Aaron Rodgers not the quarterback to watch in Pittsburgh after ‘pathetic’ McCarthy hire

Mike McCarthy is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The Steelers have appointed the Super Bowl-winning head coach as their successor to Mike Tomlin, who stepped down from the position after 19 seasons.

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Every Steelers head coach has gone on to claim at least one Super Bowl during their tenure.

McCarthy – who won his Super Bowl in Green Bay with Aaron Rodgers under center – has other obstacles to overcome before he thinks about adding another Lombardi to his resumé.

McCarthy may be an experienced NFL head coach with 17 years of service between the Green Bay Packers and the Dallas Cowboys, but his appointment has not been well-received by the Steelers faithful.

“Not one ******** fan is on board with this. I understand that means nothing but man. Who thought this was a good idea?…..I’m so disappointed in the organization and I’m clearly not the only one,” one fan posted to X (formerly Twitter).

“OUTDATED HC. OUTDATED QB. OUTDATED OC incoming. OUTDATED OFFENSE. boring. what a joke,” another user commented.

“You couldn’t wait for a talk with [Chris] Shula? Hopefully he is willing to hire smart coordinators, unlike Tomlin was. This hire is Tomlin 2.0 without the regular season streak,” a third fan wrote.

McCarthy was considered an ‘intriguing’ hire when the rumor mill was swirling.

Now, he becomes just the fourth head coach in Steelers franchise history, with the organization having been renowned for stability at the position.

For a man who has been served with Brett Favre, Rodgers and Dak Prescott at quarterback in his career, he inherits a Steelers room with an awful lot of question marks.

NFL insider tells Steelers to focus on 6th round pick

Since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement in 2021, the Black and Gold have been faced with a revolving door of quarterbacks.

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From Mason Rudolph to Kenny Pickett, and to Justin Fields and Russell Wilson, they went into championship-or-bust mode when they signed four-time MVP winner and future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers to a one-year deal in 2025.

Despite overcoming the Baltimore Ravens in the final game of the 2025 regular season to claim the AFC North title and book their place in the playoffs, a blowout 30-6 Wild Card defeat to the Houston Texans brought an end to what is widely expected to be Rodgers’ final season as a pro.

With the noise and uncertainty surrounding Rodgers’ future, NFL draft insider Daniel Jeremiah believes that McCarthy and his staff should be looking at quarterback Will Howard.

“Everyone is going to connect the dots with McCarthy and Rodgers,” Jeremiah posted to X on Saturday.

“I’m also curious to see how Will Howard develops under this staff. McCarthy has always done a good job developing that position.

“I thought he was better than his draft position. Time will tell.”

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Howard spent the first four seasons of his collegiate career with Kansas State before transferring to Ohio State for the 2024 college football season, where he led the Buckeyes to the College Football Playoff National Championship.

In his lone season with the Buckeyes, the 24-year-old completed 73 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions.

He also rushed for an additional 226 yards and seven scores from 105 carries, but would have to wait until the sixth round and 185th overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft to hear his name called.

Since being in Pittsburgh, though, he has not had a sniff at getting on the field.

However, under McCarthy’s leadership this could well change, especially with Rodgers’ future undetermined, and 31-year-old Rudolph as the only other signal caller contracted to the team.

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