Kordell Stewart entered this season with the thoughts that this might be his last in Pittsburgh. The Steelers brought in Kent Graham to challenge for his job, but all it did was solidify Stewart's longevity in Pittsburgh and end Kevin Gilbride's two-year reign as the Steelers' offensive coordinator.

	Kordell Stewart might be hearing footsteps from Tommy Maddox in Pittsburgh.

The move by coach Bill Cowher to fire Gilbride affirmed that Stewart will return next year as the starter. Stewart will have to adjust to his fifth different offensive coordinator.

"I don't think we made the strides that I hoped we would make," Cowher said. "We certainly were successful when I came here in my first year, and you see teams that have turned it around in one-year's time with new coordinators and new coaches, so anything is possible."

Cowher said he didn't like the direction of the passing offense, which ranked 29th in the league. "It was 29th when Kevin got here, and it was 29th when we finished this year," Cowher said.

Part of the problems was the complications of Gilbride's system, which requires receivers to read the defensive coverage and adjust their routes. The quarterback must also pick up on those changes and make the right throw. Similar in ways to the run-and-shoot offense, Gilbride's system was considered to be one of the toughest in the NFL, but when executed properly, it could rank among the best.

"After giving it two years to see how it would progress, it was not progressing to where I felt comfortable with where it needed to go," Cowher said. "We ran the football very well before Kevin came here. We ran the ball with him here. We'll run the ball well in the post era. We need to develop the passing game, and it was at a point where I was not comfortable with where we were."

Cowher will consider two coaches currently on his offensive staff -- receivers coach Bob Bratkowski and tight ends coach Mike Mularkey. Cowher will also talk to longtime Steelers running back coach Dick Hoak, but he hasn't shown much desire to taking an NFL coordinator's job through the years.

There is no timetable set to determine a replacement for Gilbride, but Cowher could take most of January to make up his mind.

Within minutes after hearing about Gilbride's firing, the Bengals expressed interest in him to turn around quarterback Akili Smith. Coach Dick LeBeau doesn't want a run-and-shoot style of offense but is interested in Gilbride's schemes.

"He used to be a run-and-shoot guy, he's not now," Bengals general manager Mike Brown told Bengals.com. "We know of Kevin Gilbride and know he's had teams that have scored a lot of points."

John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.