The Pittsburgh Steelers soon will have their fifth offensive line coach since January 2019.

Or maybe could it, perhaps, be an old name to fill the newest incarnation of the job’s opening?

Chris Morgan, the Steelers’ assistant O-line coach in 2021 who filled in as the top position coach late in the season, was named the Chicago Bears new offensive line coach Wednesday,

Morgan joined the Steelers staff a year ago following the firing of O-line coach Shaun Sarrett and the promotion of then-assistant Adrian Klemm to the top OL job. But Klemm accepted a job at Oregon in December, and Steelers coach Mike Tomlin ultimately decided to let Klemm leave in-season and promote Morgan to the top job for the remainder of it.

Tomlin and several Steelers offensive linemen since have spoke highly of Morgan on the record, and on face value the line appeared to have its best game of the season during Morgan’s first game in charge, paving the way for a season-high 190 rushing yards in a 26-14 win against the Cleveland Browns on Jan. 3.

Tomlin was open that Morgan was a candidate for full-time No. 1 coaching gig at the position, but they did not make an immediate promotion of Morgan, and the Steelers have yet to make an announcement for their plans at offensive line coach for 2022.

“I always look at internal candidates versus what I refer to as a field,” Tomlin said at his season wrap-up news conference two weeks ago. “I owe it to the group to get the very best person for whatever job we’re talking about that we can acquire. That’s my commitment. Those are my intentions.

“And so that’s always the case. It’s the case when we hire from the outside. It’s the case when we hire from the inside. We’ve turned the stones over. We’ve weighed our options, and we’ve made the decision, whatever it may be, that we feel is best.”

The Steelers’ past two full-time hires at offensive line coach have been internal promotions of the assistant — Klemm last year and Sarrett following the departure of Mike Munchak following the 2018 season.

A Hall of Fame player, well-respected position coach and former head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Munchak left the Steelers after five seasons for a lateral move to the Denver Broncos. A Scranton native and former Penn State standout player, Munchak cited a desire to be closer to family in making the move. His daughter lives in Denver.

But Munchak was let go this week after the Broncos changed head coaches (they reportedly hired Butch Berry on Wednesday) and is on the market.

The level of play of the Steelers’ offensive line has deteriorated since Munchak left. However, in fairness to Sarrett and Klemm, the unit Munchak coached was aging out of its prime and there has been considerable turnover along the Steelers’ offensive line the past two offseasons.

Center Maurkice Pouncey and left guard Ramon Foster retired, and fellow longtime starter David DeCastro did not play in 2021 after the Steelers released him in June following revelations of a chronic knee injury. Also, longtime starting left tackle Alejandro Villanueva left via free agency last year.

The Steelers started two rookies (left tackle Dan Moore Jr. and center Kendrick Green), a second-year player (left guard Kevin Dotson) and a veteran not signed until June (right guard Trai Turner) on their line this past season.

The Steelers finished 29th this season in rushing yards per game (93.1) and attempts (3.9), and the 38 sacks they allowed were the most in eight years.

Turner and starting right tackle Chuks Okorafor are scheduled for free agency this spring.

While it’s difficult to accurately quantify the offensive line’s influence on the offense, footballoutsiders.com’s “Adjusted line yards” metric ranked the Steelers’ offensive line 28th in the league. They were 30th and 32nd the first two years post-Munchak — they finished sixth, eighth, third, seventh and 15th among the league in adjusted line yards during Munchak’s tenure.

The Steelers also need to make a hire at defensive coordinator after the retirement of longtime assistant Keith Butler.

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