Mike McCarthy was recently hired to become the fourth head coach in Pittsburgh Steelers history. It’s a great story for the Pittsburgh-native who once worked as a toll collector on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. But fans are hating the hire, citing McCarthy’s past failures as a coach who could never turn a 12-win team into a title contender.
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McCarthy is a tough coach to judge. He spent 18 seasons in the NFL between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, going 174-112-2 for his entire career. But it’s his 11-11 playoff record that many tend to reference when they critique him. There’s a lot of good that he does in the regular season, yet in the postseason, he tends to regress.
However, Cris Carter disagrees with the public opinion entirely. He thinks that, outside of John Harbaugh, McCarthy was the right man for the Steelers’ job. After all, he’s gotten to work with some pretty quality quarterbacks over the years and always elevated their game.
“If I can’t get John Harbaugh, I think that McCarthy is the second for this job in Pittsburgh, being a Pittsburgh guy,” Carter argued on Fully Loaded. “His effect on the offense everywhere he’s been. I mean, going all the way back to coaching guys like Joe Montana. This dude has coached some quarterbacks, and he’s had a positive effect on them.”
Many may not know that McCarthy worked as the offensive quality control assistant for the Kansas City Chiefs in 1993 and ‘94. There, he got to work with Joe Montana, one of the best QBs in NFL history. It was a great addition to his resume that McCarthy cited as professional development when interviewing for the Packers job.
Later on, Carter also mentioned Dak Prescott as a QB that McCarthy did a great job at developing. And he’s not wrong. Under McCarthy, Dak made a Pro Bowl, finished second in MVP voting one season, and made the playoffs three out of five years. He did an excellent job developing the Cowboys QB into the player he is today.
Of course, Carter also addressed the elephant in the room with Aaron Rodgers. McCarthy’s hire could potentially extend the runway for the 42-year-old’s career, as the two worked together for many years in Green Bay and won a Super Bowl. But if not, he suggested another interesting name that the Steelers should consider trading for.
“Malik Willis, the backup for Green Bay, I would try to trade for him. Yes, I would make something happen. Pittsburgh trying to do a new thing? Let’s do something different than the way we try to acquire these quarterbacks after Ben [Roethlisberger],” Carter suggested.
Willis is a former third-round pick in the 2022 Draft. He famously shot up boards after having an insane Combine day. His career started rocky with the Tennessee Titans, but he eventually made his way to the Packers and has now had two quality seasons as a backup. The three times he’s been asked to start, Willis has gone 2-1, tossing 6 TDs and no INTs. He’s also a threat on the ground, running for 3 TDs during that time.
It was an interesting suggestion by Carter, and one that the Steelers and McCarthy may look into. There’s still a lot of unknown information about Rodgers’ future and whether he will return to the NFL. If he does want to give it another go, though, the Steelers will most likely welcome him back with open arms.
After all, it’s not like Rodgers’ stats this season were that bad. In fact, they would be quality numbers for a lot of other players. We just expect so much more out of Rodgers from what we’ve seen in the past, and it’s hard to ignore that age has caught up with him.
All in all, Carter may be right, and fans could be overreacting to the McCarthy hiring. But at the same time, it feels like we’ve been down this road with him before, and we know what we’re going to get. So, it’s hard to get too excited about this news, even if you’re a fan of the Steelers.
