It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, but new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy confirmed in his introductory press conference that he will call the team’s offensive plays.

“Definitely, I will call the plays on offense, so obviously will run the offense,” McCarthy said Tuesday via the team’s YouTube channel.

He said filling out his coaching staff has been “very fluid” over the past 48 hours.

The Steelers have at least one offensive coordinator candidate, with Dallas Cowboys tight ends coach Lunda Wells reportedly coming in for an interview. McCarthy called plays for most of his tenure with the Green Bay Packers and toward the end of his time with the Dallas Cowboys, doing so in 2023 and 2024. Under Mike Tomlin, the offensive coordinator was the primary play caller, while Tomlin collaborated with the defensive coordinator to call plays.

The Steelers went with an offensive-minded head coach in McCarthy, and he’s going to run the show on offense. When he took over offensive play-calling duties for the Cowboys, McCarthy said he was “back in my element” when it came to running the offense. Prior to his head coaching stints, McCarthy was the offensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers in 2005 where he called plays under head coach Mike Nolan. He was also the New Orleans Saints’ offensive coordinator from 2000-2004 where he was the primary play caller.

While having the head coach call offensive plays is new to Pittsburgh, it’s not new to McCarthy. It’ll allow him to tailor the offense to what he wants to do, and it also means that the new offensive coordinator will have to be someone who is ok with not being the primary play caller.

McCarthy has primarily run a West Coast offense and has a reputation as a quarterback developer. During his opening press conference, he offered praise for Will Howard while also confirming he would like Aaron Rodgers, who played for him in Green Bay, to return as the Steelers’ quarterback. In Dallas, McCarthy turned Dak Prescott into an MVP candidate while also coaching Rodgers in the early stages and prime of his career, and the Steelers will hope he can help develop the team’s quarterback of the future, be it Howard or someone else.

It’s a new era for the Steelers, one that will bring a key change as to who calls the play offensively. The Steelers will hope that it’s a change that works out for the better.