The Pittsburgh Steelers had to move on from long-time Head Coach Mike Tomlin this offseason following his decision to step down, and the search was a thorough one with many of the top young candidates getting interviews with the team. The favorite for much of the process, Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator Chris Shula, was expected to get a second interview following his appearance in the NFC Championship game this Sunday. He no longer needs to make the trip.
The Steelers have made their decision, and it’s one that will certainly shock fans. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday that Pittsburgh is finalizing a deal with former Packers and Cowboys HC Mike McCarthy to become their next leading man.
This hire is a serious departure from the Steelers decades long trend of hiring young, defensive-minded coaches, but owner Art Rooney II clearly felt like something different was needed.
McCarthy’s resume at a glance is not very different from the one Tomlin had in Pittsburgh. He one a Super Bowl early in his tenure with Green Bay, ironically against the Steelers. He has career winning percentage above 60, a .500 record in the playoffs (11-11), and has coached over a dozen top-10 offenses as both a HC and an offensive coordinator.
It’s hard not to be concerned about this hire, however, given the situation the Steelers are in.
This roster is in desperate need of an overhaul, and hiring McCarthy just to then begin a rebuild makes no sense. This decision indicates that Rooney and General Manager Omar Khan still believe Pittsburgh can compete in the AFC, and that is plainly not the case.
McCarthy’s experience and floor-raising ability will likely keep the Steelers in the same 9-8, 10-7 purgatory they have spent the last decade in, which is the last place a team should want to be in. A younger coach with room to grow would likely lose more games initially, giving the Steelers a chance to find a legit franchise QB in the draft, or just the opportunity to add blue-chip talent.
Instead, they broke their usual hiring strategy with the clear plan to remain as competitive as possible. The fact that their coach of 19 years left in part due to feeling like this is as far as the roster could go, makes that decision all the more hard to stomach. Hopefully, McCarthy proves to be the right man for the job, but the pick looks like a serious gamble on the surface.
