A day after announcing that Todd Haley is out as offensive coordinator, the Steelers have announced that Randy Fichtner has been promoted to replace him.
Fichtner is now officially the Steelers’ offensive coordinator. The team said he will continue to coach the quarterbacks as well, perhaps in a nod to his good relationship with Ben Roethlisberger.
“I want to thank Coach [Mike] Tomlin and Art Rooney II for giving me this opportunity to be the offensive coordinator for this organization,” said Fichtner in a statement. “We have a tremendous roster, and it will be my charge to continue putting our offensive players in position to succeed and score points. We have the nucleus to be successful, and I am thrilled about the chance to lead the offense as we have already started preparing for the 2018 season.”
In eight seasons under Fichtner, Roethlisberger has completed 2,638 passes (64.6%) for 31,763 yards and 202 touchdowns, with a passer rating of 95.4. The yards, touchdowns and rating all rank in the Top 10 in the NFL. He also was selected to the Pro Bowl five times during that span, including the last four seasons.
Before breaking into the NFL coaching ranks, Fichtner was the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at the University of Memphis (2001-2006) and Arkansas State University (1997-2000), which is where Fichtner and Tomlin first worked together. Tomlin was the receivers coach (1997) and defensive backs coach (1998) at Arkansas State.
He also spent time in different coaching roles at Purdue University, UNLV, USC and Michigan.
Fichtner is a native of Cleveland, Ohio, and played football at Meadville (Pa.) Area Senior High School and Purdue University. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children.
