Could the Steelers Break Tradition by Hiring Mike McCarthy?

PHOTO BY DAVE DICELLO

One of the reasons the Steelers rarely find themselves looking for a new head coach is the formula they’ve traditionally applied to finding one when the need arises.

Chuck Noll (1969), Bill Cowher (1992) and Mike Tomlin (2007) were all home run hires.

And they all fit a specific profile — young defensive coordinator, no previous head coaching experience, massive potential.

So what are they doing talking to Mike McCarthy this time?

At 62, with 18 years combined service in Green Bay and Dallas — and in possession of offensive expertise — McCarthy is the polar opposite of what the Steelers have always sought.

He also might just turn out to be their best option.

McCarthy would be exactly that if he turns out to be the reason Aaron Rodgers decides to return for one more season as the Steelers’ quarterback.

Ideally, the Steelers would have found themselves in position to use the surplus of draft capital they’ve been amassing to trade up and once and for all secure their next long-term solution at QB.

But the draft pool doesn’t appear to have worked out as initially anticipated — and the list of desirable free agents at the position appears to begin and end with Malik Willis (it also includes, among others, Kenny Pickett).

The Steelers might just have to pivot.

Assuming Rodgers and McCarthy are agreeable to getting the band back together after having spent 13 years together with the Packers (a reasonable assumption that would, of course, need to be confirmed), why not opt for relative certainty over the unknown in the short term?

McCarthy’s coaching chops are beyond reproach; he might have been forgiven for beginning and ending his in-person interview on Wednesday with, “Remember when I beat yinz guys in the Super Bowl?”

Rodgers proved his viability this season, and that his unique combination of unmatched in-helmet experience and still-more-than-good-enough arm talent can still play in the league.

Neither would be a long-term answer (obviously, to quote Tomlin).

But the Steelers have been kicking that quarterback can down the road for a while now. What’s to prevent them from doing that one more time, along with the head coach?

If they do, they can pick up where they left off, with a Super Bowl-winning coach-quarterback combo leading what was a 10-win, division championship team.

Changes would still need to be made, particularly on defense and at wide receiver, but the urgency to alter and upgrade the roster isn’t going to evaporate if they manage to land Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula as their next head coach — and Shula, in turn, convinces Rams passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase to become the next offensive coordinator of the Steelers.

In assembling a staff for McCarthy, the Steelers might even be able to identify a potential next man up at one of the coordinator spots to be mentored by McCarthy until he decides it’s time to retire back to Greenfield (maybe that’s how they get their hands on Scheelhaase).

That would serve them well now and down the road.

That makes the possibility of the Steelers opting to color outside the lines in such a fashion intriguing, even if it’s unlikely that they ultimately break from a precedent that, since the late 1960s, has been their organization’s signature.

“Can I sign up for another Chuck Noll, or another Bill Cowher or another Mike Tomlin? Sure,” Steelers president Art Rooney II emphasized shortly after the head coach job became available. “Somebody that we feel fits that mold would be great. But for now, we’re not going to narrow the box too much.”

We’ll see how narrow it gets eventually.

Then again, there was also this from Rooney: “I’m not sure why you waste a year of your life not trying to contend. Obviously, your roster is what it is every year. It changes every year and so you deal with what you have every year and try to put yourself in position to compete every year. Sometimes you have the horses, sometimes you don’t but I think you try every year.”

If that’s truly the intent, the best head coach, and the best quarterback for the job, would be a good place to commence.