Hometown hero Mike McCarthy, fresh off the Cowboys, takes the helm in Pittsburgh. His storied NFL career now comes full circle with the Steelers.
FRISCO - Former Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy talked often during his five seasons at The Star about the pride he takes in being a Pittsburgh native.
And now he is the head coach of his hometown team.
Yes, the Pittsburgh Steelers - with Mike Tomlin now out after nearly two decades at the helm - are making a major move.
The "in thing" for some might be to hire a young head coach to bring the glamour back to franchises, but for the Steelers, they are going down a different avenue ...
Straight down to blue-collar Greenfield, as a matter of fact.
The Steelers are hiring McCarthy, 62, and he'll be just their fourth head coach since 1969 (Tomlin from 2007–2025, Bill Cowher from 1992 to 2006 and Chuck Noll from 1969 to 1991.)
Stability, much?
When he was here, we talked to him about having been labeled "Pittsburgh strong'' and "Pittsburgh macho'' while he was winning a Super Bowl overseeing the Green Bay Packers.
Now it's a homecoming.
Mike's father, Joe, was a Pittsburgh cop and firefighter, and he owned a bar in the Greenfield neighborhood that teenage Mike worked in on the weekends.
After 13 years with the Packers - where interestingly, he coached and clashed and won with Aaron Rodgers, a Steelers free-agent to be QB - and five with the Cowboys, "Big Mike" is about to return to the NFL coaching circle after a year off.
With a 172-112-2 record, a Super Bowl win, and out of 18 years as a head coach, McCarthy led his teams to the playoffs 12 times.
McCarthy led the Cowboys to three straight 12-5 seasons but went 1-3 in the postseason, which ultimately led to Jerry Jones parting ways with the Super Bowl winner at this time a year ago.