Mike McCarthy has not coached a game as the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers , and he won't for some time. Heck, that game isn't even scheduled yet. But in just a few weeks, he has already corrected one of the most obvious and grievous oversights of his predecessor.
Under Mike Tomlin , the Steelers routinely had one of the smallest coaching staffs in the NFL. While we don't yet know the full extent of McCarthy's coaching staff in order to compare the size to Tomlin's staffs.
But there is already one revealing difference. The Steelers have updated the terminology — and likely the pay scale — for the coaching staff under McCarthy.
Under Tomlin, the Steelers' staff almost always consisted solely of three coordinators, less than 10 position coaches, and a variety of quality control coaches, assistant position coaches and general assistants.
In Tomlin's tenure, he had one coach with the title of assistant head coach: John Mitchell, who held that role until from 2007 until his retirement in 2022. He was not replaced in that capacity after his retirement.
He had one coach with the title of senior offensive assistant, and two with the titles of senior defensive assistant. On the offensive side, that job title seemed to be a one-year stopgap to give Mike Sullivan a role after he was replaced as quarterbacks coach in 2023. The defensive side seemed to legitimately use the role with Teryl Austin from from 2019-21 and Brian Flores in 2022, but it was not filled after Flores left to become the defensive coordinator of the Minnesota Vikings .
At no point in Tomlin's tenure did he have a coach with a title of an offensive or defensive running or passing-game coordinator — titles widely used around the league as an intermediary step between basic position coaches and coordinators.
Already in the still-as-yet-incomplete staff being put together by McCarthy, the Steelers will have an assistant head coach in Joe Whitt Jr. , a defensive passing game coordinator in Jason Simmons and a senior offensive assistant in Frank Cignetti Jr. , as well as a newly-created chief of staff position for Steve Scarnecchia.
McCarthy also might not be done. The Steelers have interviewed for an offensive passing game coordinator position, as well. That could be five coaches with a title elevated from position coach on this staff — something Tomlin had one of for most of his tenure, never had more than two of, and spent the last two seasons without entirely.
It's one thing to give people elevated titles, but McCarthy is also hiring coaches whose resumes (and likely paychecks) fit those enhanced roles, as well. Whitt was most recently a defensive coordinator with the Washington Commanders , and Simmons had the same passing game coordinator title under him in D.C. Cignetti is a multiple-time former NFL offensive coordinator. And the Steelers are also hiring position coaches that have experience commensurate with those roles behind those higher-level coaches.
The Steelers became notorious under Tomlin for having a small and cheap coaching staff. Whether that was Tomlin's choice, or due to budgetary restrictions imposed by Art Rooney II remains to be seen. But whether it was simply his choice or he had to persuade Rooney to change his ways, McCarthy has very quickly modernized the Steelers' coaching staff.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : Saunders: Mike McCarthy Has Already Modernized Steelers Coaching Staff
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