The Pittsburgh Steelers have a very well documented history. One of the most impressive facts in all of sports is that the organization has only had four head coaches dating back to 1969. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin combined to win six Super Bowls and had countless postseason victories. That's why the search for a new leader in January was so unique. The franchise has consistently hired up-and-coming coordinators who were extremely young when they got the gig. This time around, however, the veteran in Mike McCarthy was given the nod in a rather surprising move.
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Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike McCarthy during a 2026 training camp practice taking place at Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
Despite the experience from McCarthy, it's not the easiest thing to come into a locker room and earn the trust of everyone inside an organization. This is especially the case when the predecessor was in charge for almost two decades. Tomlin had his fingerprints all over the roster, so that likely made it pretty difficult for the new regime to come in and send a positive message that was received well immediately.
McCarthy spoke with the media on Monday during his weekly press conference. After a Week 2 loss, the head coach held himself accountable. He was asked about his personal reflection following the Steelers' 30-27 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday. The team played much better, so naturally, he could have taken credit. Instead, McCarthy said that he doesn't expect anything to be perfect in his inaugural season as the Steelers' leader.
"It's not realistic for a coach to stand up here in the third week of the season in the first year of his program and say, 'That looks exactly how I want it to look,'" McCarthy said. "Having the experience of doing this, that's where I am. It's not a knock on anybody. It's, you know, anybody, any head coach that came in here."
It didn't matter who was going to lead Pittsburgh in 2026. The transition was always going to take some time to really work itself out. The franchise is still in that stage. Luckily, McCarthy got to connect with Cowher during the franchise's Hall of Honor dinner recently. This is where the two bounced ideas off of one another, which certainly helped in the grand scheme of things.
"I had a chance to visit with Coach Cowher this week when he was here," McCarthy noted. "We talked a lot about programs, first year, things you're trying to get through. At the end of the day, what's it supposed to look like? Both of us coming up under Marty Schottenheimer, you know, we had a tremendous mentor that believed in running a program a certain way, structures and everything. When things don't get done right, I look at myself first."
Cowher may only be seven years older than McCarthy, but he knows how difficult it is to replace a legend, and acted as a mentor. Cowher replacing Noll is very similar to McCarthy taking over for Tomlin.
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Former Steelers head coach Bill Cowher looks over in the direction of Ben Roethlisberger as he speaks about Pittsburgh on the Footbahlin podcast.
A lot of pressure comes with being in charge of the Steelers. Excellence is expected at all times. Even though McCarthy is a veteran head coach — now in his third stop at the professional level — he was not afraid to seek out some advice from Cowher. Interestingly enough, the Hall of Famer was only ever in charge of one NFL operation as the top guy. McCarthy still wanted to pick Cowher's brain.
Tomlin was also at the Hall of Honor celebration dinner; however, he was not brought up when McCarthy mentioned first-year programs. It's safe to say that Cowher was the guy who the current head coach wanted to speak with. Overall, it's pretty cool to hear that Cowher still wants to do everything he can to help out the franchise.
Steelers Offense Finally Clicks With Mike McCarthy
During the first two weeks of the 2026 regular season, Pittsburgh's offensive unit was subpar at best. On Sunday, the group found a way to break out. While Aaron Rodgers has plenty of experience in the program, most of the other players do not. It's not just good to see McCarthy being humble enough to lean on Cowher. It's always fantastic that the offense took a big step forward versus the Bengals.
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