Steelers' Promising Offensive Coordinator Candidate Passes On Promotion To Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Steelers hired the team's fourth head coach since 1969 when the organization announced that Mike McCarthy would be taking the reigns of the franchise. The fan base was pretty stunned by the hire, and it was not seen as a popular move in the slightest. However, there are some benefits to hiring McCarthy. One of those benefits is that he has always been able to put together a good staff, which is something he is in the process of doing currently in Pittsburgh.

McCarthy has filled in a lot of roles on his staff, but one that is still vacant is offensive coordinator. The organization has interviewed Lunda Wells from the Dallas Cowboys for the role, and another promising candidate seemed to be former NFL quarterback Scott Tolzien. Tolzien is currently with the New Orleans Saints under Kellen Moore, and it seems he will be staying there after interviewing in Pittsburgh on Monday.

It is hard to blame Tolzien for wanting to stay with the Saints. New Orleans had a promising end to the 2025 season and rookie quarterback Tyler Shough proved he was the future of the franchise. Some believe that is probably a better career move to stick around as the quarterbacks coach in New Orleans. This way he can wait for an offensive coordinator opportunity where he would actually be calling the plays, because that wouldn't be the case in Pittsburgh under McCarthy.

New Orleans probably made a strong push for Tolzien to stay for another season as the organization's quarterback coach. Whenever a team finds a potential franchise quarterback, it is nothing to play around with. The franchise wants to keep the coaching staff as similar as possible while not making too many changes. This helps with development and comfortability as a quarterback is expected to take a major leap in their second season, hence Drake Maye of the New England Patriots getting ready to start in Super Bowl LX. 

The Saints and Moore certainly made a push and probably offered a raise for Tolzien to stick around, but he also may have not fallen in love with Pittsburgh. The quarterback situation is murky, and he wouldn't even be calling the plays as the offensive coordinator. It is a promotion in title only, as a lot of his responsibilities probably would have been similar to what he is doing right now in New Orleans. Playing a major role in developing a young quarterback like Shough is a free ticket to a head coaching job one day, so sticking around with the Saints is likely the right decision for Tolzien at this moment in time.

Steelers' Mike McCarthy Can't Bring On His Former Quarterback

McCarthy and Tolzien are very close as the two have worked together in a variety of ways over the years. Tolzien was with the Green Bay Packers for three seasons under McCarthy where he was a backup to Aaron Rodgers, and the two also coached together with Dallas from 2020 through 2024. McCarthy gave Tolzien his first opportunity to coach in the NFL back in 2020, but the quarterbacks coach is going to stick where he is currently at.

Pittsburgh's search for its offensive coordinator will continue throughout the rest of the week, and a decision should be made soon on who will be brought in to assist McCarthy in coaching the offense.

What do you think about Scott Tolzien deciding to stay in New Orleans? Let us know in the comments below!

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