Mike McCarthy’s arrival at the Pittsburgh Steelers shook the NFL to its core. Few expected the team to move so quickly to sign the former Dallas Cowboys head coach; however, one of the reasons for all this haste was McCarthy’s relationship with the legendary Joe Montana.
After a disappointing elimination in the AFC Wild Card round, the Steelers’ front office made a drastic change of direction. The change began with the firing of head coach Mike Tomlin.
Tomlin’s departure took more than one fan by surprise. After 18 years at the helm, the veteran coach left a very difficult void to fill, but that didn’t stop the front office.
Less than two weeks after Tomlin’s departure, Pittsburgh had already interviewed and signed McCarthy, all thanks to an old Montana tape.
Montana landed McCarthy the Steelers job
In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), ESPN insider Ed Werder revealed that McCarthy used a very unconventional strategy in his job interviews.
“One of the elements Mike McCarthy provided to the Titans and the Steelers was videos and graphics of his long history of coaching and developing quarterbacks,” Werder explained.
The surprising thing, the insider revealed, was that those tapes began with Joe Montana, whom McCarthy briefly coached during his time with the Kansas City Chiefs under head coach Marty Schottenheimer.
Other analysts question McCarthy’s strategy. When Montana joined the Chiefs in 1993 from the 49ers, he already had four Super Bowl rings. However, the trick seems to have worked for McCarthy, for more than one reason.
The Steelers’ quarterback dilemma
McCarthy’s arrival as head coach appears to give the Steelers two ways to solve their quarterback problem. The first is his long-standing relationship with Aaron Rodgers.
Although the 21-year veteran hasn’t officially announced his future, he has said he could return for another year, as long as it’s under McCarthy’s leadership.
But if that doesn’t materialize, McCarthy’s track record of developing quarterbacks, starting with Rodgers himself and somewhat including Montana, is exactly what Pittsburgh needs.
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