Mike McCarthy is doing exactly what everyone said he wouldn’t do: he is winning, and all those national talking heads who laughed at his Steelers hire are looking real silly right about now. The man has basically made a career out of winning, and it seems like everyone keeps forgetting that.
McCarthy’s Track Record Speaks For Itself, Doesn’t It?
Seriously, what is it with some of these “experts”? All McCarthy has done in his career as a head coach is stack up wins. He put in 13 years with the Green Bay Packers, and when he left, he was the second-winningest head coach in their franchise history with 135 victories, trailing only the legendary Curly Lambeau. In that time, the Packers hit the playoffs nine times and snagged a Super Bowl ring in 2010. After his Green Bay run, he took a gap year in 2019, then landed with the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.
He wasn’t messing around in Dallas either. In five seasons, he led the Cowboys to the playoffs three times, including a ridiculous three consecutive 12-win seasons from 2021-23. You’d think that kind of success would make him a lifer, right? Nope. The Cowboys let his contract expire and just didn’t bring him back. Makes you wonder, how’s Brian Schottenheimer doing, by the way?
So, McCarthy took another gap year in 2025. And while he was chilling, taking a break from the gridiron, the Pittsburgh Steelers were stuck in their own frustrating loop, struggling to keep pace in the league.
The Steelers’ Gamble and the Outrage
Now, let’s be clear, the Steelers weren’t ever *bad* under Mike Tomlin. The guy never had a losing season in 19 years as head coach, a truly wild stat. But here’s the kicker: they hadn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season. Despite Tomlin’s consistency, that lack of playoff success and a consistent inability to put a high-caliber offense on the field kept Pittsburgh in what you’d call “elite mediocrity.” Still, the national media practically screamed when anyone suggested moving on from Tomlin, crying out that he’d get another job in five minutes. Like Tomlin and the Steelers weren’t just banging their heads against a wall expecting different results.
But after yet another brutal playoff loss, a blowout to the Houston Texans in the 2026 wild card round, Tomlin stepped down. Everyone figured Pittsburgh would go young, following the pattern of Chuck Noll (37 in 1969), Bill Cowher (34 in 1992), and Tomlin himself (34 in 2007). Names like Jesse Minter, Anthony Weaver, Chris Shula, and Nate Scheelhaase were all thrown around. So what did the Steelers do? They hired the 62-year-old Mike McCarthy, and man, did that ruffle some feathers.
The same talking heads who wouldn’t criticize Tomlin suddenly couldn’t contain their laughter about the McCarthy hire. Robert Mays from The Athletic called it “hard to imagine a more uninspired choice.” ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky went even further, saying pairing McCarthy with Aaron Rodgers would be “the worst decision Pittsburgh could make.”
McCarthy Keeps Winning, While the League Keeps Rolling
The reality is, those critics look like they seriously misjudged the situation. McCarthy is getting it done, just like he always has. He is a proven winner, and the Steelers brought him in for exactly that reason. While McCarthy is out there proving everyone wrong, the rest of the league is still grinding, even here in the Emerald City. Our Seahawks just dropped a tough one to the Chicago Bears, 34-17, showing that every week in the NFL is a battle.
The stakes are clear for McCarthy: continue silencing the noise and lead the Steelers to the kind of playoff success they haven’t seen in years. It’s going to be wild watching him continue to defy expectations, proving that sometimes, the “uninspired choice” is actually the smartest one.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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