{"id":703042,"date":"2026-01-25T03:42:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:42:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/703042\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T03:42:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T03:42:15","slug":"one-steelers-coach-is-almost-certain-to-stay-following-mccarthys-hire-and-another-might-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/703042\/","title":{"rendered":"One Steelers Coach Is Almost Certain To Stay Following McCarthy’s Hire (And Another Might, Too)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new head coach means a new coaching staff. By all accounts, Mike McCarthy will have the freedom to hire his own group of assistants. That is likely to mean big turnover, and already, two Pittsburgh Steelers\u2019 coaches have left for other teams. Assistant defensive backs coach Anthony Midget took a job with James Franklin at Virginia Tech (a move reported before Mike Tomlin stepped down, to be clear) while longtime Special Teams Coordinator Danny Smith departed for the same job<\/a> with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh\u2019s 2026 staff will look vastly different than the 2025 edition. But one coach is almost certain to stick around. Inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley is nearly a slam dunk to remain on staff. His history with McCarthy makes it obvious.<\/p>\n

As we noted in our \u201cBig Book of Scott McCurley,\u201d after the Steelers hired him to replace Aaron Curry<\/a> a year ago, McCarthy and McCurley have as much history as any head coach\/assistant in the NFL. In 2006, when McCarthy became the Green Bay Packers\u2019 head coach, he tabbed McCurley, a little-known assistant at Pitt, where he once played, to come on board as an intern. The two wouldn\u2019t separate for decades.<\/p>\n

McCurley stayed on-staff throughout the entirety of McCarthy\u2019s time in Green Bay. He largely stayed in smaller, assistant roles, rare for a longtime coach. There was even a point where McCurley was seemingly fired after the 2017 season, only to be brought back,<\/a> presumably at McCarthy\u2019s behest, for the 2018 season. McCarthy was fired mid-way through the year, and once the season ended, the Packers moved on from McCurley.<\/p>\n

Out of coaching for the 2019 season, McCarthy and McCurley stayed together. McCurley turned down a job to coach at LSU, where he would\u2019ve won a national title, to remain a free agent and work with McCarthy. Forming a group with other coaches, including fellow Pittsburgh natives Frank Cignetti Jr. and Jim Haslett, they dubbed themselves \u201cThe McCarthy project\u201d and the \u201c33rd Team.\u201d<\/p>\n

A feature piece from the Cowboys\u2019 website<\/a> shortly after being hired in 2020 explained the goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter parting ways with Green Bay, McCarthy decided that he would dedicate his time to studying film, researching analytics, and understanding what innovations various teams are using to find success. He and a small circle of coaches, including McCurley, formed what was deemed \u2018The McCarthy Project.\u2019 The thinking was that the former Packers coach would get another shot at running an NFL team, and when that happened, he and a few select people he wanted around him would be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

When McCarthy was hired by Dallas in 2020, McCurley was rewarded with a job. He became the Cowboys\u2019 inside linebackers coach, a role he would hold until Dallas did not retain McCarthy following the 2024 season. It wasn\u2019t until 2025 that McCurley\u2019s first NFL job came without McCarthy on staff, and of course, that was a chance to join his hometown Steelers.<\/p>\n

Assuming McCurley signed the standard two-year contract most Pittsburgh positional coaches ink, he\u2019s still under contract for 2026. Meaning there isn\u2019t even a new deal that has to be worked out. McCarthy just has to say the words \u201cyou\u2019re staying,\u201d and McCurley is safe.<\/p>\n

Is that a good move? Color me skeptical. McCurley\u2019s background is light, almost explicitly tied to McCarthy, and his results haven\u2019t been promising. Even at the time of his hiring, we questioned the decision. In 2025, Payton Wilson failed to take steps forward. But right or wrong, it\u2019d be stunning if he wasn\u2019t kept.<\/p>\n

Could anyone else stay? It\u2019s certainly possible. From the connection game alone, which is all we have to go off of, QBs Coach Tom Arth could stick around. As a quarterback in 2006, he was briefly coached by McCarthy in Green Bay. It was just an offseason together; Arth never made the 53-man roster, but Arth attended McCarthy\u2019s well-known quarterback camps.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was Mike McCarthy\u2019s first year in Green Bay,\u201d Arth told reporters last June.<\/a> \u201cWe went through the quarterback school, which is kind of a famous deal for Mike McCarthy. And it was so beneficial for me. So much of what I believe as a coach and how I coach the fundamentals of playing quarterback, and really even just schematically. So much of that I can take back to my time in Green Bay and being around Coach McCarthy and in that quarterback school.\u201d<\/p>\n

That connection and likely the same philosophical perspective could keep Arth around. It would serve the team even better to keep continuity with Will Howard, and should Aaron Rodgers return,<\/a> even if he won\u2019t be in Pittsburgh\u2019s long-term plans. Unlike McCurley, I know for a fact that Arth\u2019s contract was expiring after 2026, meaning he would need to be re-signed. But he\u2019d likely happily come onboard if offered the chance to put down roots and stay in Pittsburgh for a little while longer.<\/p>\n

Could others return? Yes, although a veteran coach like McCarthy, with broad connections, probably has more of \u201chis guys\u201d to bring along than a young first-timer. But McCurley seems like a lock, and there\u2019s a good chance Arth joins him, putting two pieces in place already as McCarthy assembles the rest of his staff.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new head coach means a new coaching staff. By all accounts, Mike McCarthy will have the freedom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":703043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3],"tags":[7,7866,6,57,23301,10163,691],"class_list":{"0":"post-703042","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-mike-mccarthy","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-scott-mccurley","13":"tag-tom-arth","14":"tag-trending"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115953673788395311","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=703042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/703042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/703043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=703042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=703042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=703042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}