As McCarthy’s Staff Comes Together, I’ve Become Rejuvenated
Screenshot via Steelers Youtube Page.
When the news broke that Mike McCarthy would be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, the initial reaction, online, from most fans, was that of befuddlement. I’m guilty of it, too - I called it “as uninspired a hiring as you could’ve had”, and I meant it at the time. But then, this yinzer prick went in front of the cameras dahn there at 100 Art Rooney Ave. and gave us a tearful western Pennsylvania fable for the ages where he vowed to start a seventh Lombardi celebration parade in front of his childhood home in Greenfield. - Ladies and gentlemen, I’m here to admit today that my emotions regarding this silly football team are fickle, because that presser was all it took to get me right back on board with everything this team is selling me.
Now, that presser did a lot to restore some emotion within me regarding this team, but we’ve got a long way to go before I’ll be ready to say that I like the trajectory that this team is on. McCarthy has put his best foot forward so far putting together a solid staff on both sides of the ball, although there is still work to be done, specifically for offensive coordinator. As of right now, the only folks from Tomlin’s staff that figure to remain in their positions are QB coach Tom Arth, LBs coach Scott McCurley, and DBs coach Gerald Alexander.
Gone with the wind is defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, and it’ll be Patrick Graham that will be filling that role, which I’m extremely excited about. Graham was formerly the defensive coordinator for the Raiders since 2022, somehow outlasting three different Raider head coaches. Unfortunately, 2025 was the best year their defense had under his leadership when they ranked 14th in yards allowed per game. Don’t look away yet, though - the Raiders ranked 31st in money spent on defense in 2025 at roughly $40 million. The Steelers, meanwhile, ranked 26th in yards allowed per game, yet they spent $45 million on TJ Watt and Cameron Heyward alone - $89 million on the whole defense, more than double what the Raiders spent. More with less has been the story of Patrick Graham’s career as a defensive coordinator, and that is going to be important for us in the coming years with an offensive minded head coach running the show.
Another outside hire that has yinzers fired up is the Steelers new offensive line coach James Campen. Campen is a former NFL center with 50 starts under his belt with the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers. He also has 11 years of experience coaching NFL offensive lines in Green Bay (with McCarthy) from 2007-2018, which, obviously, includes their most recent Super Bowl season. With Aaron Rodgers’ future up in the air, I’m sure the Steelers and their entire staff will be waiting with open arms if he decides to return for one more year. I don’t love that necessarily, but I like having a guy like Campen in the building, for sure. He’ll be working closely with former Cowboys offensive line coach Ramon Chinyoung, who was brought on as an assistant.
Other members of Mike McCarthy’s staff that have been announced (so far) include Jason Simmons from the Commanders who is coming in for a “prominent defensive role”, and Adam Henry from the Bills who is being brought in to be wide receivers coach.
Right off the bat, the coaching staff feels like it’s going to be fuller under McCarthy than it was under Tomlin. There are a lot of guys with ties to his time with the Packers, which I think is both good and bad, but the hiring of Patrick Graham has me very excited to see what happens to that side of the football. I look forward to diving deeper on that topic here soon.
Follow me on twitter/x: @jay_newm
