Pittsburgh Steelers: What to expect from Randy Fichtner

The Pittsburgh Steelers will open the 2018 season with a new offensive coordinator in Randy Fichtner. What can you expect from him?

The Pittsburgh Steelers waved good-bye to Todd Haley after six years of play-calling this past week. Haley, who drew significant criticism for play-selection and decision-making, was told by head coach Mike Tomlin that his contract would not be renewed, effectively ending his tenure in Pittsburgh. Haley’s legacy, through the goggles of your run-of-the-mill Steelers fan, will carry little positive energy, as he was unable to exert the true potential of what is considered to be one of the best offenses around the league.

Shortly after news broke of an opening at the offensive coordinator position, rumors began swirling of then-quarterback coach Randy Fichtner as a potential favorite to land the new role. Fichtner, who has worked with quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for the past eight seasons, continued a franchise tradition of in-house promotions and was announced as the Steelers new offensive coordinator just a few days removed from the Haley departure.

Fichtner offered the following words via the Steelers official website:

"“We have the nucleus to be successful, and I am thrilled about the chance to lead the offense as we have already started preparing for the 2018 season.”"

The Fichtner promotion, along with the dismissal of Haley, has been met with a wide array of viewpoints. Majority of Steelers fans appear giddy for not only Haley to be out of the position, but for someone close to Roethlisberger to take over the duties. However others are not so keen on the new change of scenery, with many citing the Steelers’ recent 42 point effort against arguably the best defense in the league. Whether you were for or against a fresh face for play-calling, the reality now exists that Fichtner will likely be around as long as Roethlisberger laces his cleats up in Pittsburgh.

So what can we expect out of the newly promoted offensive coordinator?

Fichtner’s resume

This will be Fichtner’s first stint as an offensive coordinator in the NFL, however he has previous experience calling plays at the collegiate level. Fichtner’s play-calling days date back to Arkansas State from 1997-2000 before resuming that same role at Memphis from 2001-2006. He entered the organization as a wide receivers coach in 2007 before moving to coaching quarterbacks in 2010.

Fichtner’s time at both Arkansas State and Memphis can be viewed as a success when looking at the numbers, with his offense setting multiple all-time records for both schools. Through his tenure with the Steelers, Fichtner has developed receivers in the likes Antonio Brown, Emmanuel Sanders, Mike Wallace and more. Along with his development in the receiving department, Fichtner has guided Roethlisberger to career years in categories such as touchdowns, passing yards and total quarterback rating as well.

Big Ben now has more freedom

It was no secret Ben and Haley weren’t exactly best friends during their time together. The two would sometimes exchange subtle blows, with multiple reports surfacing that Roethlisberger was unhappy with Haley’s style of coaching. Friction between the two likely played a minor role in the decision to not bring Haley back. Given the close rapport Fichtner/Roethlisberger have built over the last eight years, that was also likely a reason Fichtner was able to notch the promotion.

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One of the biggest criticisms in Haley’s offense was the lack of wiggle room Ben had to work with. After their divisional round loss to the Jaguars, Roethlisberger made it known he was unable to check into another play in critical moments such as the two failed fourth-down conversions where the ball was pitched into the backfield as opposed to a quarterback sneak.

A few weeks prior to their playoff game, Ben’s limitations were also seen on national television against the New England Patriots, where he was denied the ability to call a play at the line of scrimmage or spike the ball in the winding seconds of the game, a moment where Big Ben heaved a last-second interception into the end zone.

Given the relationship with Fichtner, many expect the chains to be broken off of Roethlisberger. It’s no secret Roethlisberger has played his best when he’s free to make his own adjustments on the fly. Additionally, the Steelers seemed to shy away from running the no-huddle, which Big Ben has proven to excel at. The new offense should be more user-friendly for Roethlisberger, both in terms of making calls and speeding up the tempo at will.

Simple is better

“As a playcaller, Randy never got credit for this publicly, but he was one of the pioneers of tempo and the one-word playcalls” said Memphis head coach Tommy West in an interview with ESPN‘s Jeremy Fowler.

Another downfall of Haley was his inability to simplify the offense, or make simple calls in general. Often times it felt as if Haley was trying to out-smart the opposing defense, only for it to fire right back at him, and thus where a lot of his criticism drew from. Whether it be a draw play on second-and-20 deep in Steelers territory, or a deep play action on third-and-short, Haley’s legacy will rest in the drawn-up screen plays in scenarios where they simply made no sense.

Although Fichtner has yet to shape himself as a play-caller at the professional level, history tells us things won’t be as complicated for this Steelers offense in years prior. Coach West also commented on Fichtner’s preparation as a play-caller, saying “I thought a strength of Randy’s was anticipating things coming up. He was really good at knowing what’s coming and having plays ready for each circumstance.”

What to expect

While Haley left with a lot of negative stigma, he did leave a foundation for Fichtner to build upon on the offensive side of the ball. It appears the only thing Haley/Fichtner have in common is a desire to bring a championship to the Steelers organization. Outside of that shared goal, the two could not be more opposite. Fichtner is the yin to Haley’s yang, from play-calling philosophy down to their personalities.

What should Steelers fans expect in 2018? As established earlier, the bulk of what Fichtner will do on the offensive side of the ball remains a mystery. What we do know, however, there remains a big chance Roethlisberger is handed the keys to the offense.

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Expect to see a lot of what you saw last year, except with minor tweaks. The usage of Le’Veon Bell will be interesting to monitor, along with the volume Antonio Brown receives as well. Will Pittsburgh continue to run often out of the shotgun and maintain similar spread tendencies? It’s likely some of the offense will be carried over into 2018, or at least for the first part before Fichtner establishes his style of offense.

Haley’s offensive game-plan at times resembled a spread offense, similar to what might be ran with Fichtner at the helm. The play-calling of Fichtner promises a more balanced, simple approach when compared to Haley’s offense, however. Expect more up-tempo play-calling (when it is dictated by game-flow), better situational play-calling (no more screens on third-and-forever) and expect the Steelers offense to open up more in 2018.

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