Sixteen years after beating Mike Tomlin in Super Bowl XLV, former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy is succeeding him as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Steelers entered into a verbal settlement to hire the 62-year-old, a Pittsburgh native, as simply their fourth head coach since 1969, the workforce introduced Saturday afternoon. McCarthy is now the oldest head coach in franchise historical past. Chuck Noll, who retired 10 days shy of his sixtieth birthday, was beforehand the oldest.
His choice, coming 11 days after Tomlin informed his workforce he was resigning after 19 seasons as the Steelers’ coach, is a important departure from the group’s earlier historical past of hiring up-and-coming defensive minds with out prior NFL head teaching expertise, signaling the workforce’s need to win now.
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After failing to attain an extension with the Dallas Cowboys following the 2024 season, McCarthy spent the 2025 season away from teaching. McCarthy now turns into the first particular person to be the head coach of three iconic NFL franchises in the Steelers, Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, the place he obtained his begin as a head coach in 2006 and remained till he was fired in 2018.
Steelers reporter Brooke Pryor, NFL reporter Kevin Seifert, nationwide NFL reporter Jeremy Fowler, NFL draft analyst Matt Miller and NFL analyst Ben Solak reply all the urgent questions in the wake of McCarthy’s hiring.
Why did the Steelers select Mike McCarthy as their subsequent coach, and the way a lot did his Pittsburgh background play into the resolution?
Days after Tomlin walked away on Jan. 13 as the Steelers’ head coach, workforce president Art Rooney II stated he needed to compete from “day one.” He additionally stated he did not like the phrase “rebuild.” In hiring McCarthy over youthful, much less confirmed candidates, Rooney emphasised his need to win now with the league’s third-oldest lively head coach (behind Kansas City’s Andy Reid and New York Giants’ John Harbaugh).
None of the Steelers’ earlier three head coaches had any NFL head teaching expertise, whereas McCarthy has 310 video games of prior NFL head teaching expertise. He additionally has the sixth-most wins (185) amongst all NFL coaches of the previous 20 seasons. Tomlin completed his Steelers’ profession with 201 wins, together with playoffs.
Rooney’s urgency comes on the heels of one other Steelers season ending with a one-and-done playoff look, this time a 30-6 blowout loss to the Houston Texans in the workforce’s first dwelling playoff recreation since the 2020 season. The Steelers have not received a playoff recreation since the 2016 season.
McCarthy is 11-11 in playoff video games, final successful the wild-card recreation with the Cowboys towards the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after the 2022 season. But he has additionally had 11 10-win seasons since he first grew to become a head coach in 2006, tied for fourth most by a head coach in that span.
A local of the Greenfield neighborhood of Pittsburgh, McCarthy understands the Steelers’ blue-collar tradition higher than most. Hiring McCarthy, a veteran coach who has intimate information of the metropolis and of the custom of the groups, permits the Steelers to stay true to their old-school roots in a approach that would’ve been challenged by a younger up-and-coming candidate.
Not solely does McCarthy have a familiarity with the metropolis, however basic supervisor Omar Khan is aware of McCarthy from New Orleans. McCarthy served as the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator from 2000-04, and Khan, who joined the Saints first as an intern in 1997, labored intently with McCarthy when he got here on board. — Pryor
How does the hiring of McCarthy affect Aaron Rodgers’ possibilities of returning subsequent season?
| Coach-QB | Wins |
|---|---|
| Bill Belichick-Tom Brady | 249 |
| Sean Payton-Drew Brees | 144 |
| Mike Tomlin-Ben Roethlisberger | 144 |
| Don Shula-Dan Marino | 122 |
| Chuck Noll-Terry Bradshaw | 121 |
| Pete Carroll-Russell Wilson | 113 |
| Andy Reid-Patrick Mahomes | 112 |
| Marv Levy-Jim Kelly | 108 |
| Mike McCarthy–Aaron Rodgers | 107 |
| John Harbaugh-Joe Flacco | 106 |
| Tom Coughlin-Eli Manning | 105 |
| Andy Reid-Donovan McNabb | 101 |
While Rodgers continues to be a wild card, there’s perception in the Steelers’ constructing that hiring McCarthy as the coach might assist to convey the quarterback into the fold for a minimum of yet another 12 months.
Rodgers signed a one-year take care of the Steelers a 12 months in the past, and helped them to a 10-7 report and one other wild-card berth. Though Rodgers averaged simply 207.6 yards per recreation, a profession low when he performed a minimum of 16 video games, his completion share improved to 65.7% for his finest mark since the 2021 season, one wherein he earned MVP honors and accomplished 68.9% of his makes an attempt.
Rodgers and McCarthy teamed up for 13 seasons in Green Bay and received 107 video games collectively. During that stretch, Rodgers received 4 MVP awards, and the Packers received Super Bowl XLV. That lone Super Bowl, which got here after the 2010 season, was a victory over a Mike Tomlin-coached Steelers workforce, marking the final time the Steelers or Packers appeared in a Super Bowl. If Rodgers returned to Pittsburgh to play for McCarthy, the duo can be the ninth head coach-quarterback mixture to coach and begin for a number of groups, in accordance to ESPN Research.
Though Rodgers’ relationship with McCarthy was unstable, and McCarthy was finally fired by Green Bay in 2018, Rodgers has spoken fondly of his former coach lately, together with all through his season in Pittsburgh as he talked about McCarthy’s tales of his hometown. — Pryor
What was the QB-coach relationship between Rodgers and McCarthy in Green Bay like?
Rodgers and McCarthy spent most of 13 seasons collectively in Green Bay; lengthy sufficient to expertise a Super Bowl championship, a 15-1 regular-season and a few rocky moments alongside the approach. But any animosity that may have constructed up throughout their lengthy soccer marriage has lengthy since dissipated.
Speaking in 2022, forward of a recreation towards a Cowboys workforce that McCarthy was teaching, Rodgers spoke nostalgically about their time collectively. He stated they’d restarted common communication and added: “As time goes by, the gratitude of that time, as you look back on the journey of your career, goes up a little bit. … You appreciate the little things a little bit more.”
There was no speak of a potential reunion at the moment, however nobody who heard Rodgers thought he was harboring any longstanding grudge. — Seifert
Mike McCarthy has 11 10-win seasons since making his head-coaching debut in 2006. Matt Ludtke/AP Photo
What’s the buzz round the league on the Steelers’ resolution?
Initial league response is certainly one of gentle shock however not shock. McCarthy was a finalist with pedigree and connectivity to Pittsburgh — not solely as a native of the metropolis, however overlapping with Khan in New Orleans greater than twenty years in the past.
Rooney has recognized McCarthy for a very long time and is snug with him. He has a .608 successful share over 18 years in Green Bay and Dallas. These issues labored in his favor. But given the workforce’s penchant for locating rising younger head coaches, that is a break from the mould.
“I thought the team would chart a new course with an assertive young coach they could build something with,” an trade supply stated Saturday. “McCarthy’s a good coach, but this isn’t an inspired hire.” — Fowler
What does this transfer sign about the Steelers’ offense?
It may not sign a shift in offensive philosophy, nevertheless it definitely alerts an emphasis on enhancing the offense as the Steelers hire their first offensive-minded head coach since earlier than 1969. The Cowboys had a top-five scoring offense thrice in McCarthy’s tenure, whereas the Steelers have not had a top-five scoring offense since 2017, in accordance to ESPN Research.
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The Steelers have not been ready to constantly transfer the ball since Ben Roethlisberger retired, and even when Rodgers returns, the workforce nonetheless wants to discover its quarterback of the future. McCarthy coached quarterbacks in Kansas City and Green Bay earlier than turning into the Saints’ offensive coordinator in 2000.
In bringing in McCarthy, the Steelers appear to be hoping he can rapidly develop the subsequent signal-caller, whether or not that is 2025 sixth-round choose Will Howard or one other prospect, doubtlessly one chosen in the upcoming 2026 draft, wherein the Steelers have the No. 21 total choose. — Pryor
What are the Steelers’ largest offseason wants, and who might they aim with the twenty first choose?
The Steelers’ wants as soon as once more focus on the quarterback place — no matter whether or not Rodgers is in the combine subsequent season. At choose No. 21, there might be consideration for Alabama quarterback Ty Simpson if he is nonetheless on the board. His robust play in the pocket would match effectively with McCarthy’s West Coast offense. But if Simpson is passed by the time Pittsburgh is on the clock, the extensive receiver class might get a look.
The Steelers nonetheless want somebody reverse DK Metcalf. And USC’s Makai Lemon can be an excellent No. 2 along with his route operating and run-after-catch skills. — Miller
How would you grade the hire?
C. It’s exhausting to get enthusiastic about McCarthy’s third stint as an NFL head coach, particularly after we take into account simply the place he failed at the earlier two stops. McCarthy made three straight playoff appearances in Dallas over 5 seasons, however he by no means made it past the divisional spherical — and that was with a superb quarterback in Dak Prescott. In Green Bay, the place McCarthy was the coach for 13 seasons, he received one Super Bowl (2010) and did not make it again over the subsequent eight years. He was fired largely due to the offense rising stale and a lack of postseason success regardless of elite QB play — the prime of Rodgers.
So why ought to Pittsburgh followers moderately count on McCarthy to treatment their playoffs one-and-done woes of the Tomlin period, particularly when he’s going through a quarterback downside he has by no means earlier than had to endure? — Solak
