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Matt Canada

Discussion in 'Steelers Talk' started by Chinchilla, Sep 29, 2021.

  1. Chinchilla

    Chinchilla Well-Known Member

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    I apologize in advance if this one has been beaten to death and it does look of bad optics as to the timing of this question but looking at his resume...I just see the one good year @ Pitt.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Canada

    What I am asking is if there are any alums or fans here that can comment on what they saw when he coached the teams in the above link that kept his stock always pointing up.

    Again...They could very well put up 50+ points and 500 yards of offense every game out but I am just trying to understand how he got promoted in the first place.

    Is there a connect the dots type history thing going on or maybe Ben and Matt hit it off around Randy and Ben made a case (Again...hypotheticals...but I just dont see the typical credentials unless he wowed the Rooneys or was being pursued by other teams.

    Thoughts?
     
  2. Rel

    Rel Well-Known Member

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    Canadas offenses are a lot of pre-snap motions, play-action, boot legs, and medium to deep middle passes. None of which Ben has the ability to run. Canada is here for the next guy IMO.
     
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  3. Chinchilla

    Chinchilla Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for taking the time...so lack of a better term ... a lot of pre snap window dressing? As far as the other attributes you mention...there maybe is a longer term plan which makes sense vs the current snapshot.
     
  4. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    I already said a bunch . Only team I watched every game He was on was LSU....they got rid of Him, and 2 years later Won a National Championship.
    I'm not a LSU fan but have family that went there, and Friends that are Fans , and they hated Him. :shrug:
     
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  5. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    What were their reasons? New identity on offense wasn't what they liked? He was bad at his job? The results weren't what was expected? Sometimes in situations like that I look at what someone was trying to accomplish vs what was there.
     
  6. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    Their offense got worse.
    You are talking about a team that will fire their Coach if they lose more then 3 games back 2 back seasons. When they had Him they went 9- 4. They got rid of Him, and went 10- 3 , 15-0 National Championship.
     
  7. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    That's a tough fan base to keep happy then. I remember after the scandal and Bill O'Brien took over for Penn State I just hated everything he did because it wasn't how Paterno did it.
     
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  8. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    Watch and See if they don't fire their coach after this Year , and He Won a National Championship in 2019.
     
  9. troybellringer55

    troybellringer55 Well-Known Member

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    I saw the Penguins twice fire a coach in the middle of a season only to win the Stanley Cup the same season.

    I was like dang we should just fire the coach every year. Championship....
     
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  10. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    Not sure if Bylsma gets credit for the 09 cup run but I know he didn't rock the boat when brought up. Therrien's defensive system really chuffed Crosby and Malkin. Dan just let them loose. Jordan Staal really came into his own that year.

    Firing Johnson was kinda the same deal. His system didn't fit the core and once you lost respect from Letang Sid and Geno you are toast. Sully let them play that 200ft game and they took off.
     
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  11. Hawaii 5-0

    Hawaii 5-0 Well-Known Member

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    [​IMG]
     
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  12. MadtownDruankard

    MadtownDruankard Well-Known Member

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    I'm not a huge college fan so my opinion of his time at Wisconsin probably doesn't mean much. I've had several serious badger fans make jokes to me after it was announced that we promoted Canada to the OC job. They were basically shocked and said WOW the steelers are gonna suck this year! How did he get that job? They reminded me that his time in Madison was short but probably produced the worst offense in a long time. It was a very basic offense if you ignored the pre snap motions that often led to pre snap penalties. He got credit for our running game which IMO was stupid because we had one of the best O-lines int he country when he showed up. We ran the ball down everyone's throats and I don't think it mattered who the OC was...that was going to be the case. I heard that he ran a pro style offense but the badgers were clearly not capable of running it or he just ran the offense that was given to him. Not sure which. IMO the evidence / history that says he's some sort of offensive guru is weak at best. The thing about college coaches...if they're in a position to physically dominate the opponent because of mismatches...then does it really matter what scheme you are using? In the NFL the talent is all pretty close. So it's all about prep and play makers making plays. Obviously the coaches should be putting those players in the best position to succeed and making sure they are ready to execute every play before the first snap.

    The thing that really stood out to me was our terrible QB play while he was here. We ran the ball with ease...the passing game still sucked. So when we made him the QB coach I was like...what the hell? But what do I know.

    IMO it doesn't matter what scheme you use. As a coach it comes down to preparing every unit on the team to play sharp, mistake free football. The most disciplined teams almost always win. Just don't make mistakes and you'll be in the game. Then it comes down to scheme, match ups, playmakers, officials, and luck. Right now we can't seem to do any one thing well. So to me it all starts at the top. Good leaders do not have players quit on the them. Good leaders put their players in position to succeed ....if the player is not ready to succeed they don't play. Think of any good boss you have ever had....great bosses have you prepared and do not put in you in a to likely to fail situation. If they do by mistake they correct it. I see a team with no accountability. The offensive players don't buy into the system. This magnifies issues and takes away from focus. I've seen some breakdown videos of our offense over the last year and it's shocking . We are trying to force a square peg into a round hole. We keep trying to force a game plan that every team has shown to have figured out since the Ravens first game last season.

    I huge part of our issues comes down to the routes our WR's are now running . They have actually changed what is being asked of the WR's. either that or our WR's cant run routes properly but I think that's not the case. I think they're doing what was coached . Many of the routes now force Ben to be even more accurate with deep balls and less comfortable throwing them. THEN you add in the fact that Ben is also struggling with deep ball accuracy. It's tough to say what the issue is on every play because you don't know where the WR was asked to do... if the ball is on the outside and the WR angles inside it makes the ball nearly uncatchable ...if defenders are playing us that way then it also makes every catch contested. And vice verse. We are now dealing with 1 safety deep on most plays. Ben and our WR's should be eating them for lunch. Why the hell is that not happening? WR's are running into the coverage, not getting open, OR the route is flawed, or the WR is making the wrong read, or Ben is making bad throws. All of these things are the issues. It's not one problem. The WR's and Ben should be reading the defender to know what angle to take and were Ben should place the ball. It seems like one of them is always wrong...sometimes both end up making the wrong read and it's an embarrassing throw.
     
    Last edited: Sep 29, 2021
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  13. MadtownDruankard

    MadtownDruankard Well-Known Member

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    Everyone has been busting Ben's balls for that screen pass behind the LOS of 4th down. And rightfully so...that was an embarrassing play for sure. I honestly think that was Ben making a point that the OC F'ed up. Ben knew at the LOS that the playcall was terrible .... he probably made the read that he was told to make in the situation he saw...which was dump the ball to the RB behind the LOS. Which means they called the wrong play for the situation. If this is happening often then it's obvious why he is clearly frustrated. It's also possible some other players ran the wrong routes and Ben was like WTF and just dumped it. Point is I have a harder time believing a veteran QB like Ben made that mistake vs a very inexperienced OC calling the wrong play or a young clearly undisciplined WR group botching the play immediately.

    3 drops in a row says it all. Also when they finally went into a no huddle Ben started putting the ball right were the WR needed it to be.
     
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  14. Rel

    Rel Well-Known Member

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    He and Orgeron started having a difference of opinion almost day one. If I remember correctly Orgeron started to meddle in his offense 3 games into his first season. Canada never really had a chance to make it work there.
     
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  15. Rel

    Rel Well-Known Member

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    There were other guys running deeper routes on that play. Harris was the check down.

    I’m not sure I can get on board with this notion that Ben is free to do what he wants on the field when they are moving the ball but all of the sudden he has no power. Ben is an 18 year vet and there is no way he’s just running what is called even if he knows it’s bad. If that’s what he’s doing then he should just retire. A QB and an OC are a two way relationship. They need to trust each other to make reads and check in and out of plays. Neither is going to make the correct read 100% of the time but between the two you hope to get it right most of the time.

    The way I interpreted the play call was if the Bengals brought the house Ben wasn’t going to have time to throw it down field but checking down to Harris would allow him to run for 10+. Ben read the blitz and he checked down, the problem was the Bengals did what they did a handful of times that game and faked the blitz and dropped into coverage. Ben made a bad read. He committed to checking down when he read a pre-snap blitz because his OLine wasn’t giving him enough time to make the reads once the ball was snapped.
     
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  16. Mike T

    Mike T Well-Known Member

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    I am more inclined to believe Ben has no time and cant buy time behind this line and didn't want to get hit anymore. The real stupidity was hiring an Offensive Coordinator that runs an offense that needs a mobile qb. Its like building a endurance race car for a sprint. wrong pieces for the puzzle.

    Also lets not forget the steelers were not promoting Canada without Ben's blessing. The got rid of Haley cause he wanted him gone. They gave Randy the job cause Ben wanted him to have it.
     
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  17. thorn058

    thorn058 Well-Known Member

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    I agree the speed at which Ben fired that 4th down pass out there was such that in my opinion it was a big fu to Canada. In order for that play to work the defense has to believe the WRs are the primary target and they defend that leaving Harris a more favorable matchup. Ball was snapped and Ben was throwing it before anyone knew what happened and the Bengals had guys moving to Harris immediately.
     
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  18. Steel Acorn

    Steel Acorn Well-Known Member

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    If Canada is implementing a system that does not play to the strengths of his players, but requires them to adapt to the system, he is a terrible coach. Good coaches assess their players' strengths and design a system that capitalizes on those. Give him a few more games and we'll see what he comes up with - he has some data to work with now, mostly "well that didn't work".
     
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  19. DukeDukeDaDaDa

    DukeDukeDaDaDa Well-Known Member

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    There were some decent OC candidates out there but we went with the cheapest option. Although it also makes you wonder if guys don't want to work for Tomlin given his blunders.
     
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  20. Mike T

    Mike T Well-Known Member

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    Ive wondered for a while if Tomlin wont hire strong coaches in fear of losing his job to them. It's either that or he is just terrible at hiring coaches for his staff. Might be a little of both!
     
  21. DukeDukeDaDaDa

    DukeDukeDaDaDa Well-Known Member

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    I mentioned before I often wonder if Tomlin is a head coach that needs his food cut up for him. Like hey you should fire this guy or upgrade this.
     
  22. Chinchilla

    Chinchilla Well-Known Member

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    Thanks for this MD. I keep wanting to see if the WRs are getting separation and am hoping with the All 22 or who was at the game can say that for certain either Ben or the receivers are not sharp or on the same page or both which is an execution problem.

    I know the sample size is small in his pro OC career but I usually can point to some credential in the coaches experience to say "OK I see why".
     
  23. S.T.D

    S.T.D Well-Known Member

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    For some that maybe interested
     
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  24. Brice

    Brice Well-Known Member

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    Ben panicked on the play thinking it was a blitz and it wasn't, so he threw a quick pass to Najee just to get rid of the ball, If he holds the ball he has Claypool 1 on 1 in the back of the endzone.
     
  25. Clive From PIT

    Clive From PIT I don't often drink...but I'm starting to. Site Admin

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    Bengals #91 would’ve been on Ben if he’d waited another second (literally).
     
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  26. Chinchilla

    Chinchilla Well-Known Member

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    I am from CT so I dont ever feel that I truly understand how the hiring process occurs in the Rooney Organization. I often wondered how a Jimmy Johnson or Bill Parcells would have operated within the Steeler culture or way where those types of figures appear to be a bit of a micromanager in all 3 phases but yet Parcells boss was Jerry Jones who takes a backseat to nobody. Curious who give up the alpha role there. lol

    It just appears that Pittsburgh media doesnt try to even figure out the process of promotion and who has more weighted input.

    All I hear is that so and so retired from the organization but maybe local media talking heads cover and stipulate how the coaching moves matriculate within the company.
     

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