The Pittsburgh Steelers are in a different situation than they’ve ever been, and with that comes one of the biggest coaching searches in modern NFL history.
After Mike Tomlin stepped away after nearly two decades, the Steelers are now challenged with replacing one of the greatest coaches the game has ever seen.
The question now is who it can be, and Fox Sports’ Eric D. Williams had the latest on it. He said that this isn’t just another coaching job, as it’s a place coaches have to win.
“With the bombshell coming out of Pittsburgh this week that longtime head coach Mike Tomlin was stepping down after 19 seasons as that team’s head coach, Steelers owner Art Rooney begins the quest to hire that franchise’s fourth coach in 57 years. Finding Tomlin’s replacement will not be easy. The defensive-minded head coach led the Steelers to a Super Bowl and did not have a losing season during his time there. But of course, the feeling from fans, understandably, in Pittsburgh of late is that Tomlin underperformed, not winning a playoff game in a decade.
“Still, the pressure will be significant for Tomlin’s replacement. One league executive I spoke to said Pittsburgh native and Super Bowl champion Mike McCarthy may be a good fit as an experienced head coach to replace someone with as much success as Tomlin had,” he wrote.
Mike McCarthy is a great name and someone who I think could be a nice hire in Pittsburgh.
McCarthy won a Super Bowl, coached elite quarterbacks, and has also felt the pressure of coaching two massive organizations, the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys.
While the Steelers have been better in a sense, those are two of the top franchises in sports.
McCarthy may not be the long-term, near two-decade answer that Tomlin was, and the Steelers might want that, but it’s important that the front office remembers those are insanely rare.
There’s a lot to like about him as an option, but at the same time, I’d be a bit surprised if the Steelers went this direction. I think they’ll go with a younger option.