Steelers don’t win over fans with Mike McCarthy hire, but here’s what they miss

While it officially ended on Jan. 13, Mike Tomlin’s 19-year voyage as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach started to crumble six week earlier, when scores of Steelers fans chanted for his removal during a home loss to the Buffalo Bills. 

Those fans ultimately got what they wanted when Tomlin voluntarily left his post following Pittsburgh’s season-ending loss to the Houston Texans in the first round of the playoffs. After years of criticizing him, Tomlin’s detractors finally got what they wanted. 

That’s why it was ironic to see many of those same fans screaming to the heavens upon seeing the news that the Steelers plan to replace Tomlin with Mike McCarthy. The fanbase, to a man, does not like the hire; they wanted the Steelers to hire a young, up-and-coming coordinator like Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin were way back when they were hired.That history compelled many — myself including — to wrongfully assume that 39-year-old Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula should start packing his bags for Pittsburgh. 

But instead of hiring Shula (or at least waiting a few days until they could bring him in for a visit), Steelers president Art Rooney II and general manager Omar Khan decided to go with McCarthy, who checks a lot of the boxes for a Steelers franchise that has no interest in a lengthy rebuild. 

“I’m not sure why you waste a year of your life not trying to contend,” Rooney said prior to the starting the coaching search. “Obviously, your roster is what it is every year. It changes every year, so you deal with what you have every year and try to put yourself in a position to compete every year. Sometimes you have the horses, sometimes you don’t. But I think you try every year.”

Bingo. At 62, McCarthy surely has no interest in a long rebuild, either. That being said, he probably isn’t hellbent on keeping the Steelers’ non-losing streak intact, which over time became just as much a part of Tomlin’s legacy as anything else. Many Steelers fans have said that they’d be OK with a losing season if it helped speed up the process in terms of being a true contender again. McCarthy’s history would support this logic. 

McCarthy’s Packers missed the playoffs during his first year in Green Bay. They were in the NFC title game the following year and would be Super Bowl champions three years after that. In Dallas, McCarthy went 6-10 during his first year on the job while coaching a team that didn’t have Dak Prescott for most of the year. With Prescott back in the fold a year later, the Cowboys ripped off their first of three straight 12-win seasons. The Steelers haven’t won that many games in a season since 2020 and did so just twice during Tomlin’s final 15 years on the job. That run also included a playoff win, something that Steelers fans haven’t enjoyed in quite some time. 

McCarthy is an offensive coach (check), an accomplished quarterback developer (check), and has a history of building impressive coaching staffs (his staff in Dallas, for example, included three future head coaches in Kellen Moore, Dan Quinn and Brian Schottenheimer). Checkmate. 

The proverbial cherry on top is that McCarthy is a proven winner who already has experience when it comes to coaching in cities with Texas-sized expectations. A Pittsburgh native, McCarthy clearly knows what he is walking into. 

By the way, Cowher likes the hire. 

After a seventh straight playoff losses, Steelers fans want to see their team take the next step. With a projected 12 picks in this year’s draft, that could certainly happen this year as the Steelers will be in position this offseason to address most of their roster needs, starting at receiver. 

Quarterback is obviously the main area the Steelers need to address. But the odds of the Steelers finding their next longterm quarterback this offseason are slim, given where they currently are in the draft (with the 21st overall pick) and the lack of potential options via trade or free agency. It is a barren year, really. That means that the Steelers are likely targeting 2027 as they year that they hope to find their longterm solution at quarterback, where the draft class is much better and ups the potential of finding a franchise QB in the teens or 20s. 

What does that mean for 2026? It means that, as Rooney alluded to above, the Steelers will try to contend as they always do, but they likely won’t have the horses to really sniff a Super Bowl this year. With that in mind, the Steelers’ ceiling will once again be a playoff win, something that became the norm during Tomlin’s final seasons. The floor, however, could be much lower than it’s been in recent years. 

The Steelers broke the Cowboys’ NFL record for consecutive non-losing seasons in 2025. The Steelers won’t intentionally try to end their record this year, but McCarthy’s history suggests that Pittsburgh may be in for a losing season if they don’t have a capable quarterback in place. A losing record would help in terms of getting a high draft pick, but, Rooney made clear, the Steelers won’t purposely “waste” a season in order to elevate their draft stock. 

This brings us to Aaron Rodgers and whether he would be interested in a reunion with his former Packers coach. While it might be a stretch to say that this played a significant role in McCarthy getting the job, it probably didn’t hurt, either. 

Anyone who watched Rodgers this past year knows that he still has his golden right arm. While his mobility is at a premium, Rodgers still has enough tools in his toolbox to be a quality starting quarterback, even at 42. 

Sure, he and the offense had some ugly outings, but it was hard to figure out how much of the blame should fall on Rodgers (outside of his eagerness to get rid of the ball quickly, which is undoubtedly due to the fact that he’s 42), given the lack of weaponry he had at receiver and some of the curious play-calling from Arthur Smith that often didn’t involve the utilization of some of Pittsburgh’s best skill players, such as gone-missing tight end Pat Freiermuth. 

While the Steelers want to contend every year, they surely know that they won’t truly take the next step until they find a longterm starting quarterback. If they aren’t going to find him this offseason in a bad quarterback draft, it really doesn’t matter who the quarterback is this season. And beyond what he does on the field, a Rodgers reunion would probably have more benefits from an intangibles standpoint. 

Steelers players weren’t shy during the season — and reportedly during exit interviews — how how much they enjoyed playing with Rodgers and would welcome him back. If McCarthy can play a role in that happening, it would certainly help win over a locker room that was fiercely loyal to Tomlin. 

Leadership is one of the main traits Rooney said that was is looking for Pittsburgh’s new coach. McCarthy’s program and culture led to a championship in Green Bay and more success with the Cowboys, and there’s no reason to think that he won’t do the same thing in Pittsburgh. Rooney obviously feels that way after making up his mind this weekend instead of waiting to have in-person interviews with Shula and/or Rams pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase. 

Speaking of young coaches, it wouldn’t be a surprise if McCarthy’s coaching staff includes his potential replacement. If he is able to identify a possible coach-in-waiting, that would likely quell some the fanbase who don’t like the fact that the Steelers hired an older coach. 

McCarthy won’t have a tenure in Pittsburgh that rivals his predecessors in terms of length. He can still a lasting mark on his hometown team, though, if he able to help end their drought of playoff wins, find and develop their next longterm quarterback and set up his eventual successor up for even more success.