Todd Haley was the Arizona Cardinals offensive coordinator in 2007 and 2008. He called the plays for the Cardinals offense that led them to Super Bowl 43; the only Super Bowl in franchise history. During his time with the Cardinals Haley formed a strong relationship with the Cardinals’ ownership.
After the 2008 season Haley left the Cardinals to become the Kansas City Chiefs head coach. Following the 2011 season the Chiefs fired Haley as their head coach and he started looking for another job as an offensive coordinator. The Cardinals owners wanted him to return to Arizona, but he signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers instead.
2012 was not a good season for the Cardinals and they recently fired Ken Whisenhunt, a former Steelers’ offensive coordinator, and are now searching for their next head coach. Andy Reid, the former head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, interviewed for the Cardinals job, but has now become the next head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Other candidates could include the Cincinnati Bengals offensive and defensive coordinators. Jay Gruden, the younger brother of Jon Gruden, has helped form the Bengals offense into a unit that has made back-to-back playoff appearances. Gruden is scheduled to meet with the Cardinals today. The Cardinals could also look at Mike Zimmer, the Bengals defensive coordinator, who has helped build a young defense that may be even more impressive than Gruden’s offensive unit.
The only other candidates, as of now, are the Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton, another former Steelers assistant coach, and Todd Haley. Arizona formally asked for permission to interview Haley for their open head coaching spot and were granted permission by the Steelers.
However, on Wednesday Todd Haley’s agent said there would be no interview. Then Steelers beat reporter Ed Bouchette posted via Twitter that Haley was on his way to meet with the Cardinals to interview for the position. That report was then said to be wrong with Haley’s agent again stating that Haley was happy with coaching for the Steelers. Late in the day, however, the Steelers team president Art Rooney II stated that Haley was interviewing for the head coaching spot with the Cardinals this week.
So for arguments sake let’s assume that Haley is interviewing for the position and takes the job with the Cardinals; what happens to with the Steelers’ offensive coordinator spot? Here is a list of potential replacements:
Kirby Wilson – According to many Steelers sources Wilson was Tomlin’s first choice to become the team’s new offensive coordinator before his accident a year ago. For those who don’t remember Wilson suffered serious injuries in a fire. If Tomlin still wants Wilson as his offensive coordinator he could now give him the chance to show what he can do. This move may make some Steelers fans happy as Wilson is a running-backs coach and will likely look to fix and focus on the running game.
Randy Fichtner – Fichtner would be the other choice if the Steelers want to keep someone in house as the offensive coordinator. From 2007-2010 Fichtner served as the Steelers wide receivers coach, but became the quarterbacks coach in 2010 when Ken Anderson retired. Ben Roethlisberger is sure to have some say in who becomes the new offensive coordinator after the supposed issues with Todd Haley. If he wants Fichtner to get the job it may just come to that.
Norv Turner – Turner has been a very good offensive coordinator, but not as good of a head coach. He is out in San Diego, but could be looking for an offensive coordinator position. Turner is a very smart offensive mind and has head coaching experience. Turner could be an offensive coordinator/assistant head coach type who could help coach Tomlin when it comes to making certain in-game decisions; something Tomlin has struggled with at times, at least according to some analysts and fans.
Mike Mularkey – Mularkey served as the Steelers offensive coordinator from 2001-2003 before becoming the Bills head coach in 2004. From 2006-2011 Mularkey worked with both the Miami Dolphins and Atlanta Falcons serving as offensive coordinator for both teams. In 2012 he became the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach. Like Norv Turner above Mularkey is a better coordinator than head coach.
Ken Whisenhunt – Whisenhunt is looking for another head coaching spot and the bridges with the Steelers are likely burned at this point. Whisenhunt was said to be the front runner for the Steelers head coaching spot in 2007 before the job went to Mike Tomlin. There is a less than one percent chance that Whisenhunt would return to the Steelers if offered the job.
Someone else? – There are a lot of quality coaches out there and the Steelers could try and find another option from an NFL team or from college.
