maybe, however head coach Mike Tomlin had seen sufficient to really feel a uncommon midseason transfer was required for a franchise that’s among the many most secure in skilled sports.
Tomlin chosen Faulkner because the coordinator on an interim foundation, with quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan dealing with the play-calling duties on Sunday when Pittsburgh (6-4) visits Cincinnati (5-5).
The transfer makes Faulkner one among a handful of Black males at the moment within the place within the NFL, a job thought-about a major stepping stone to changing into a head coach.
“I’d be lying if I said I didn’t think it was a blessing,” Faulkner mentioned. “I totally understand it. You know what I’m saying? Like, I’m at the point in my career where I totally understand the opportunity that’s there. But at the same time, it’s not clouding what the task at hand is.”
Namely, making an attempt to get Pittsburgh’s Twenty eighth-ranked offense to point out indicators of progress. The Steelers have remained within the crowded AFC playoff race regardless of a unit that struggles to generate factors or yards with any regularity.
Pittsburgh has survived on the energy of its protection and the power to discover a approach to pull out shut video games within the remaining moments.
It’s not a components that’s sustainable long run, and the tipping level got here after a 13-10 loss to Cleveland final Sunday by which quarterback Kenny Pickett threw for simply 106 yards.
By Tuesday morning, Canada’s two-plus 12 months tenure was over and the detail-oriented Faulkner discovered himself in command of restoring a few of the efficiency and swagger to an offense that has lacked it far too usually.
The creative Faulkner has spent 5 years working with Pittsburgh’s working backs, the place he’s developed a status for a “sure, why not?” method to his job.
He’ll scour social media for drills he thinks would possibly work, the previous faculty working again at Wisconsin – with a short stint in coaching camp with the Steelers in 2001 – taking nice glee in difficult the group of 20-somethings at his disposal.
“He’s maybe one of the most influential coaches I’ve ever had in my life,” mentioned second-year Steelers working again Jaylen Warren. “The way he goes about his job. The energy he brings. It can rub off on us.”
Pittsburgh’s offense might use a jolt. Faulkner plans to be on the sideline throughout video games so he can talk with place teams and collaborate with Sullivan in between collection.
One of his greatest duties shall be discovering a method to assist Pickett evolve. The second-year starter has simply six landing passes on the season and solely two since Oct. 1. Getting the ball downfield has been a difficulty, and Pickett has appeared tentative and not sure within the pocket of late.
Faulkner understands his relationship with Pickett will shift over the following two months, however he additionally has no plans to alter every thing and begin over.
“I don’t plan on doing anything crazy in the sense of ‘OK, now all of a sudden you listen to me,’” Faulker mentioned.
The identical may be mentioned of the method. Faulkner isn’t going to delete Canada’s playbook from the tablets. That’s one thing that occurs within the offseason, not throughout the stretch run.
“You’ve got to roll with what we’ve been doing,” he mentioned.
They simply have to do it at the next stage. The son of educators, Faulkner believes in taking a collaborative method and utilizing all of the assets on his workers to assist tweak issues looking for progress. He identified the workforce has a number of assistants who had been offensive coordinators in some unspecified time in the future of their careers – together with Faulkner, who did it for 2 years at Ball State in 2009-10.
Back then Faulkner thought his talent set would possibly finest be served on the collegiate stage. Not a lot anymore.
He’s one of many important causes Warren has advanced from undrafted rookie free agent to the 1B within the backfield to 2021 first-round decide Najee Harris’ 1A.
The two have helped the Steelers pile up 543 yards dashing over the previous three weeks. While there shall be a concerted effort to make the passing recreation extra dynamic, Pittsburgh figures to attempt to let Warren and Harris go to work and construct out from there.
It’s an method that fueled a 7-2 run to finish the 2022 season, an method that Canada put collectively and that appeared to trace at higher days in 2023. That hasn’t materialized via 10 video games and now Faulkner finds himself in a highlight he’s each making an attempt to welcome and in addition block out on the identical time.
This is a job he all the time wished. Maybe it would result in larger issues down the street. Maybe it received’t. At the second, it doesn’t matter.
“There was really no like, ‘Oh, this could segue into this or that,’” he mentioned. “This was all about getting ready for the Bengals, and that’s been my only focus.”
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