Steelers Made Big Mistake Hiring Mike McCarthy

The Pittsburgh Steelers have pulled a stunner, concluding their head coaching search by hiring former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy, per multiple reports.

McCarthy had been lingering as a top prospective candidate for Pittsburgh since Mike Tomlin stepped down early last week, though there were some questions about whether or not he was truly in the running to fill the team's vacancy.

Now, the Pittsburgh native with ties to Aaron Rodgers and 174 regular season wins to his name as well as a Super Bowl title in 2010 over the Steelers will have the chance to oversee his hometown team in a move that goes against the organization's prior hiring practices.

Doing Less with More

One of the main arguments against McCarthy being deserving of a third head coaching opportunity is the fact that he continuously came up short in the playoffs throughout his career outside of capturing his lone Lombardi Trophy vs. Pittsburgh.

Despite the fact that he had one of the more talented quarterbacks in league history in Rodgers on his side for over a decade and parlayed it into a single Super Bowl appearance is rather hard to believe.

McCarthy didn't fare much better in that regard during his four-year stint with the Cowboys, as he won just a single postseason contest with them despite going 12-5 each season from 2021 to 2023 and carrying one of the league's most talented rosters over that span.

Tomlin was known for getting the most out of his players, evidenced by the fact that he never had a losing campaign during his 19 years with Pittsburgh, and the team was consistently in the mix regardless of the talent level on the roster.

McCarthy simply doesn't have that same reputation, and there's a good amount of risk associated with bringing him in despite his vast experience.