With the days dwindling until the Pittsburgh Steelers ultimately make a final decision at head coach, the fanbase thinks they have the final three candidates narrowed down: Chris Shula, Brian Flores, and Mike McCarthy. Shula and Flores are young, defensive-minded coaches who fit the bill of what this franchise has looked for in the past, while McCarthy is the home-grown coach who found Super Bowl success.
Shula has felt like the frontrunner of the pack since the beginning, and while we can't rule out a name like Dolphins' DC Anthony Weaver being a surprise pick, most expect that Shula is the guy who will ultimately wind up as the Steelers' next head coach.
But there's another candidate who is gaining steam fast.
On Thursday, Jamie Eisner of The Draft Network posted betting favorites on Pittsburgh's next head coach. At -125 odds, Shula is the clear frontrunner. Surprisingly, Nate Scheelhaase now has the second-highest odds at +350. And this happened fast.
Just one day earlier, Eisner posted the Steelers' HC odds, and Scheelhaase wasn't even one of the 11 coaches mentioned on the list.
This drastic change suggests that odds-makers may have received some recent insight that prompted a drastic shift.
Once-long-shot HC candidate Nate Scheelhaase suddenly seems like a real possibility for the Pittsburgh Steelers
While betting odds aren't everything, we can't ignore the fact that Scheelhaase is flying up as one of the top candidates on Pittsburgh's radar as an option to replace Mike Tomlin. Though the Los Angeles Rams' passing game coordinator doesn't check all of the boxes this franchise typically looks for in a head coach, he comes close... and Art Rooney II might finally be open to a new way of doing business.
Something Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin all had in common was that they were each defensive coordinators. Scheelhaase does not fall under this category.
A former four-year quarterback at Illinois, Scheelhaase's specialty is offense... and he's coming from the best offense in football. In 2025, the Rams finished first in points per game (30.1) and first in yards per game (392.6).
Though Scheelhaase doesn't come from a defensive coaching background, he checks all of the other boxes the Steelers value.
At 35 years old, Scheelhaase is one of the youngest coaches involved in head coaching discussions in the 2026 hiring cycle. And like Noll, Cowher, and Tomlin, he would be a first-time NFL head coach—not a re-tread coach.
The cherry on top is that Scheelhaase has been a direct understudy of the brilliant Sean McVay over the past two seasons. McVay, who won a Super Bowl with the LA Rams in February 2022, is widely considered one of the best head coaches and offensive minds in the business.
It would break the trend for the Steelers to hire an offensive-minded coach as the head coach of their storied franchise, but this feels more possible than ever. Nate Scheelhaase's odds of becoming the next head coach for the Pittsburgh Steelers are skyrocketing, and fans should be excited for this potential hire.