Mike McCarthy is the newest head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. News of his appointment was reported on Saturday afternoon.
This is fascinating in a lot of ways. Beyond the fact that we will get to see what a former Dallas Cowboys head coach looks like elsewhere (a rarity in franchise history) which will be interesting to watch, McCarthy now adds the Steelers to the list of teams he has run that not only includes the Cowboys, but the Green Bay Packers. The man has been at the helm of arguably the three
most iconic teams in NFL history!
McCarthy spent five total seasons leading the Cowboys, 2020 through 2024 to be exact. He landed his new job after a year on the sidelines like when he joined the Cowboys, and while we can debate how his reign went while at The Star, it is impossible to ignore that he accomplished things the franchise had not seen in a long time.
Along these lines the first thing that jumps to mind is that McCarthy took the Cowboys to the playoffs in three straight seasons, something that hadn’t happened since a span that included the last Super Bowl title. McCarthy also oversaw the first road playoff win since the 1992 NFC Championship Game. Again, he swam in previously uncharted waters.
We didn’t quite realize it at the time, but something else McCarthy did during his time in Dallas was establish a bit of a coaching tree. All told three of his coordinators went on to get head coaching jobs, even though they weren’t exactly young coaches he groomed or necessarily found himself.
- Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders
- Kellen Moore, New Orleans Saints
- Brian Schottenheimer, Dallas Cowboys
Dan Quinn obviously had head coaching experience before joining the Cowboys (directly before) and Kellen Moore was on staff before McCarthy arrived. He was retained before ultimately being dismissed after the 2022 season when McCarthy took over offensive play-calling himself.
The only one of these staffers who McCarthy seemingly hand-picked outright was the man who succeeded him in Brian Schottenheimer, particularly ironic because Brian’s father Marty gave Mike his own first NFL job with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Schottenheimer aside, the Cowboys can now look back at their staff from 2021 (when Dan Quinn joined) through 2023 (Dan Quinn’s final season with Dallas) and say that their (at the time) head coach, offensive coordinator, and defensive coordinator are all head coaches for teams throughout the league. Brian Schottenheimer joined the staff in 2022 so technically speaking the staff as a whole had four coaches who are currently leading teams now.
Fate can be funny, as Mike McCarthy is full proof of. He coached the Green Bay Packers to a Super Bowl win against the Pittsburgh Steelers in the home of the Dallas Cowboys.
Fate!
