Steelers Defensive Scheme Will Look Familiar Under Mike McCarthy: "We Want To Keep The Language The Same"

The Pittsburgh Steelers have a new head coach for the first time since 2007. Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy has become only the fourth head coach of the franchise since 1969, and becomes the 17th head coach in the organization's history. McCarthy comes in after Mike Tomlin announced that he was stepping down and would not be the Steelers' head coach in 2026 and beyond. With the hiring of McCarthy, this signals that the Steelers' changes won't be as significant as many believed they could be, had the franchise opted to hire a younger coordinator with a different experience working with another team.

The main source of change, many believed, would be on the defensive side of the ball. McCarthy began his head coaching career with prior experience as an offensive coordinator back in 2006, and his expertise on that side of the ball will be his primary focus during his time with the Steelers. As for the defensive side of the ball, there are many questions that are going to be asked about what the plan is, especially with the pieces already in place to have a strong defense for next season.

In McCarthy's introductory press conference to the media, he was asked about what his philosophy on defense will be like, and what changes he plans to implement. McCarthy's answer should provide some optimism to Steelers fans.

"As we build the staff, we definitely want to build off what's in place here," McCarthy said. "Just as a whole, you know, with this being the third organization 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, you know, building off of what's in place, and there's a lot here in place. The defense's system has been here since 1992, it came here with Coach [Bill] Cowher, and Dom Capers, so, always been a fan of it, you know, I always felt it was the toughest one to compete against as an offensive coach, and part of the reason why I went to it in Green Bay. Those are the things we're focused on right now. 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 got something that works the way its worked here for so long, I think you should try to do everything you can to build off that, if possible."

McCarthy's idea to keep the defensive scheming the same despite his background shows that he wants to keep the system that has worked already in place, which should be good news for the fans that wanted to see the defense continue to be the strength of the team going into next season. McCarthy is definitely going to attract some interesting candidates for his coordinators, but at the moment, his focus is simply on keeping the main scheme of the defense the same.

Overall, McCarthy seems to like the idea of bringing in staff that will adhere to the same principles that the defense is sticking with currently, which is a big bonus for a team that has struggled as of late at hiring assistants. In one of the better qualities that McCarthy brings to the table, it seems that finding a great staff is among them.

Steelers Must Nail The Staff Hires

The Steelers have had some fairly embarrassing misses as it pertains to their staff under former Coach Tomlin. McCarthy, however, seems to be inquiring on the availability of some rather big names to fill the coordinator roles, particularly on defense. This is incredible news, especially with McCarthy's comments that he wants to keep the core scheme of the defense intact.

What did you think of McCarthy's comments on making the defense fit the current scheme? Let us know in the comments below.

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