Art Rooney II explains why Steelers kept Matt Canada as OC

Pittsburgh Steelers team president Art Rooney II told reporters Thursday the club retained offensive coordinator Matt Canada largely because of Canada's relationship with rookie quarterback Kenny Pickett.

"They seem to work well together," Rooney said of the Canada-Pickett partnership, per Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. "They built a good working relationship. To start over with a new offensive coordinator, you could wind up back in the same situation again where the first half of the season you’re breaking in a new coordinator. We felt like there is enough there to build on that we can continue to keep that group together." 

Canada became a scapegoat among pockets of Pittsburgh fans after the club narrowly missed out on the playoffs despite posting a decent 9-8 record. According to ESPN, the Steelers finished the regular season tied for 26th in scoring with an average of 18.1 points per game. Pittsburgh began the campaign at 3-7 but then won six of seven contests through Week 18. 

"You want to see a team improve over the course of the season, start to finish — no matter what your record is," Rooney remarked. "What you’re shooting for is to get better as the season goes on. I thought we did that. Obviously, you’d rather not dig too deep of a hole at the beginning of the season, which unfortunately we did." 

ESPN notes that Pickett ended his debut pro season 33rd out of 34 eligible quarterbacks with a woeful 76.7 passer rating. He was 20th out of 31 eligible players with a 51.6 total QBR, he matched seven touchdown passes with nine interceptions and he added three rushing scores. However, only one of his picks occurred after Week 8. 

Rooney did say he "wouldn’t take anything off the table" as it pertains to hiring a senior offensive assistant to work with Canada. If Pickett endures a sophomore slump next fall, such an assistant could ultimately replace Canada, perhaps even before Thanksgiving Day.