The Pittsburgh Steelers' new head coach, Mike McCarthy, is eager to bring back Aaron Rodgers as the team's quarterback. In an interview with ESPN, McCarthy expressed his desire to reunite with Rodgers, a quarterback he worked with for 13 seasons in Green Bay and won a Super Bowl title together. The 62-year-old coach believes that Rodgers, like other veteran players, needs time to decompress and make a decision on his future, and he embraces the idea of bringing him back to the team.
McCarthy, a Pittsburgh native, has a strong background in developing quarterbacks. Before taking his first offensive coordinator job in New Orleans in 2000, he worked as a graduate assistant under Paul Hackett, the head coach at Pitt. Since then, he has helped develop quarterbacks such as Rodgers and Dak Prescott. The Steelers' brass wanted a coach with the ability to develop quarterbacks, and McCarthy's resume, which includes working with Rodgers and Prescott, makes him an ideal fit.
The Steelers' quarterback position has been a source of uncertainty, and they opted to wait until the sixth round of the NFL draft to select Will Howard from Ohio State. Howard, who spent most of the season on injured reserve due to a broken finger, impressed McCarthy with his performance at Ohio State. Despite the uncertainty, McCarthy and general manager Omar Khan have not discussed a timeline for Rodgers' decision, similar to last year when Rodgers weighed his options until signing a one-year contract in June.
The Steelers' decision to hire McCarthy, the only offensive-background head coach in the team's history, marks a significant shift in strategy. The team's past three head coaches were young, defensive assistants without head coach experience. However, Art Rooney II, the team's owner, stated that they were open-minded about hiring the best coach for the job, and McCarthy's expertise in developing quarterbacks was a key factor in their decision.
