Pittsburgh Steelers fans have suffered through years of inadequate coaching with unspectacular coordinators under Mike Tomlin. So when Art Rooney II handed the keys to the team to Mike McCarthy, we knew the new Steelers head coach had to get his coaching hires right.
McCarthy isn't known for his spectacular coaching tree, though finding more success than Tomlin in this area is a low bar to clear. The long-time NFL head coach of the Packers and Cowboys played a role in coaching success, with notable alumni including Dan Quinn, Kellen Moore, and Brian Schottenheimer—three current NFL head coaches.
Now McCarthy will focus on filling out his coaching staff, and fans certainly hope that his coordinators are better than the combination of Arthur Smith and Teryl Austin we saw last year. Smith has joined Ohio State as an offensive coordinator, while Austin is looking for work.
But McCarthy's OC hire might not be as critical as fans think.
Mike McCarthy was crystal clear that he will call the offensive plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers
During his first press conference as head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, McCarthy reiterated that he will be the offensive play-caller for his new team. This is something we expected, but now we have confirmation.
McCarthy relinquished his play-calling duties once. This came over a decade ago, early in the 2015 season with the Green Bay Packers. The head coach experimented with handing over play-calling responsibilities to former offensive coordinator Tom Clements—a decision he vowed he'd never make again.
In 2015, Green Bay ranked 14th in scoring and 22nd in total offense. This came despite having a 33-year-old Pro Bowl Aaron Rodgers. McCarthy didn't even go a full season without calling the offensive plays, as he took over this role in December of 2015.
The following season, with McCarthy calling plays, Rodgers—in the same number of games—recorded over 600 more passing yards (4,428) and nine more passing touchdowns (40), while throwing fewer interceptions (7). Rodgers also saw a spike in yards per attempt (6.7 to 7.3) and passer rating (92.7 to 104.2) when McCarthy resumed full offensive play-calling duties in 2016.
McCarthy loves operating out of the shotgun, so we can expect to see lots of this in Pittsburgh in 2026. He's also always had a go-to option at wide receiver—someone his quarterback can pepper with targets and a player whom the passing game can run through.
This doesn't fit the description of DK Metcalf. While Metcalf should be much more efficient with McCarthy calling the plays, we can expect the Steelers to look for a more complete-do-it-all WR who can operate proficiently both out wide and in the slot (a la CeeDee Lamb, McCarthy's first-ever draft pick with the Dallas Cowboys).
Mike McCarthy calling plays isn't a bad thing, and it actually puts less pressure on his looming decision at offensive coordinator. We don't know how his first season will go in Pittsburgh, but we can say for certain that he will be calling the offense.