The case against Mike McCarthy as Steelers Head Coach

The Steelers completed an in person interview with Pittsburgh native Mike McCarthy this week, which came in conjunction with Tom Peliserro tweeting out that McCarthy is considered a “strong candidate” for the Steelers head coaching vacancy. Steelers fans have expressed displeasure that McCarthy even got a first interview let alone that he’s a top candidate. Often Steelers fans are overactive, especially on social media, but in this case they’re correct. When you evaluate Mike McCarthy he doesn’t make sense to be Tomlins’s successor. 

McCarthy is well connected to the Steelers organization, and not just because Pittsburgh is his hometown. GM Omar Khan and Assistant GM Andy Weidl both spent time with McCarthy while he was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints in the early 2000s nearly two decades ago. While past relationships alone can’t get someone hired, it does feel significant that he is so deeply connected to the Steelers. So what are his qualifications? 

He did win a superbowl but that was 16 years ago, and ironically against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Being a Super Bowl winning head coach carries a lot of the weight in this league, and it’s why McCarthy got hired in Dallas. But his success after that Super Bowl doesn’t really inspire faith in his ability. McCarthy deviates from the Steelers past qualifications when it comes to their hiring head coaches. They pursued young up and coming defensive coordinators who were innovative in their time. And the last two head coaches that fit that mold went on to win a Super Bowl. 

Even still, there has been a desire for evolving philosophy in Pittsburgh. Veteran Steelers reporter Mark Kaboly stated that hiring McCarthy would fit that evolution saying in a recent article: “it’s a change of thinking for an organization, and isn’t that what we have all been demanding?” The answer to his question is yes, we have been demanding a change of thinking. Many fans and media have wanted the Steelers to catch up to speed with the offensive trends in football. And while McCarthy is an offensive minded head coach, he is a change of thinking for all the wrong reasons. Just because you went young and defensive before, doesn’t mean old and offensive is the right call. 

His offensive philosophy is really his only calling card, but beyond that, McCarthy is a 62 year old head coach that has been out of coaching for a year. What the Steelers are missing at the head coaching position is an innovative mind who is in tune with the modern way to win in the NFL. McCarthy is the antithesis of all that. He is different from the Steelers current way of thinking in some instances but ironically, it would result in more of the same for Pittsburgh. Kaboly claimed McCarthy would “keep the Steelers afloat in the AFC North” but that’s exactly what the Steelers have been doing for nearly a decade. Staying afloat. 

McCarthy does have a more recent playoff win than Tomlin does, but that’s a shallow victory. McCarthy's playoff collapses in Dallas, such as the running quarterback draw with no timeouts, for instance, is the spitting image of what has been happening in Pittsburgh before Tomlin stepped down. Our goal isn't to just win one playoff game either, that’s what got Sean McDermott and John Harbaugh fired. The desire is to get a head coach that can get us over the hump and back to championships. And while McCarthy may differ from the current thinking; he isn’t the coach to do that. McCarthy would keep the Steelers mediocre, just with a few more points on the board. Is that really what we want? And truthfully I’d argue “hiring one of your own” in McCarthy doesn’t actually deviate from the Steelers typical standard operating procedure. 

So, again I can’t find the reason why McCarthy would be the right fit. In the same aforementioned article, Kaboly claims that it’s McCarthy’s expertise at the quarterback position that has captivated the Steelers. Admittedly the Steelers have been inept in evaluating and developing quarterbacks since Big Ben, and it’s their biggest need right now. The next head coach will certainly have to draft a QB soon and/or try to develop Will Howard. 

But, does that make McCarthy the right coach to do that? Kaboly claims that at every stop Mike McCarthy has a quarterback tied to his name. He first lists off McCarthy's ability to win with QBs at the margins like Aaron Brooks, Matt Flynn, Cooper Rush and someone named Steve Bono? Not exactly an impressive list. And what’s more is that Mike Tomlin has also won with sub par quarterbacks.  In fact he drug 6 different quarterbacks along to winning seasons and playoff berths. So what’s really the difference here? 

Kaboly then points to some of the bigger name quarterbacks that McCarthy has been tied too. First claiming that it was McCarthy who saw Alex Smith as a top quarterback in the 2005 draft during his one season in San Francisco, before eventually drafting Aaron Rodgers once he took over for the Packers. Kaboly is mistaken here, as Rodgers and Smith were both taken in the 2005 draft class. It was actually Mike Sherman who drafted Rodgers in 2005 at the 24th pick, and McCarthy was even rumored to have told Rodgers directly he believed Alex Smith was the better quarterback. 

Fast forward and Smith was traded for better talent twice in both San Francisco and Kansas City before eventually flaming out of the NFL, and Rodgers was a multi time MVP and Super Bowl champion. So not only was McCarthy wrong about this QB selection, he then took the Packers job where he inherited Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback he was wrong about. Rodgers and McCarthy went on to win a Super Bowl together but it’s hard to say whether McCarthy is directly responsible for what Aaron Rodgers became, a future hall of famer. 

The last quarterback that Kaboly credits McCarthy for developing is Dak Prescott during his time in Dallas. Again, McCarthy inherited Dak who was drafted by Jason Garrett, and despite Kaboly pointing to Dak having his “best season” with McCarthy, that isn’t the whole truth. Dak Prescott has thrown for 4,000 or more yards and 30 or more touchdowns in 4 seasons, 2 of them coming under McCarthy and the other two coming under Garret and Schottemheimer respectively. Also important note Dak was offensive rookie of the year in his first season. There is no significant rise in Dak’s level of play or season statistics under the so-called “quarterback expertise” of McCarthy. 

When you look at the totality of McCarthy’s career as a “quarterback guru” it’s hard to point to where his coaching directly resulted in elite quarterback play. It’s a bit of a grey area and it seems more so that he inherited quality quarterbacks. It certainly doesn’t warrant his taking on the mantle of the Steelers 4th head coach in nearly 60 years. The Steelers desperately need a franchise QB. It simply cannot be argued. But McCarthy can’t be the next head coach simply because he has had questionable success with the position. And even if the Steelers were impressed with McCarthy's ability to develop a QB, such as it is, they can always hire him as a QB coach, or even offensive coordinator. But not the head coach. 

McCarthy‘s head coaching career has been highlighted by questionable in-game decisions, use of timeouts and challenges, and teams that are often at the top of the league in penalties. All of which were critiques of Mike Tomlin in recent years. More glaring is McCarthy's inability to build capable defenses. In Green Bay it was the defense that often fell short and in Dallas the defense was not just  mediocre but towards the bottom of the NFL. Only one season in Dallas was McCarthy able to have a strong defensive unit, and that’s only because Dan Quinn was the defensive coordinator. 

The Steelers need to improve on offense but it cannot come at the expense of the defense. Not only does it go against the identity of the organization, defense is still imperative to post season success. The teams currently competing for a Super Bowl this year have at least an above average defensive unit. 

Finally, McCarthy differs from the Steelers philosophy in the sense that he is not a players coach. Clay Matthews, who played for both Mike McCarthy and Sean McVay, highlighted their differences on his weekly appearance with Bussin with the Boys saying “with McCarthy there was a definite separation between players and coaches, but McVay is more of players coach, and you can see why they are so successful.” Matthew’s even played under Chris Shula when he was the linebackers coach, and he said that Shula shared McVays mentality. If we are interested in a rebuild, a coach who can bond with his players is paramount. 

I know little about Shula so I can’t comment on his potential as the next head coach, but he certainly seems to fit the mold, and he’s a fan favorite so far. But if the Steelers want to pass on Shula because they want to deviate from their standard operating procedure of finding a head coach they should line up Klint or Klay Kubiak or some other younger offensive mind. Not McCarthy. While it might look like a change in mentality on the surface, hiring Mike McCarthy really would be nothing more than the same old same old in Pittsburgh. It’s a mirage. 

Before I conclude I want to touch on a theory that has been floating on social media. The idea that the Steelers would hire McCarthy as a “tank commander”. A kind of scapegoat who coaches for a year or two to get the team to a top 5 pick, then you can find your “real head coach”. That idea is laughable for a number of reasons, the largest being Art Rooney II as much as said he had no interest in it, stating he doesn’t see a reason in wasting a season by not contending. 

But even more, it just doesn’t work. To paraphrase Coach Tomlin the NFL is a business and that business is winning. Losing games can not only cost people their jobs, but their careers in the league. Fans will often point to the Patriots as an instance of “tanking” being successful but at the core of that rebuild is that the Patriots being a well run organization. Well run organizations don’t intentionally make bad hires. The Patriots turnaround is the exception that proves the rule. Also hiring a head coach with the plan to fire him in the near future is a loser's proposition. Hiring a head coach is an inherent gamble because so few good candidates exist, so the less often you have to do it. The better. 

Otherwise, the Browns would have the most Super Bowls in the NFL. 

Kaboly's claim that McCarthy would be a change in thinking for the Steelers as a fallacy. It would be a predictable move of the Steelers “hiring one of their own” disguised as a radical change of philosophy. In essence, Mike McCarthy and Mike Tomlin are two sides of the same coin.

He’s not a “tank commander” or a QB guru. He’s just a bad hire. Cut and dry. If he ends up being the next head coach, the Steelers are headed for another decade of mediocrity at best, and more likely, falling out of favor as one the prestigious NFL franchises.