The Pittsburgh Steelers 2026 offseason begins with a search for a new Head Coach after Mike Tomlin stepped down after 19 years. On the backburner once again, is the hole at starting quarterback.
The QB “can” had been kicked down the road several times towards the end of Mike Tomlin’s tenure, only to be left at the door as the future Hall of Fame coach exited. The 2025 QB draft class was recognized as underwhelming; thus, it was understandable why the Steelers were reluctant to draft one until the 6th round (Will Howard).
At the time, the consensus was that 2026 would be the year to draft a QB. It’s now 2026 and the class looks worse than 2025 with prospects such as Dante Moore, Garrett Nussmeier, Drew Allar, and John Mateer fizzling out or returning to college. The free agent pool is just as disappointing. Packers’ Malik Willis will be a starter somewhere in 2026, but the list of suitable starters dwindles below him.
The Steelers will very much be in the market for a QB in 2026 as their current room consists only of Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. The new Head Coach will be involved in that process, however QB1 is found, but perhaps the Steelers front office is laying groundwork to back into their 2026 QB rather than their new coach selecting him?
Enter Mike McCarthy.
The Pittsburgh native is fresh off a year out of football and will interview on Wednesday in person, presumably, to be Head Coach of his hometown Steelers. The 62-year-old offensive guru is an outlier in the Steelers’ search being that he is an older candidate, who lacks the defensive background the team historically prefers.
Perhaps while conducting their coaching search, they are backdooring their QB1 in the building. Steelers players reportedly sang the praises of Aaron Rodgers during exit interviews – wishing for the future Hall of Fame QB to return in 2026. It could be an uphill battle, as even Art Rooney II mentioned, “Aaron came here to play for Mike (Tomlin).“
Aaron also played for Mike McCarthy and won a Super Bowl with him. Rodgers has been a songbird of praise for McCarthy since their time in Green Bay ended. It’s possible Rooney and Omar Khan believe that McCarthy could be a path to Rodgers returning.
The Steelers are historically the best franchise in professional sports at selecting their Head Coaches, proven by famously having only three since 1969, so I would not expect them to hire a 62-year-old head coach to band aid the QB position for another year. It is possible however, that they could recommend McCarthy be on staff for their eventual hire though.
Offensive coordinator, offensive assistant, QB coach, assistant head coach – there are many titles he could hold to have a hand on the offense and work directly with Rodgers. It’s impossible to know if McCarthy would be willing to come on in that capacity, or if Rodgers could be lured back. Perhaps the Steelers are interviewing McCarthy to get his name in the cycle, doing a favor for the local boy.
Is this all a hairbrained theory? Perhaps. Probably, in fact, but the Steelers have two major holes in their ranks, the two biggest holes a professional football team can have, and this scheme could be the only way to rationalize the Mike McCarthy interview as serious while kicking the QB can down the road one more year.
