The Pittsburgh Steelers may not have fired long-time Head Coach Mike Tomlin, but his decision to step down from his position gave them the chance to finally get out of the purgatory they have suffered through for nearly a decade.
The Steelers haven't won a playoff game since 2016, and it's largely due to a roster lacking premium talent and a franchise quarterback. Despite always being at least somewhat competitive during that time, it was obvious that they weren't a real threat to win a Super Bowl.
Instead of allowing themselves to reset and change the franchise's direction, finally, they went with the one HC candidate who guarantees everything will remain the same.
The hiring of Mike McCarthy is easy to justify if you look just at his career accolades, but he will prevent them from moving away from what has kept them stuck in place for a decade.
The Pittsburgh Steelers doomed themselves to more of the same by hiring Mike McCarthy
If you are a Steelers fan who was excited to see Tomlin go, the decision to replace him with McCarthy should make you furious. He and Tomlin have very similar resumes in the NFL as an HC, each winning a Super Bowl early in their careers and struggling to compete for one since.
Both are "floor-raisers" vs "ceiling-raisers", getting the most out of their teams in the regular season but stalling out in the playoffs. McCarthy's postseason record is better (11-11 vs 8-12 for Tomlin), but he has just one playoff win since the Steelers' playoff losing streak began.
He was fired at his last stop with the Cowboys largely due to his playoff failures, going 1-3 despite having a franchise QB in Dak Prescott. At least Tomlin had the excuse of not having a QB after Ben Roethlisberger retired. Is it possible that he could elevate the offense enough to actually win a playoff game? Maybe, but to what end?
The most likely outcome is that McCarthy wins eight or more games, the Steelers pick in the middle of the draft again, and they continue that cycle until they move on from him. The only positive is that he is 62 years old, so he won't be around for 15 years like their last three HC's were.
Maybe I am being too pessimistic, but it's hard for fans not to see the writing on the wall with this hire. Hopefully, he proves us wrong.