McCarthy's Super Bowl ring underscores defense's championship power. He plans to build on the Steelers' defensive tradition, bringing in new coordinators.
Defense wins championships might be the most frequently used cliche in sports. New Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy, though, knows that the saying is true and has a Super Bowl ring to prove it.
McCarthy has spent 18 years as an NFL head coach with the Green Bay Packers (2006-18) and the Dallas Cowboys (2020-24). The only time one of his teams ever finished in the top five in the league in total defense was in 2010.
The Packers were second only to the Steelers in yards allowed, then capped the season by beating Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLV. McCarthy hasn’t been back to the big game since then.
While McCarthy has made a career of building strong offenses and developing quarterbacks, he understands the Steelers’ defensive tradition. The Steel Curtain helped the Steelers win four Super Bowls in six seasons from 1974-79 while McCarthy was growing up in Pittsburgh.
“The importance of defense is critical,” McCarthy said.
The Steelers were a disappointing 26th in the league in total defense despite having a star-studded lineup that former coach Mike Tomlin predicted would do “historic things.” The only thing historically notable about the defense is that it used the 3-4 alignment, which has been a franchise staple since 1982. McCarthy is a 3-4 proponent.
Teryl Austin, Pittsburgh's defensive coordinator for the last four seasons, will not be retained. The Steelers are close to hiring Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham to replace Austin.
Graham has been an NFL DC for seven straight seasons with the Green Bay Packers (2018-19), New York Giants (2020-21), and the Raiders (2022-25). His first season with the Packers coincided with McCarthy’s last as their coach. The Raiders ranked 14th in the NFL in total defense this year, the fourth time in Graham’s seven seasons that his units have finished in the top half of the league.
McCarthy plans to retain linebackers coach Scott McCurley from the previous staff, as well as defensive backs coach Gerald Alexander. McCurley has been on McCarthy’s coaching staff throughout his 18 seasons as a head coach.
McCarthy says he does not think Pittsburgh's defense necessarily needs to be dismantled because of the team’s poor 2025 performance.
"We definitely want to build off what's in place here," McCarthy said Tuesday during his introductory press conference. "With this being the third organization that I've walked into the first day, I don't believe in the throw-out-the-baby-with-the-bath-water method. I believe in building off what's in place, and there's a lot here in place. The defensive system has been here since 1992. I've always been a fan of it. I always thought it was the toughest one to compete against as an offensive coach, part of the reason I went to it in Green Bay.
"We're putting the staff together, but ideally we want to keep the language the same. Those are big decisions when you come in here because when you have something that works the way it's worked here for so long, I think you should try to do everything you can to build off that, if possible."
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