The Pittsburgh Steelers introduced Mike McCarthy as the team's head coach on Tuesday. He and the organization are expected to get to work on filling out the coaching staff and making decisions on the 2026 season. It will be interesting to see what changes occur with the roster, but fans should expect Pittsburgh to look to compete once again. A lot of fans want to see the franchise have a down year in order to have a shot at a top quarterback through the NFL Draft, but that doesn't seem like something that is going to happen under McCarthy.
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Former Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin (left) meets with ex-Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy after a game.
One of the main criticisms of the Steelers over the last several seasons has been the mediocrity. The team is consistently just good enough to sneak into the postseason, but then an embarrassing playoff loss usually follows. It was viewed as a Mike Tomlin problem, but now that he has stepped down, that burden is going to fall more on the organization. The fans are tired of just making the playoffs and then being out of position to land a top quarterback. McCarthy spoke about the postseason during his introductory press conference on Tuesday, and he doesn't seem like he has any plans not to be in the postseason.
"Every season is different," McCarthy explained. "Every team you coach is a bit different, your belief, your culture, your standards, you're trying to move that forward. The most important thing about playoff football is staying in the playoffs. We're not trying to get to the playoffs, it's doing the thing to stay in the playoffs. Playoff football is the hardest games to win each and every year."
McCarthy doesn't envision a down year for the Steelers. He wants to get back to the postseason and he wants to win games, which is something that has been a struggle for Pittsburgh over the last decade. The Steelers have not advanced in the playoffs since the 2016 season, which is a little embarrassing for such a historic franchise.
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Mike McCarthy coaching on the sidelines during an away game back when he was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys.
McCarthy's message is nice, and fans should want to advance in the postseason as well, it's just not realistic right now. The team is older, and there are far too many questions at the most important position in the sport. The Steelers are in quarterback purgatory, and until the franchise gets out of that, things are going to continue to be more of the same most likely.
The new head coach has a record of 11-11 in the postseason, and his last playoff win came in 2022 when his Dallas Cowboys took down the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in what wound up being the last game that Tom Brady played in. He has also gone on several deep runs as a head coach, mostly with the Green Bay Packers. He won Super Bowl XLV over the Steelers, and he also advanced to two other NFC Championship Games with the Packers.
McCarthy's playoff resume is decent, and hopefully it can bring Pittsburgh over the hump. However it is hard to imagine any of that happening without the franchise having a few down years at the very least.
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Steelers' Omar Khan shakes hands with Art Rooney II during his introductory press conference back in 2022.
Fans Think Steelers Need To Drop The "Win Now" Mindset
The Steelers are in no position to "win now" necessarily. The roster is filled with older veterans, the franchise doesn't have an answer at quarterback, and significant coaching changes are occurring. It would be wise if the franchise went through some sort of rebuild. There is no shame in rebuilding. There is shame in making desperate moves every offseason to try any magically improve a roster that has been subpar since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger. A couple of offseasons of calculated moves through the draft and free agency will help this team a ton.
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