The Pittsburgh Steelers officially have their Mike Tomlin replacement. Mike McCarthy, the 62-year-old Pittsburgh native who most recently spent five years as head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, will take over. The Athletic's Dianna Russini broke the news.
McCarthy brings 18 years of head coaching experience to Pittsburgh. He also shares a strong personal connection to Aaron Rodgers, whom he won a Super Bowl with in Green Bay. Before he took the Packers job, McCarthy was the Saints' offensive coordinator for five years under Jim Haslett and the 49ers' offensive coordinator for one year under Mike Nolan. His New Orleans tenure overlapped with current Steelers GM Omar Khan, then a member of the Saints front office.
So what does this mean for Pittsburgh, exactly? Well... a lot.
Mike McCarthy ushers in new era of Steelers football — but also more of the same
The Steelers are both sticking to their guns and offering a complete departure from normal protocols. It can be easy to chalk this up as Pittsburgh replacing Tomlin with another longtime coach and a proven winner. And that is, in fact, what's happening. Rather than turning it over to an unexperienced coach with bold, new ideas, the Steelers are opting for the known commodity.
And yet, McCarthy is only the fourth Steelers head coach since 1969, a fact that sounds fake. Pittsburgh stood by Tomlin for 19 years, and probably would have stuck with him for a few more years had he decided to keep coaching. The longstanding Steelers tradition has been to hire a young, defensive-minded coach and build an entire era of Pittsburgh football around him.
McCarthy is 62. He can't coach for two decades. He's also an offensive head coach, bringing a whole shift in mindset to the Steelers sideline. That's not to say he was a great hire. In fact, McCarthy's inability to get over the hump in Dallas felt awfully like watching the late-stage Mike Tomlin Steelers. But as Dallas' collapse this past season proves, McCarthy does offer a high enough floor. His teams tend to compete in the regular season and he should have a more functional front office behind him in Pittsburgh.
The Steelers are aiming right down the middle. Attempting to steady the ship and keep on stacking postseason appearances, even if a Super Bowl feels out of reach. That's not to say McCarthy cannot coach a championship team, but unless the Steelers massively overhaul the roster and install inventive, new-age coordinators, methinks we are in for a new flavor of 10-win mediocrity.
Of note: McCarthy's lone Super Bowl win came against Tomlin and the Steelers.
Steelers' new coach has direct ties to Aaron Rodgers
McCarthy and Rodgers experienced their greatest successes as coach and player together in Green Bay. There is a strong bond there. McCarthy understands how Rodgers processes the game better than any coach in football. If you want to search far and wide for potential positives, this is probably the best immediate outcome for an offense helmed by 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers in 2026.
Now, should the Steelers want to bring Rodgers back? He won 10 games and mostly exceeded expectations after a bumpy stint in New York. There is, much like McCarthy, a certain floor of production with Rodgers under center. He's so smart, so experienced, with a level of knowledge younger quarterbacks just do not possess nowadays. He can pull the strings and command a locker room better than any rookie or free agent available to Pittsburgh.
Rodgers is also 42 years old, however, and he's on a precipitous decline physically. Even if he can outwit the defense, oftentimes he cannot execute those bold throws that once defined his Hall of Fame prime. Pittsburgh needs so desperately to establish a long-term foundation at quarterback, something that has eluded them since Ben Roethlisberger retired. Bringing back Rodgers for another year just sets up another .500ish season without much hope for a deep run.
This connection is a very real thing, though, and NFL Network's Tom Pelissero has pointed out what a McCarthy hire could mean to Rodgers personally.
"Don't discount that if Aaron Rodgers is ever going to play football again, the one person on the planet besides Mike Tomlin he might consider doing that with is Mike McCarthy," he said (h/t Lombardi Ave).
If the Steelers were hoping to coax Rodgers back to Pittsburgh for another year without Mike Tomlin — and hoping to win on a more immediate timeline — McCarthy was the right hire. Is that the optimal strategy? Nope. But you can see how this Steelers front office might convince themselves it is.
Steelers' NFL Draft plans just became crystal clear
Whether or not the Steelers re-sign Rodgers is immaterial to their NFL Draft plans at this point. McCarthy only emboldens this front office to go out and find a franchise quarterback, even if it will be challenging in a weaker QB class. Fernando Mendoza is a lock to Las Vegas with the No. 1 pick. Absent Dante Moore, however, the QB crop thins out quickly afterward.
There are two obvious options with Pittsburgh's 21st pick: Alabama's Ty Simpson and Ole Miss' Trinidad Chambliss.
Which QB will the Steelers target? Probably Simpson. A lack of collegiate experience could ding Simpson's stock, but he's a more prototypical NFL quarterback — tall in the pocket and great on quick-hitting rhythm passes. If the Steelers bring Rodgers back, Simpson is a logical protégé just from a stylistic standpoint.
That said, Simpson's accuracy gets wobbly on longer throws and he tends to telegraph far too much of his decision-making. He's early in his developmental process and the recent history of one-year college starters making the NFL leap is worrying.
So, which QB should the Steelers target? Chambliss. He's small, so there is concern there, and he only spent a year at the D-I level. But Chambliss was a longtime starter in D-II, and he offers a far higher ceiling with his quick-twitch athleticism, improvised runs, and his velocity on deeper throws.
Both should probably sit a year, but if the Steelers are forced to move on from Rodgers — still very much a possibility, as are injuries, even if he returns — Chambliss is far more ready to contribute next season. It's much easier to see the vision with him as a future star. Simpson will take a bit of developmental magic, which is not a strength of this Steelers org.
Expect a change in scheme, not personnel
McCarthy is a much different head coach than Tomlin. While there is a sameness of vibes that elicits concern, we should expect the Steelers to play a very different brand of football with McCarthy at the helm.
To his credit, McCarthy has overseen the rise of great quarterbacks, from Rodgers in Green Bay to Dak Prescott in Dallas. Pittsburgh's ongoing QB stasis remains a concern, but whether it's re-signing Rodgers or looking to the future on draft night, we can expect Pittsburgh to get more mileage out of their quarterback position under McCarthy. This mercifully signals the end of the Arthur Smith era, one would hope.
Pittsburgh very much abandoned the run last season with Rodgers under center, a notable philosophical shift for Smith, who has preached balance for so long. He understood his quarterback and the assignment at hand. Under McCarthy, however, we may expect the Steelers to spice up the passing attack a little more. McCarthy can get the football to his star playmakers.
Still, the run game was also important to McCarthy in Green Bay and especially in Dallas. We could, ironically, see a bit more of that balance return under the new regime. If the Steelers are going to land a big fish in free agency — or a non-QB high in the draft — to not be shocked if it's a running back. The Jaylen Warren-Kenneth Gainwell duo is not cutting it.
Pittsburgh ought to put more emphasis on winning in the trenches and using the ground game to set up big plays in the passing game. We can debate whether or not McCarthy's schematic chops are as functional and up-to-date as they were when Green Bay lifted the Lombardi Trophy (they are not), but he should guide the Steelers in a better direction on that end.
Is it a good enough direction? Probably not. Will the defense collapse without Tomlin's wizardry? Probably. But in terms of silver linings, expect this Steelers offense to not feel quite so torturous on a week-to-week basis.