PITTSBURGH - Todd Haley is the Pittsburgh Steelers' new offensive coordinator.
This should be interesting for a number of reasons.
Haley, a Pittsburgh native whose father was a member of the Steelers' front office, has a reputation for two things:
1. He knows offense.
2. He sometimes has difficulty getting along with people.
Haley was the head coach of the Kansas City Chiefs until he was fired last December with three games left in the season.
The tension between Haley and general manager Scott Pioli had apparently grown to a point where they could no longer co-exist.
Those who know Pioli, a former Bill Belichick aide, say he was the one who was inflexible.
But Haley is also an emotional guy who has had some visible bursts of anger on the sideline. He has argued with players during games, which is not Mike Tomlin's style.
Haley was the Arizona Cardinals' offensive coordinator when they went to the Super Bowl and lost to the Steelers.
But let's remember that the coordinator the Steelers just fired, Bruce Arians, ran the offense for the team that won that Super Bowl.
Arians' ouster - which was obviously ordered by team president Art Rooney II - is interesting because the Steelers are coming off a 12-4 season.
The Steelers posted a .750 winning percentage despite having a bad offensive line.
Is play calling really the issue?
Rooney thinks so. In his comments after the season, he referred to Arians indirectly as "senior" coach who was contemplating retirement.
Arians, who is 59, signed on with Indianapolis shortly after ending his time with the Steelers.
Rooney also suggested that the Steelers were looking for a "long term" commitment from a coordinator.
But does anyone doubt that Haley is hoping to get another shot at being a head coach? If he has success in Pittsburgh, he'll be in play for bigger jobs.
Haley needs to work well with Ben Roethlisberger, who has been vocal in his support for Arians.
Whether they mesh remains to be seen. They will sit down with Tomlin and map out a plan for the offense.
The irony of all this attention being paid to the offense is there are some of us who think the real issues lie on the other side of the ball.
There's work to be done, and that includes selling a new coordinator to an offense that ran pretty well last year on the way to a 12-4 record.
Mehno can be reached at johnmehnocolumn@gmail.com
