McCarthy’s hiring marks a departure from the norm for the Steelers, who have traditionally hired first-time head coaches to the position. Each of the four prior Steelers head coaches, including Tomlin, Bill Cowher, Chuck Noll, and Bill Austin, had no prior head coaching experience before being appointed to the job.
McCarthy most recently had a five-year stint from 2020–24 as the Dallas Cowboys’ head man, and before that, he spent 13 years (2006–18) leading the Green Bay Packers. The highlight of his Packers stint, ironically, came against the Steelers. He won Super Bowl XLV in 2011 with Green Bay as it defeated Pittsburgh, 31–25, in a place where McCarthy would eventually call home—AT&T Stadium, which houses the Dallas Cowboys.
The four prior Steelers head coaches were all also much younger than McCarthy, as each was hired in their 30s. Among the current NFL head coaches for the 2026 season, McCarthy will be the third-oldest, trailing only 63-year-old John Harbaugh of the New York Giants and 67-year-old Andy Reid of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Given McCarthy’s ties to Green Bay, there is a link to Pittsburgh’s incumbent quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. The future Hall of Famer spent 13 seasons playing under McCarthy, winning the aforementioned Super Bowl in addition to two league MVP awards. While Rodgers is a free agent and has gone on record in saying playing for Tomlin was one of his major draws to joining the Steelers, having his former Packers coach, who he presumably has a good relationship with, could incentivize Rodgers to want to return to Pittsburgh.
McCarthy owns an NFL coaching record of 174-112-2 (.608 W-L%). His 174 victories rank as the 15th-most in NFL history. He’s just one of eight coaches to have a Super Bowl victory and a win-loss percentage of at least .600, with a minimum of 250 games coached. The Steelers also land a coach well-versed with the postseason as McCarthy’s 22 playoff games are tied for ninth-most in league history, while his 11 playoff wins are tied for the 11th-most.
Unlike the three Super Bowl-winning coaches in Steelers history in Tomlin, Cowher, and Noll, who all had defensive backgrounds, McCarthy’s specialty lies on the offensive end. Prior to beginning his head coaching tenure, McCarthy spent six years as the offensive coordinator for both the San Francisco 49ers (2005) and New Orleans Saints (2000–04). Across his 24 years as either a playcaller or head coach, McCarthy’s teams have finished in the top five in scoring offense in nearly half of those seasons, for a total of 11 times. That includes his teams leading the league in scoring four times.
Prior to his stints as an offensive coordinator, McCarthy served as an NFL assistant from 1993–99. He also has coaching ties with Pittsburgh, as he served on the Pitt Panthers staff from 1989-92.
McCarthy will be tasked with putting his offensive wizardry to use with a team that badly needs help on that side of the ball. In the 2025 NFL season, Pittsburgh ranked 25th in total offense, with bottom-11 rankings on both the ground and through the air. The Steelers didn’t score a touchdown in their Wild Card loss to the Texans, went 2 for 14 on third downs in the game, and committed two turnovers.
Pittsburgh has finished in the bottom 10 in total offense in each of the last seven seasons. The defense has been steady throughout the run, but the offense’s issues have often led to early playoff exits. The Steelers have lost seven straight postseason games, which is both the longest drought in franchise history and the longest active drought in the NFL.
The Steelers hold the 21st pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and also have one second rounder and a pair of third rounders. It just so happens that McCarthy’s first draft with the Steelers will be a home draft for him, as Pittsburgh will host this year’s draft for the first time since 1949. It will take place from April 23–25 at Point State Park and Acrisure Stadium.
McCarthy was one of 10 men that the Steelers interviewed for the opening and among three who they had in-person meetings with. The others were Brian Flores, who is the Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator, and Anthony Weaver, who is the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator.
There were 10 head coach openings heading into the 2026 season, and now just four remain. The vacant positions belong to those of the Arizona Cardinals, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and Las Vegas Raiders.
