Steelers Now
A former member of the Pittsburgh Steelers did not hold back on his feelings about offensive coordinator Matt Canada.
It is not secret that former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Matt Canada‘s tenure with the team was an utter failure, so much so that he became the first offensive coordinator in team history to be fired in-season. However, former Steelers tight end Eric Ebron recently added some salt to those wounds.
“Sometimes the OC be on bullshit,” Ebron said on Not Just Football with Cam Heyward. “You know who our OC was. … We had bald bro, Matt Canada. … Why the f*** are we trying to run the ball? We’re trying to score.”
Canada served as the Steelers offensive coordinator and primary play caller from 2021-23. His tenure in Pittsburgh was marked by average results for the team in the win-loss column but near-league-low offensive totals.
The Steelers finished 21st in scoring and 23rd in total yards in 2021, 26th in scoring and 23rd in yards in 2022, and were 28th in scoring and 30th in yards at the time of his firing in 2023.
Ebron isn’t the first Steeler publicly expose Canada, though. Former cornerback Patrick Peterson also made it very clear that he was not a fan of the offense that Canada was running with the team in 2023.
“Not to point the finger at the playcaller, but I don’t know what type of plays were running out there on offense when we had Matt Canada with us,” Peterson said. “I just feel like we were super stagnant. We did nothing to exploit the defense. I just feel like we were very basic and elementary.”
Canada, 54, is an Indiana native, who came to national prominence as a college offensive coordinator after successful runs at Wisconsin, NC State and Pitt. His innovate scheme put him into the spotlight and he ended up landing the coveted job at LSU in 2017. Things did not work there, and quickly, as Canada and head coach Ed Oregon didn’t see eye to eye.
He was then hired as the offensive coordinator at Maryland in 2018 but was promoted to interim head coach when D.J. Durkin was fired, following the on-field death of a player during Maryland’s pre-season conditioning.
Canada lead the Terrapins to a 5-7 record but was not retained. He later joined the Steelers staff as quarterbacks coach in 2020 before being promoted to offensive coordinator to replace Randy Fichtner after his contract expired in 2021.
Alan Saunders contributed.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Former Steeler Blasts Ex-OC Matt Canada: ‘We’re Trying to Score’
