Mike McCarthy is the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new head coach. It was a surprising decision, as McCarthy did not fit the same mold as the Steelers’ previous head coaches. There’s been a lot of negative reaction to that move, too. Many fans are upset, and several analysts have criticized the Steelers’ choice. However, former NFL defensive lineman Gerald McCoy gave the Steelers a great grade for hiring McCarthy.

“With what Mike McCarthy has been and how Pittsburgh hires, I like it,” McCoy said Monday on The Arena podcast. “I gave it an A. Mike McCarthy has coached on four of the big five franchises in history. He’s now [been] head coach of three of them.

“Cowboys, Green Bay, and now Pittsburgh, and he was the OC for the 49ers. He don’t just go for these BS jobs. He’s not just going to coach anybody… He’s gonna be there for a long time. They’re gonna give him time, allow him to build up.”

It’s unclear what McCoy means by “a long time.” The Steelers’ last three head coaches each stuck around in Pittsburgh for at least 15 seasons. Will McCarthy make it that long? That seems unlikely. He’s currently 62 years old. Is he going to be the Steelers’ coach when he’s almost 80?

McCarthy might not even be with the Steelers for 10 years. They didn’t bring him in to rebuild the team. Art Rooney II wants the Steelers to compete for the Super Bowl. Mike Tomlin often got credit for overachieving with the rosters he had. If the Steelers continue to fail in the playoffs, will McCarthy stick with the Steelers?

The Steelers didn’t hire someone with a stellar postseason track record, either. McCarthy has an 11-11 record in the playoffs, and he’s only won one playoff game since 2017.

That lack of success has come with several quality rosters, too. That included taking the Dallas Cowboys to the playoffs for three straight seasons but only winning one playoff game. The Cowboys had homefield advantage both years that they went one-and-done in the playoffs, too.

However, McCoy blamed those struggles on Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, not McCarthy.

“That’s a Dak [Prescott] problem. Do you know Dak’s second and third highest statistical seasons, who they was under? Mike McCarthy. Before we just blame everything that happened with the Cowboys on Mike McCarthy, we’ve gotta look at what he was able to do with Dak, who everybody was writing off.”

While Prescott wasn’t perfect in the playoffs during McCarthy’s tenure in Dallas, he wasn’t their sole issue. The Cowboys’ run game was non-existent in their 2021 playoff loss to the San Francisco 49ers. That was much the same story when the Cowboys lost to the 49ers in the 2022 playoffs, too. Then, in the 2023 playoffs, McCarthy’s Cowboys allowed the Green Bay Packers to score 48 points.

Is Aaron Rodgers to blame for McCarthy’s playoff issues with the Packers? They had many of the same issues as McCarthy’s Cowboys. McCarthy isn’t a bad coach, but he doesn’t fit the current iteration of the Steelers. They’re trying to cling to the idea that they’re Super Bowl contenders, but that just isn’t the case.