Matthew Canada (born January 19, 1972) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

coach who most recently served as the

offensive coordinator An offensive coordinator (OC) is a Coach (sport), coach responsible for a gridiron football team's offense (American football), offense. Generally, the offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator and special teams coordinator represent the second ...

for the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He previously was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

LSU Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, commonly referred to as Louisiana State University (LSU), is an American Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Baton Rouge, Louis ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, second-most populous city in Pennsylvania (after Philadelphia) and the List of Un ...

, NC State,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

Northern Illinois Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois, with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010. Economics Northern Illinois is dominated by ...

Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

, and

Indiana Indiana ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Michigan to the northwest, Michigan to the north and northeast, Ohio to the east, the Ohio River and Kentucky to the s ...

Early life and education

Canada attended

New Palestine High School New Palestine High School is a rural public high school (grades 9–12) located in New Palestine, Indiana, New Palestine, Indiana, managed by the Community School Corporation of Southern Hancock County. As of the 2016–2017 school year it serves ...

New Palestine, Indiana New Palestine (pronounced ''PAL-es-teen'') is a town in Sugar Creek Township, Hancock County, Indiana, Sugar Creek Township, Hancock County, Indiana, Hancock County, Indiana, along Sugar Creek (Driftwood River), Sugar Creek. The population was 2 ...

. He spent two years as the starting quarterback, throwing for 1,736 yards while leading his team to a 20–3 record. Canada then attended

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, IUB, or Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana, United States. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana Univer ...

where he became a student assistant for the football program during his sophomore year.

Coaching career

Early career

Canada's coaching career includes early stints at

and

. In 2011, Canada served an integral role in leading Northern Illinois to the MAC championship, and he served an integral role in leading Wisconsin to the 2012 Big Ten Championship Game.

NC State

In 2013, Canada became offensive coordinator at NC State working under head coach Dave Doeren. Canada had previously worked under Doeren at Northern Illinois in 2011. After the 2014 season, Canada agreed to a new 3-year contract with NC State shortly after interviewing for the offensive coordinator job at Tennessee. He was subsequently let go by NC State following the 2015 season.

Pitt

In 2016, Canada was hired as offensive coordinator at Pitt. For his work during the 2016 season, he was named one of five finalists for the Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football.

LSU

On December 14, 2016, Canada was hired to become the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at

. He held those positions for the 2017 season and on January 5, 2018, LSU and Canada mutually agreed to part ways.

Maryland

On January 22, 2018, Canada agreed to become the offensive coordinator at the University of Maryland. On August 11, 2018, Canada became interim head coach for the Maryland Terrapins after D.J. Durkin was put on administrative leave following the death of Jordan McNair, an offensive lineman for the Maryland Terrapins. On November 17, 2018, Maryland came close to knocking off #3 ranked Ohio State, narrowly losing 52–51 in overtime. Maryland finished the season 5–7, failing to qualify for a bowl game. After Mike Locksley was hired as the permanent head coach at Maryland going forward, Canada was relieved of the day-to-day head coaching responsibilities. Canada was then replaced by Scottie Montgomery as offensive coordinator.

Pittsburgh Steelers

On January 15, 2020, Canada was hired by the

as their quarterbacks coach. On January 25, 2021, Canada was promoted to offensive coordinator of the Steelers, replacing Randy Fichtner. During his tenure with the Steelers, Canada was the source of scrutiny, largely due to his playcalling, as the Steelers offense was ranked near the bottom of the league. On November 21, 2023, Canada was fired by the Steelers; this was the first time since

1941 The Correlates of War project estimates this to be the deadliest year in human history in terms of conflict deaths, placing the death toll at 3.49 million. However, the Uppsala Conflict Data Program estimates that the subsequent year, 1942, wa ...

that the Steelers had made a mid-season coaching change.

Personal life

Canada earned his bachelor's in Business and master's degree in Sports Administration at

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

. He is married to Erin Canada.

Head coaching record

College

References

External links

LSU Tigers bio

Maryland Terrapins bio

Pittsburgh Steelers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canada, Matt 1972 births Living people Butler Bulldogs football coaches Indiana Hoosiers football coaches LSU Tigers football coaches Maryland Terrapins football coaches NC State Wolfpack football coaches Northern Illinois Huskies football coaches Pittsburgh Panthers football coaches Pittsburgh Steelers coaches Wisconsin Badgers football coaches Indiana University Bloomington alumni People from New Palestine, Indiana Sportspeople from Hancock County, Indiana Coaches of American football from Indiana NFL offensive coordinators