The switch from Mike Tomlin to Mike McCarthy as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ head coach won’t be fully felt until the games get underway in 2026. But so far in free agency and the pre-draft process, there is a stark difference between the two, particularly at the quarterback position.

No, the Steelers haven’t signed a quarterback under McCarthy. They’re still waiting for a decision from 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers.

But the difference between Tomlin and McCarthy at the quarterback position is how the two speak about the position. At least, that’s how The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo sees things.

“It’s the way they talk about the quarterback position,” DeFabo writes Wednesday in his reader mailbag. “When Mike Tomlin talked about the QB, he’d speak in intangibles. Grit. Moxie. Poise. Winner. When Mike McCarthy talks about the quarterback, he goes into great detail about the five-step drop and how each step has a specific name and function. He discusses arm angles and uses words like ‘ground force’ to describe how power is generated from the QB’s feet.

“He’s simply an expert in the sport’s most important position.”

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Your mailbag questions answered here: https://t.co/dHpLR3F5lH

— Mike DeFabo (@MikeDeFabo) March 18, 2026

Throughout his 19 years as the Steelers’ head coach, and particularly in the last half decade, all Tomlin talked about when discussing the quarterback as the organization searched for Ben Roethlisberger’s successor was toughness, mobility, and intangibles within games, rising up in big moments and not blinking. 

That’s not how the quarterback position is evaluated in today’s NFL, and it’s why the Steelers have lagged behind at the most important position in sports. Sure, Russell Wilson, Justin Fields, Kenny Pickett, Mitch Trubisky and Mason Rudolph all won games under Tomlin, as did Aaron Rodgers. But there was too much of an emphasis on that grit, that moxie, that toughness that Tomlin always talked about.

It might be why Kenny Pickett was ultimately a Steelers first-round pick.

But things will be different with McCarthy. They already are. As DeFabo pointed out, just listen to how he talks about the position. In his introductory press conference he gave a long, thoughtful answer about his West Coast-style offense and what it needs from the quarterback. 

He talked a lot about footwork, the ability to handle the football on play-action, arm angles, and more. His coaching expertise on the QB position is why he landed the job. The Steelers need to figure out quarterback long-term, and that’s McCarthy’s task.

We’ll see what he does when it comes to the NFL Draft and what quarterback he has his eyes on. But right now, how he’s talking about the quarterback position and evaluating it is a breath of fresh air for the organization.