Steelers owner Art Rooney II said it wasn’t important for new coach Mike McCarthy to win the initial press conference.
But McCarthy did exactly that.
Rooney said McCarthy wasn’t hired because, having coached Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay, he’s the best bet to lure Rodgers back to Pittsburgh for a second season.
But McCarthy wants to and just might.
McCarthy checked all the boxes at his inauguration.
He opened Tuesday’s presser by saying, “Here we go.”
He said, “Pittsburgh is my life.”
His elderly mother and father attended.
He cried.
Perhaps most important, he pronounced Will Howard’s name with a hard yinzer accent.
McCarthy looked a bit chunky-style, sweaty and gray. But mostly he was charismatic, humble and ‘burgh proud. It all fit together exactly liked Rooney would have hoped.
But McCarthy still isn’t the right hire.
His appointment is nonetheless being treated like a cataclysmic moment in Pittsburgh history. Like the discovery of the polio vaccine.
Except this won’t cure anything, especially not what you want it to.
At least the Steelers didn’t hire Ryan Clark.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith said that the Steelers should have interviewed their former safety for the head coaching job. Despite Clark having no previous coaching experience at any level.
We’re living in “Idiocracy.” It’s a shame that’s not limited to the sports media.
We’ve had time to digest the McCarthy appointment. It’s 100 percent a lateral hire. Uninspiring. Exchanging a defensive mind for an offensive mind, but old school all the same and local to boot.
Hire Munhall’s Luke Getsy as the offensive coordinator and ex-Steeler Larry Foote as the defensive coordinator. It would be a veritable yinz-plosion.
There’s lots of loose ends about the McCarthy hire.
The Steelers interviewed just three candidates in person. Two were men of color, thus satisfying the Rooney Rule.
Why so few? Was hiring McCarthy preordained, the choice made the moment Tomlin quit?
Why did the two Los Angeles Rams coaches — passing-game coach Nathan Scheelhaase and defensive coordinator Chris Shula — disappear off the radar? So did San Francisco offensive coordinator Klay Kubiak. Why dismiss the Shanahan/McVay coaching tree?
A couple theories:
• Those coaches believe in analytics. The Steelers don’t.
• Rooney didn’t want a youngish know-it-all talking down to him about a new method of football. (That’s exactly what Rooney should have wanted.)
To quote Deadspin: “The Steelers are too prideful to rebuild entirely, but their half-baked reloading attempts continue to fail. It feels like the Steelers are an organization stuck in neutral.”
That’s good writin’, Dickie.
It certainly captured the spirit of the thing.
McCarthy is a good coach.
But this is a bad hire.
Both can be true.
Consider the Penguins’ renaissance under Dan Muse, who’s in his first season as an NHL head coach.
Hiring him was a radical change from Mike Sullivan, who, like Tomlin, had been in his job too long. The Penguins are responding to that different voice.
McCarthy’s voice won’t be much different than Tomlin’s.
But that’s no biggie. Because ownership isn’t demanding a different result.
Going 10-7 again is OK. Even 9-8. As long as it’s a non-losing record and every game is meaningful. Winning a playoff game would be the equivalent of the Super Bowl.
By the way, there’s no way McCarthy is going to live in Greenfield. Zero chance. He’s only going back there to visit his parents. This is a metaphorical return home. McCarthy will reside in Sewickley or some other tony neighborhood.