Despite ‘growing pains,’ Ben Roethlisberger pleased with OC Randy Fichtner’s first year

Statistically, the Pittsburgh Steelers offense held relatively steady in 2018 under new coordinator Randy Fichtner from where it was under Todd Haley the previous season. The most important piece of that offense “absolutely” said he gives his endorsement of Fichtner moving forward.

“There were growing pains for us in terms of relating to each other and learning situational things, and those things just come with a new position and a new guy,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said on his weekly KDKA-FM radio segment Tuesday. “But if you look at how we had to move some guys around and with some of the injuries we had and with new running backs, I thought it was an awesome first season with Randy and I, and I’m excited for next year with him.”

The Steelers finished No. 4 in the NFL in total offense (measured by yardage) and sixth in points; they were third in yards and eighth in points last season. Roethlisberger was the NFL’s passing leader and the Steelers had a pair of 100-catch, 1,000-yard receivers in Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

With Le’Veon Bell sitting out the season in a contract dispute and James Conner missing three games because of an ankle injury, the Steelers went down their depth chart at running back.

It was last January that the Steelers let go Haley after six seasons, in part, because of a sometimes-chilly relationship between Haley and Roethlisberger. Haley quickly was hired as offensive coordinator by the Cleveland Browns but was fired mid-season along with head coach Hue Jackson.

Fichtner was Roethlisberger’s position coach the previous eight seasons, a role he still holds with the Steelers.

Hey, Steelers Nation, get the latest news about the Pittsburgh Steelers here.

Chris Adamski is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Chris at cadamski@tribweb.com or via Twitter @C_AdamskiTrib.