The Pittsburgh Steelers hired Mike McCarthy to replace the long-serving Mike Tomlin in January. McCarthy returned to coaching with the Steelers after his stint with the Dallas Cowboys ended in January 2025.
He will step into a strange dynamic as Tomlin never recorded a losing season in Pittsburgh, but the Steelers were almost always overpowered during the playoffs.
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During Friday’s segment of the “Get Up” show, Brooke Pryor detailed the heightened expectations from the Steelers fans for McCarthy’s immediate tenure.
“I think in Pittsburgh, a sign of success would be winning a playoff game. It’s been a decade since they’ve won a playoff game,” Pryor said. “T.J. Watt has not won a playoff game. There are only two players on the Steelers roster right now who have won a playoff game with the Pittsburgh Steelers, which is just a crazy thing to say. I think that the reason the Steelers brought in Mike McCarthy, that they wanted to retain Aaron Rodgers, is that prevents them from having to do a full teardown rebuild.
“Because rebuild is a dirty word in Pittsburgh, they don’t want to do that. Even if it means more long-term success, they want to win right now. Obviously, they would like to win a Super Bowl, but that’s not realistic. But winning a playoff game, that would get that winning culture, that winning mentality. Not just having a winning season, but winning in the playoffs, they need to see that success.”
“Rebuild is a dirty word in Pittsburgh. They don’t want to do that, even if it means more long-term success. They want to win right now.”
—@bepryor on why the Steelers went after Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers 🏈 pic.twitter.com/HnKHTOYfkp
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 10, 2026
Under Tomlin, the Steelers became the first team in NFL history to lose five consecutive playoff games by double digits, showcasing their current standing in the league. Tomlin’s team was obliterated 30-6 by the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round, continuing its rotten luck in the postseason.
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The Steelers bucked the trend by hiring their first offensive-minded coach since Bill Austin (1966-1968). In 18 seasons as a head coach, McCarthy’s offenses finished in the top 10 in yards 11 times and in points 12 times, further bolstering his offensive reputation.
McCarthy was reunited with Rodgers in Pittsburgh. Under McCarthy’s guidance, the 42-year-old quarterback bloomed into one of the most devastating quarterbacks in the league, winning the Super Bowl XLV MVP after beating the Steelers 31-25 in 2011.
While speaking to reporters last week, Rodgers, who will play his last season in the NFL, was excited about linking up with McCarthy in Pittsburgh.
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“I spent 13 years in (McCarthy’s offense),” Rodgers said. “He’s changed some stuff when he was in Dallas… It’s stuff that we used to run, but he’s just called it something different now.”
McCarthy has a 174-112-2 record in the NFL as the head coach of the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys in the regular season, and is 11-11 in the playoffs.
