Steelers Had A "Bit Of A Miss" When Bringing On New Coaching Staff For 2026

The Pittsburgh Steelers finalized their first coaching staff under new head coach Mike McCarthy on Thursday. There were a few new hires, but most of them have been known for a week or two by now. The entire coaching staff that served under former head coach Mike Tomlin was free to look for work elsewhere as soon as the news broke that Tomlin would be stepping down, and none of the former coaches were going to be retained without being approved by the new coach. McCarthy wound up keeping just two of the coaches from the 2025 staff.

McCarthy's new coaching staff is a little bit different than the way Tomlin ran things. The biggest difference is the fact that McCarthy is an offensive-minded head coach, and he has already announced that he will calling offensive plays on game days. He retained just two coaches from the previous staff as mentioned, Quarterbacks Coach Tom Arth and Inside Linebackers Coach Scott McCurley. 

Team insider Christopher Carter was asked about the new staff in his mailbag on Friday morning, where he shared some qualms he had with the decisions.

"I do think it's a bit of a miss that the only holdovers are Tom Arth and Scott McCurley," Carter wrote. "Not that there's anything wrong with those two, but I would've prioritized a couple others as well. Especially when you see Gerald Alexander leave and what he was able to help Joey Porter Jr. do. He set out on a mission to make him one of the better corners in the NFL and he accomplished it right away. Also got the most out of James Pierre."

Gerald Alexander had been the Steelers' assistant defensive backs coach in 2022 and 2023, and he returned to the franchise as the defensive backs coach in 2025. He did a great job with the development of players like Joey Porter Jr., James Pierre, and Asante Samuel Jr. Seeing him go was tough as he left Pittsburgh to join the Minnesota Vikings when it sounded like Pittsburgh and McCarthy wanted to retain him.

Keeping Alexander would have been ideal, but he seemed to want to go to Minnesota rather than stay in Pittsburgh under McCarthy. Arth and McCurley took McCarthy up on his offer to stay with the organization, and that especially makes sense for McCurley as he has coached with McCarthy for the majority of his career. 

Arth also has some experience under McCarthy. He was with the Green Bay Packers as a player for a little bit, and he never made the final roster. However, he was around McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers during that time, who could be returning for the 2026 season. Arth's relationship with both Rodgers and Will Howard probably played a big role in him being brought back on the staff.

Steelers Should Have Kept More Defensive Coaches

Carter also spoke about some other coaches that McCarthy should have made an effort to retain on the staff. He brought up Karl Dunbar and Denzel Martin. Dunbar has already been hired by the New York Jets while Martin is still looking for his next job.

"Others like Karl Dunbar and Denzel Martin seemed like easy choices to keep," Carter wrote. "But we have to wait and see how this new crew works out!"

Carter being upset by losing Martin and Dunbar is a bit bizarre. Martin is maybe a little understandable due to how great Pittsburgh's outside linebackers have been over the years, but the defensive line has been an issue. Stopping the run has been a problem for years now, and there have been plenty of young defensive linemen in Pittsburgh that have struggled to develop. 

After an underwhelming season in 2025 defensively, maybe a fresh start in Pittsburgh on the coaching staff is best.

What do you think of Carter's thoughts? Let us know in the comments below!

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