Adam Schefter Reveals The Honest Reason Why Steelers' Brass Hired Mike McCarthy

The NFL has been reacting ever since the moment it was reported that the Pittsburgh Steelers would be hiring Mike McCarthy to replace Mike Tomlin. The organization didn't stick to what it knows, which has been historically going after young, defensive-minded individuals. The offense for the franchise is expected to get a boost, as the hiring committee of Art Rooney II and Omar Khan clearly had a vision with the decision. That doesn't mean that the fan base reacted positively to the news. Many were expecting a much different outcome at the end of the search.

Another intriguing note to mention is that the Steelers satisfied the Rooney Rule with the in-person interviews of Brian Flores and Anthony Weaver, only to quickly go in a different direction on Saturday.

Despite the questions surrounding the team's hiring process, Adam Schefter appeared on The Pat McAfee Show on Monday to clearly explain why the Steelers went in the direction in which they did.

"If we go back to Art Rooney's press conference when Mike Tomlin had stepped down and he talked about the fact that he didn't want to rebuild, they've got a veteran team and this is a team that won the division this past year," Schefter explained. "They won the division. They're not ready to shut it down and rebuild and so they felt like, a guy like Mike McCarthy, whose got the experience he does, whose familiar with grooming quarterbacks, could be helpful."

Overall, it makes sense on paper. Pittsburgh won the AFC North in 2025 and has been a consistent playoff contestant in recent years. Per Schefter, the speculation surrounding an Aaron Rodgers return has nothing to do with the hiring of McCarthy.

"They didn't hire Mike McCarthy to bring back Aaron Rodgers," Schefter said. "That did not happen. They just felt like here's a team who won the division last year. We want to maintain our standard. The standard is the standard in Pittsburgh, right? And they were trying to achieve the standard by going and hiring the oldest coach they've ever had."

Rebuild is not a term that the Steelers want to use, and Rooney made that clear almost immediately after Tomlin walked away. It's evident that the front office believes the roster as a whole can still compete for a championship sooner rather than later.

Time will tell if this was the right decision for Pittsburgh. Fans have been desperate for a mediocre season — which comes off a bit spoiled — so that the team could draft high enough to land a franchise signal-caller. That could still happen in the near future, but Rooney's refusal to retool, and Schefter's comments about the decision to hire McCarthy should spark a ton of intrigue.

The defense was the league's highest-paid in 2025, while the offense underperformed for the majority of the year. With McCarthy in charge, the hope is that more points are scored and his unit becomes more efficient. Defensively, whoever comes in to be the play-caller is likely to have full autonomy, and will possess plenty of weapons at his disposal.

Steelers Ownership Will Not Get A Pass If McCarthy Hire Is Disastrous

If Pittsburgh remains competitive under McCarthy, but doesn't get any closer to winning a Super Bowl, the Black and Gold faithful are going to be far from pleased. Rooney's legacy may be on the line, and that hints at the fact that he truly believes the team can win — and in January — right away with McCarthy running the show. It's bound to be a whirlwind of a 2026 campaign in the Steel City.

Do you think the Steelers can compete for a championship pretty much right away with McCarthy as the team's head coach? Let us know in the comments below!

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