Unlike left-wing politicians and social media agitators, most of them fond of shooting from the lip, I decided to sleep on the news Saturday that the Steelers would hire Mike McCarthy as their next coach before commenting.
I awoke late this morning to snow falling from the sky like God was wielding a salt shaker. The physical landscape had changed greatly overnight. But, my opinion of the reported McCarthy hiring remained largely unchanged, that being it is a break in decades of franchise tradition and just well might prove to be a huge mistake.
To recap, the Steelers have, since plucking Chuck Noll in 1969, hired young, defensive-oriented men to be their head coaches. That formula has produced six Super Bowl championships, two Hall of Fame coaches (Noll and Bill Cowher) and likely a third Hall coach in time with Mike Tomlin.
All those coaches were between 34 and 37 years of age when hired by the Steelers. McCarthy is 62.
Noll RETIRED when he was a week or so short of his 60th birthday.
Being an even older guy than McCarthy myself, I don’t necessarily think he cannot succeed. It’s just that the odds are stacked against him.
It is notable that both Noll and Tomlin achieved their greatest successes, their championship seasons, early in their careers.
McCarthy seems to fall into that category, having coached the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl win, but way back in the 2010 season. Ironically, McCarthy’s Super Bowl victims were the Steelers.
Green Bay under McCarthy never got back to winning championships and eventually he was shown the door late in 2018. He landed a job in 2020 coaching the Dallas Cowboys, enjoyed little playoff success there and got the boot after the 2024 season.
Two aspects of the McCarthy hiring raise serious questions.
First, there have been reports of rumors from within the Steelers organization that hiring McCarthy might prompt ancient Aaron Rodgers to return as quarterback. Please, no. Yes, the pair were together for great success at Green Bay. But, also yes, that was a long time back.
If hiring McCarthy means Rodgers returns as quarterback in 2026, it’s a mistake just based on that.
Second, beyond the Rodgers question, McCarthy inherits a team that’s middle-of-the-pack in terms of talent, with some notable contributors getting long in the tooth for professional athletes. Cam Heyward is 36 and will be 37 in May.
Oft-injured T.J. Watt is 31 and turns 32 in October. His pro-football-playing brother, J.J., retired at the age of 34.
Steelers president Art Rooney II is operating under the delusion that the Steelers are Super Bowl contenders instead of facing the reality that they need a rebuild.
The Steelers fired coach Bill Austin after a 2-11-1 finish in 1968 and Noll produced an even worse 1-13 record in 1969 as he cleaned house.
Noll knew, and so did the ruling Rooney class back then, that the Steelers needed to start again.
Bringing in McCarthy and thinking he’s going to be able to overcome roster shortcomings due to his coaching genius is optimistic in the extreme.
Sam Ross Jr's site 