Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

‘We Let Him Down’ Eddie Faulkner Bittersweet about Replacing Matt Canada as Steelers OC

Originally posted on Steelers Now | By Alan Saunders | Last updated 11/23/23

PITTSBURGH — While much of Steelers nation was celebrating the firing of offensive coordinator Matt Canada on Tuesday, his replacement was not among them. Running backs coach Eddie Faulkner, who is the team’s interim offensive coordinator, called his promotion bittersweet in his first press conference, became it came along with the firing of his long friend.

“Matt Canada is a friend of mine,” Faulkner said. “I care about his well-being. I care about his family. Our wives are friends. Our parents are friends. Our kids are friends. We spend a lot of time together. Love the dude. I couldn’t say enough good about Matt Canada.

“And so it’s a little bit bittersweet in that way because when you when you sit back and you see all that goes on and all that’s being said about him and the offense, we all — and I’m speaking for the offense when I say this, the staff — we all felt that. We’re all part of that. And so nobody is absolving themselves from anything that’s happened in that regard.

“We feel like we let him down. So I’ve got to say that because because that’s what a real one would do. That’s a friend of mine and that’s not going to change.”

The Steelers were the third stop together for Canada and Faulkner, after stops at Northern Illinois in 2011 and with NC State from 2013-15.

Despite his bittersweet feelings about taking over the role, Faulkner understands the opportunity at hand, both for the team’s offense to right its play with a 6-4 start built it, and for his career.

But he doesn’t exactly have time to wax rhapsodic about it. The Steelers made the change on Tuesday, and then got right back to practice on Wednesday as they prepare to face the Cincinnati Bengals in a crucial AFC North game this week.

“The way this all happened, there’s no time to even get caught up in any of that,” Faulkner said. “We’ve gotta play the Bengals in a couple days. That’s it. That was my sole focus. There was really no ‘this could segue into this or that.’ It’s all about getting ready for the Bengals and that’s my only focus.”