Glass half full
by Robert Maher and Owen MacMaster
The Pittsburgh Steelers have their guy. Only the fourth coach since 1969 is Mike McCarthy. Many Steelers fans were very upset with the hiring initially including myself, but after listening to him speak in his introductory press conference and taking a deeper look into his coaching career, I no longer feel the same way about this hire. Take away the fact that he is a Pittsburgh guy there are still a good amount of positives from this hire.
He has a long history of working with and developing good quarterbacks in this league. He took that and when he got to Green Bay as the Quarterbacks coach he was able to help Brett Favre throw for over 4,212 yards, the second highest yards he had thrown in a season in his entire career. He then coached him again in 2006 and 2007 as the head coach where they reached the NFC Championship game.
His biggest impact in a quarterback’s development was Aaron Rodgers. For the first two years in McCarthy’s head coach stint with Green Bay, Rodgers sat behind Brett Favre where McCarthy helped Rodgers fix his very broken pass motion. He put him through intense QB school where he helped him work on his mechanics and his skills to be a great quarterback. This paid off as Rodgers is most certainly a first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback and that just proves McCarthy can help QB’s succeed and develop them and that’s what Pittsburgh needs.
Whether the answer is Will Howard (who he has expressed a lot of interest in developing) or not, McCarthy’s track record with developing quarterbacks gives some hope to this organization and fans.
Many people also wanted an offensive minded coach and they received it. It may not have been a young up and coming coach but that might not be a bad thing. Who knows if they’d even become a good head coach. McCarthy, being an offensive minded coach, has coached some really good offenses.
In his 4 years in Dallas, his offense ranked inside the top 5 in scoring 3 times. They were number 1 in the league twice. The Steelers have ranked 23rd or worse in scoring offense for the last 8 seasons. Offense is the key to winning in this era of the NFL as we have seen for the last 7 playoff games, and if he is able to bring that to Pittsburgh with the right quarterback at the helm, this team could be in the front part of the AFC race and have a real chance to finally compete, not just make the playoffs.
I’m personally intrigued on what McCarthy could do for an offense that has been lackluster for too long. With McCarthy it should really help WIll Howard’s development as a quarterback and get this offense on the right track. Not only that but he really won me over during his interview where you could tell he had a lot of passion for the city he grew up in.
With the AFC North looking weaker in recent years and new coaching and management this is the perfect opportunity for the Steelers to make a real push to the top of the North. If McCarthy can fix the Steelers offense and make them explosive the Steelers have a real shot at contending in the AFC. With McCarthy in Pittsburgh we could see a return of Rodgers, and possibly see a Love and Rodgers situation where Howard will mentor one or two more years under Rodgers.
Glass half empty
by Jackson Waruszewski
It wasn’t a secret that it was time for a change for the Steelers, but this just isn’t the right one. Many Steeler fans cited Mike Tomlin’s underwhelming postseasons as the leading factor for this. If the poor postseason performances led Mike Tomlin to step down, why would Mike McCarthy be the coach you look to for change?
McCarthy’s most recent coaching stint lasted five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. During those five seasons McCarthy missed the playoffs twice. In those 2 seasons the Cowboys finished below .500. When McCarthy did lead the Cowboys to the playoffs they went 1-3 in 3 seasons. Mike Tomlin and Mike McCarthy have eerily similar coaching history. In Mike Tomlin’s first 5 seasons with the Steelers he led them to the playoffs 4 times. Of those 4 times they appeared in the Super Bowl twice, winning once. In Mike McCarthy’s first 5 seasons with the Green Bay Packers they appeared in the playoffs 3 times. Of those 3 times they lost in the NFC Championship Game twice and beat Mike Tomlin’s Steelers in the Super Bowl. Both coaches’ successes were too long ago.
When there are multiple young, innovative coaches interviewing for head coaching jobs, why would you hire Mike McCarthy? Because the Steelers want to hire friends instead of the right fit. McCarthy is from Pittsburgh and grew up a Steeler fan. Who cares? The NFL isn’t somewhere where you hire your friends. The NFL is one of the most competitive leagues in the world, and the Steelers are allergic to being innovative. The organization is content with mediocrity as long as they are keeping their friends happy, and that is why there has been a lack of success in Pittsburgh. If you were looking for the Steelers to change their culture and take a step forward, you gave yourself a false sense of hope.
