Mike McCarthy, Pittsburgh’s new head coach and former on the field boss of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys is only the fourth in Steelers history since 1969). He also has a track record of success similar to one of the coaches in yesterday’s AFC championship.
McCarthy starts his third stint as an NFL head coach. At 62 years old, during his 16 seasons coaching from 2006 to 2021, he achieved 155 wins, made 11 playoff appearances, and won one Super Bowl—done alongside a Hall of Fame quarterback who was widely considered a shoo-in.
Unlike 62-year-old Sean Payton of the Broncos, the Steelers are breaking a long-standing hiring pattern and making a wise move by recognizing that the main difference between Payton and McCarthy is that one coach is slightly more convincing in showing he's great at his job. The Steelers have long favored a more understated approach.
While Pittsburgh moved away from its traditional practice of hiring a defensive-minded head coach in his early thirties—the pathway that brought Super Bowl winners like Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin—the focus now is on the fact that McCarthy ranks as the 15th-winningest coach in NFL history. He holds a .608 winning percentage, which is higher than those of Bill Parcells, Mike Shanahan, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Mike Ditka, and Jon Gruden.
From 2016 to 2018—which is when EPA tracking data became more mainstream—McCarthy, like Payton, also had a top-seven offense in terms of expected points added per play. Additionally, in 2023 and 2024 (the years when McCarthy was in Dallas and Payton was in Denver), the Cowboys outperformed the Broncos in nearly all measurable offensive statistics.
Remember, McCarthy has had 14 seasons where he finished with a top-15 passing offense in net yards per attempt. The Steelers only did this 10 times under Tomlin, all with Roethlisberger at quarterback. |
