The Pittsburgh Steelers are working towards a deal to hire Pittsburgh native and former Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy , according to a report by Mike McCarthy of NFL Network.
The Steelers interviewed McCarthy on Wednesday, one of three candidates to interview in-person, along with Minnesota Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores and Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver.
The Steelers did not wait to interview Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula and passing game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase in person. They both had virtual interviews. The Rams are still playing this week in the NFC Championship Game.
McCarthy, 62, will break the mold in terms of Steelers head coaches. He will be the team's first head coach with an offensive background since Bill Austin, who coached from 1966-68, and the first Steelers head coach with previous NFL head coaching experience since Buddy Parker, who coached the Steelers from 1957-64.
McCarthy has a 174-112-2 career record, .608 winning percentage, and beat Tomlin' Steelers to win Super Bowl XLV.
He has coached three highly successful quarterbacks in Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott , and may be instrumental in luring Rodgers back to Pittsburgh, if that's a route the Steelers decide they want to take in 2026.
A native of the city's Greenfield neighborhood, McCarthy attended Bishop Boyle High School in Homestead and matriculated to Salem University, Scottsdale Community College and Baker University, where he was an all-conference tight end at the NAIA level.
He got his coaching start as a graduate assistant Fort Hays State, and then coached at Pitt under Mike Gottfried and Paul Hackett from 1989-92, getting promoted to wide receivers coach in the process.
From Pitt, McCarthy went to the NFL, where he followed Hackett as quality control coach and then quarterbacks coach, working with Joe Montana, Rich Gannon, Elvis Grbac and Steve Bono.
GREEN BAY, WI – SEPTEMBER 16: Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy talks into his headset in action during an NFL game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers on September 16, 2018 at Lambeau Field, in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Green Bay Packers and the Minnesota Vikings played to a 29-29 tie. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire)
He then went to Green Bay for one season before he became the New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator from 2000-04 under former Steelers defensive coordinator and fellow Pittsburgh native Jim Haslett. With the Saints, he worked alongside Omar Khan and Andy Weidl, who were both in the New Orleans front office.
McCarthy then moved to San Francisco in 2005, again as offensive coordinator, for one season before becoming the head coach of the Packers.
He had a 125-77-2 record with the Packers from 2006-18, but was fired on Dec. 2, 2018, in the midst of a second consecutive losing season.
Pittsburgh Steelers head Coach Mike Tomlin and Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy after a game on Oct. 6, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
He took a year off before resuming coaching with the Dallas Cowboys, where he won 12 games three seasons in a row from 2021-23, but found playoff success elusive, going 1-3 in the postseason. The Cowboys and McCarthy parted ways when his contract ended after a 7-10 season in 2024.
McCarthy will now replace Mike Tomlin as the 17th head coach in Steelers history.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : BREAKING: Steelers Set to Hire Pittsburgh Native Mike McCarthy as Next Head Coach
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