One of Mike McCarthy's biggest coaching decisions comes at the offensive coordinator position. The Pittsburgh Steelers expressed interest in several candidates, including Dallas Cowboys tight end coach Lunda Wells, but all roads led to Scott Tolzien.
Tolzien, who was in Mobile last week as the offensive coordinator of the American Team at the Senior Bowl, was the clear frontrunner. The young offensive mind and current QB coach of the New Orleans Saints had eight combined years working with McCarthy, both as a former backup quarterback and assistant coach.
But what we thought was nearly set in stone proved to be anything but.
On Tuesday, NFL insider Jordan Schultz dropped a bombshell on Steelers fans when he reported that Tolzien plans to remain with the Saints. This caught everyone off guard.
Tolzien felt like the perfect understudy to McCarthy in every way. The 38-year-old would have received a promotion—going from New Orleans' QB coach to Pittsburgh's OC—and would be reunited with McCarthy. But it's not happening.
The Pittsburgh Steelers must pivot from Scott Tolzien after an unexpected coaching twist
While Schultz didn't shed light on why Tolzien elected to stay with the New Orleans Saints (or if he was officially offered the offensive coordinator job of the Pittsburgh Steelers), we can assume that he likes his situation better.
Working with second-year head coach Kellen Moore, Tolzien serves as the QB coach and has largely been credited with the incredible rookie surge of quarterback Tyler Shough in 2025. This could be about buying his time and waiting for the right opportunity.
Mike McCarthy made it clear that he would be the coach calling the offensive plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Perhaps this wasn't something Tolzien could get on board with. To rise the coaching ranks to eventually become a head coach, most coaches must have a body of work as a play-caller. This isn't something Tolzien would have been able to do in Pittsburgh.
With another strong season from Shough and improvement from the Saints' offense in 2026, Tolzien could be up for plenty more offensive coordinator roles.
Unfortunately, this means the Pittsburgh Steelers must pivot in their search for their new OC under McCarthy. Do they turn back to Lunda Wells, whom they interviewed early in the process or do they look elsewhere to fill the role?
A fan favorite, of course, would be turning to Los Angeles Rams' passing game coordinator, Nate Scheelhaase, who was originally thought to be a candidate for the Steelers' head coaching position. But for the same reasons, he might not want to leave a spectacular situation in LA with head coach Sean McVay, and a promotion for Scheelhaase could be in line soon after OC Mike LaFleur landed the Cardinals' head coaching job.
In all likelihood, McCarthy is going to hire an OC he has ties with—it's simply what most head coaches do. If Scott Tolzien was the plan all along, it's unfortunate that the Pittsburgh Steelers need to start over to find their new offensive coordinator.