We are mere weeks away from the NFL season kicking off. As a matter of fact, the first Sunday of the season is in exactly eight weeks, which is where the Mike McCarthy era will begin for the Pittsburgh Steelers against the Atlanta Falcons.
McCarthy was hired in January after taking a year off following five seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, which included three consecutive 12-win seasons from 2021-23. While many initially panned the hiring of McCarthy, the overwhelming thought being that Pittsburgh
should have opted to go with a younger, up-and-coming coach, one of McCarthy’s former colleagues and fellow head coach came to his defense.
Appearing on Cam Heyward’s Not Just Football podcast, Jon Gruden told Heyward to put his trust in the Super Bowl champion head coach.
”I just hope he goes into Pittsburgh with a case of whoop ass,” Gruden said. “And I hope you guys trust him and roll with him because he is a hell of a coach.”
Gruden and McCarthy worked together back in 1991 at the University of Pittsburgh, where Gruden was the wide receivers coach and McCarthy was a graduate assistant. When Gruden left for the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy took over as the wide receivers coach at Pitt.
McCarthy and the Steelers will report to Latrobe for training camp on Tuesday, July 28 with their first practice taking place on Wednesday, July 29. They begin preseason play on August 13 against the Green Bay Packers.
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