Former Green Bay Packers/Dallas Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy just might be the most divisive head-coaching candidate for the Pittsburgh Steelers right now. He won a Super Bowl as a head coach, but that was at the end of the 2010 NFL season. Since then, he was fired by both the Packers and the Cowboys.

Plus, McCarthy is 62 years old. This would not be a move to a younger, long-term solution. Former Steelers WR Nate Washington isn’t a fan of the idea because he thinks McCarthy isn’t the head coach to take the Steelers to the next level.

Maybe we’re asking the wrong question, or at least framing it in the wrong context. Can the Steelers get over the hump without a franchise quarterback? Probably not. That’s why McCarthy might be the right option, or at least that’s what beat writer Mark Kaboly thinks. In his mind, McCarthy offers the Steelers something they haven’t had in a while: A chance to develop a quarterback.

“That’s what makes McCarthy so interesting, because everywhere he’s gone, he’s found a quarterback…” Kaboly said Friday on Kaboly + Mack. “If you can guarantee me, or at least give me a better option, of finding, identifying a quarterback and being able to develop him, something that we’ve complained, how many years have we complained Mike Tomlin can’t develop a quarterback? You’ve got this guy to come here, I’m not saying stay here for 20 years. Use him for three, four, five years, get your quarterback in place, and then move on. That could be an option. And if they hire him, that’s going to be the reason why.”

If you want to be a true contender year in and year out, you need a great quarterback. Or, at the very least, a quarterback having a great season. The Steelers haven’t had that in quite some time. Kaboly points to McCarthy’s history, not just as a head coach, but of being able to help quarterbacks elevate their game. Back in 2003, McCarthy was the offensive coordinator for the New Orleans Saints with QB Aaron Brooks. The Saints were a top-10 passing offense in terms of yards and touchdowns. In 2024 in Dallas, McCarthy had a top-half passing attack in yards and touchdowns despite starting QB Cooper Rush for eight games.

Does hiring McCarthy automatically mean that the Steelers’ quarterback problems will be solved? Not necessarily, but it points toward McCarthy knowing how to help quarterbacks play well. The Steelers need that.

Now, some people speculated that McCarthy and QB Aaron Rodgers would be a package deal. After all, Rodgers was McCarthy’s quarterback for that 2010 Super Bowl win. Plus, Rodgers did win two of his four NFL MVP awards while McCarthy was his head coach. Then there was the nugget that Jets reporter Connor Hughes shared on Tuesday, that Rodgers wanted to be wherever McCarthy ended up coaching. It seems like Rodgers is in favor of that, at the very least.

Not everyone is in favor of that, however. Analyst Dan Orlovsky called that possibility “the worst decision Pittsburgh could make.” That move could feel like the Steelers are simply trying to run it back rather than building for the future.

Kaboly doesn’t believe that the two coming together is necessarily the case, though.

“It’s not a two-for-one type of deal. It’s not McCarthy and Rodgers,” Kaboly said.

However, Kaboly also questions if it would be all that bad, either.

“Would that be a bad thing, to bring McCarthy in, bring Rodgers in, get yourself a younger quarterback, even if it’s Will Howard right now, a very impressionable guy to learn from Aaron Rodgers for another season?” Kaboly asked. “I mean, would that be so terrible?”

Rookie QB Will Howard seemed to enjoy his time learning from Aaron Rodgers. Howard talked with former NFL coach Jon Gruden back in November, and Howard called Rodgers the “smartest dude I’ve ever been around.” He even said it felt like Rodgers “is a coach at this point” with how he ran meetings.

As for Rodgers, he sees potential in Howard. Late in December, Rodgers spoke about his relationship with Howard and said, “It’s one relationship I really wanted to pour into.” It sounds like both Howard and Rodgers have a great deal of respect and admiration for each other.

Could Mike McCarthy and Aaron Rodgers team up one more time in Pittsburgh? If they do, could they together help build Will Howard into the Steelers’ franchise quarterback? Maybe. Either way, Mark Kaboly believes Mike McCarthy could help find a quarterback solution the Steelers are starving for.