Steelers name Mike McCarthy head coach

Mike McCarthy (Gingersnap6288, Wikimedia Commons)

National Football League head coach Mike McCarthy is coming home. The 62-year-old Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native is becoming the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers according to the Associated Press on Saturday.

McCarthy is replacing Mike Tomlin of Hampton, Virginia. Tomlin resigned as the Steelers head coach on January 13. The Steelers head coaching change was noteworthy when you consider the fact that Tomlin was the Steelers head coach for 19 seasons. In 309 games, Tomlin had a record of 193 wins, 114 losses and two ties for a winning percentage of .628.  McCarthy is also only the fourth Steelers head coach since 1969.

McCarthy has been a National Football League head coach for 288 games. He has a record of 174 wins, 112 losses and two ties for a winning percentage of .608. It is interesting that McCarthy has a winning percentage that is two tenths lower than Tomlin in his career.

This is McCarthy’s third National Football League head coaching job. He was with the Green Bay Packers from 2006 to 2028, and the Dallas Cowboys from 2020 to 2024. In 2010, McCarthy led the Packers to a Super Bowl title. Ironically, the Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-25. It was Tomlin coaching the Steelers at the time.

Prior to being a NFL head coach, McCarthy was an assistant coach for 13 years. He was with the Kansas City Chiefs as their offensive quality control coach (1993 and 1994), and quarterbacks coach (1995 to 1998), the Packers as their quarterbacks coach (1999), the New Orleans Saints as their offensive coordinator (2000 to 2004) and the San Francisco 49ers as their offensive coordinator (2005). At the NCAA level, McCarthy was at Fort Hays State as a graduate assistant for two years (1987 to 1988), and at the University of Pittsburgh for four years as a graduate assistant and then wide receivers coach (1989 to 1992).