The narrative is Ben Roethlisberger and Todd Haley were oil and water. Two clashing personalities that may have produced on the field but not well enough off it. Haley paints a different picture of their relationship. Appearing on the Mangia Cast podcast, Haley says the media narrative isn’t the correct one.
“You guys just brought up perception,” Haley told hosts Bob Papa and Chris Bisignano.” Perception is not reality. We played golf together. We played darts together. I think coaching is how you coach somebody. With Ben, I went about it a little different way. His good friend was on our staff. Our quarterbacks coach. I figured out pretty quickly that if I talked to Randy Fichtner, who became the coordinator after I was there, that Ben would pay attention.
“I never yelled at Ben. Never said a word to Ben. But if I called Randy over after a bad play, Ben would work his way around the practice field. And I’d see him say, ‘What did he say?’ I coached through [a] conduit.”
Fichtner and Roethlisberger had a strong relationship. Fitchner joined the Steelers early in his career, hired by Mike Tomlin in 2007 after spending time together at Arkansas State a decade earlier. Fichtner’s role changed over time. First, a wide receivers coach. Then a quarterbacks coach before being promoted to succeed Haley in 2018. He lasted through the 2021 season. Fichtner’s more laid-back personality meshed well with Roethlisberger, giving him the freedom to play the game how he saw fit.
Though Haley and Roethlisberger may have hung out off the field, his explanation doesn’t add up. Attempting to claim a healthy relationship with the explanation of “I never criticized him and had to go through another coach instead” only reinforces the narrative of issues between the two.
If a quarterback and coordinator can’t even have a conversation to correct issues, that’s a problem. One that surely wasn’t lost on Mike Tomlin, who moved on from Haley even after a 2017 season in which Pittsburgh finished third in scoring and saw Roethlisberger throw nearly 30 touchdown passes.
“He was phenomenal,” Haley said of Roethlisberger’s play.
Be that as it may, the relationship wasn’t tenable. In fairness, elevating Fichtner to offensive coordinator might not have been the best move either. No one was left to challenge Roethlisberger in the final years of his career. Those two were arguably too close, which didn’t allow for growth that comes from evaluation and correction.
Arthur Smith and Aaron Rodgers’ relationship looks like the happy medium. Strong but level-headed personalities who get along but are capable of challenging one another. It’s taken the Steelers’ offense to a new level. The only question is how long the two will work together. Rodgers turns 42 next month with an uncertain career past 2025. Smith could be a hot head-coaching candidate this cycle.
If the two part, Pittsburgh will look to replicate that relationship in the offseason. A job far easier said than done, as past coordinators are proof of.
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