Steelers' Mike McCarthy Already Pulling Something Off That Mike Tomlin Never Could

The Pittsburgh Steelers are in foreign territory to an extent. Mike Tomlin led the franchise for 19 years before suddenly stepping down after a playoff loss to the Houston Texans. Many believed that the team would pursue a young, defensive mind to take over and hopefully lead the organization for the next two decades. However, the exact opposite occurred when veteran NFL coach Mike McCarthy put pen to paper and got the job. Many have been curious about what will be different in the next era of football in the Steel City, and the new leadership is already being aggressive in many ways.

Roster decisions haven't been made yet publicly, but fans can believe that McCarthy and the front office are actively pondering ways to make the depth chart stronger moving forward. The Steelers should have plenty of cap space, which could lead to a very aggressive free agency period from General Manager Omar Khan. Those opportunities won't pop up until the middle of march, so for now, the focal point has been getting a good coaching staff to surround McCarthy with.

Team Owner Art Rooney II has been knocked for being cheap of late. Pittsburgh always spends to the cap, so it hasn't been because of roster construction and the players getting paid. The NFL has changed a lot in two decades, and the evolving state of professional football has led to so many organizations investing heavily in their coaching staffs. The Steelers, however, were not known to have large groups around Tomlin.

With McCarthy at the helm, there seems to be more news about the coaches that will be joining him on the sideline. It's shaping up to be the Steelers' largest collective ever, per Mark Kaboly.

It will likely never be known publicly if Tomlin was the one calling the shots on how many coaches he wanted to be on his staff, but it appears McCarthy is getting whatever his wish is. Rooney may not have wanted to pay up in the past, which led to smaller groups, but it's also possible that Tomlin wasn't interested in adapting to the modern NFL. His biggest critics have consistently said in recent years that Tomlin was being a little too stubborn in his ways as the years progressed.

Leaving the strength and conditioning staff out of the coaching realm, the Steelers are shaping up to have the biggest unit of coaches ever. It speaks to McCarthy's preference, and the team may not even be done. The team is even diving so deep and being so specific that there will be an assistant special teams coach that will be on board.

This is shaping up to look like a much different Steelers team than in years past. No roster moves have really been made yet, but if the coaching staff additions are any indication, a lot is going to change in the Steel City under McCarthy.

Steelers Fans Expecting Results With Changed Ways

Pittsburgh adding several new positions to the coaching staff is exciting for the fan base, but it won't mean much if playoff wins don't follow. McCarthy is 62 years old and not necessarily worried about being threatened about others coming in and voicing their opinions. This is something that many always speculated Tomlin was worried about. Now, times are changing and the wins are expected to come as well.

Do you think that the Steelers' past decisions to not have big staffs was on Tomlin or Rooney? Let us know in the comments below!

#SteelerNation