It’s been some time since the Pittsburgh Steelers brought in Mike McCarthy as their new head coach. Everyone has now had a chance to process the decision, although most were not fond of it at first.
Over the past few weeks, McCarthy has been busy filling out his coaching staff, one that’s now complete. There are a couple familiar faces, and plenty of names McCarthy knows from his past sprinkled in there. To Brett Keisel, it’s a staff worth feeling some excitement about.
“I’m looking forward to this next chapter. There’s a brand-new feeling here in Pittsburgh. And hopefully, you know, we can get back to winning Lombardis. I think McCarthy is a Pittsburgh guy. He was born here, he knows how much the Steelers mean to Pittsburgh and what that standard looks like,” Keisel said Thursday on ESPN’s Unsportsmanlike. “He’s brought in a new coaching staff, and everything’s gonna be new. But maybe that’s exactly what we need. I’m just optimistic about moving forward with him.”
The “Pittsburgh guy” aspect of the hire has been talked to death, and Mike McCarthy’s love for the city was clear during his introductory press conference. It’s something Steelers fans were able to mock at first, that the franchise was too scared to make a splash hire and reverted to someone who knows the city and organization well. But there is something to Keisel’s thought about McCarthy understanding the fan base and the standard.
There are also a couple of hires on the staff worthy of excitement. Defensive coordinator, Patrick Graham is one of them. Graham has never led an elite defense before, but he’s never had much talent either and did much more with much less during his handful of years in Las Vegas. It will be interesting to see him lead this Steelers defense. Even if there is some roster shuffling, it will likely be the most-talented unit he’s ever led.
However, there are some decisions that are going to have to grow on some of the fan base for a little bit. For one, McCarthy has hired a ton of coaches with whom he has previous connections. That’s how most coaches build their staffs, but some have criticized McCarthy for being outdated in the past, and those with that belief probably aren’t especially happy with a million McCarthy guys on the staff. He also kept Scott McCurley as inside linebackers coach, despite a lack of significant progress from Patrick Queen and Payton Wilson last year.
There will be some decisions Mike McCarthy got right. Others he will get wrong. But one thing is for sure, things are moving in a very different direction in Pittsburgh. To Brett Keisel, that may be what the franchise needed all along.
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