Football
The Pittsburgh Steelers have their next head coach, but it’s not a hire that excited many fans. Mike McCarthy will usher in the new era of the Steelers’ football, and while he’s had a lot of success during his long span as an NFL head coach, he’s a hire many view as the safe choice rather than anything else.
Pat McAfee had Mike McCarthy on his show quite often throughout the last year, including just ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft. Regarding that show, McAfee made an interesting comment about how thorough McCarthy was in preparing for it.
“He came to the draft, had notes on the top hundred [prospects]. He was even getting in the middle of reading me some, I was like, ‘Alright, alright.’ He goes ‘What, they’re not good notes? I got good notes on these guys.’ Then he would have the reasoning behind things,” McAfee said Monday on his ESPN show. “The little attention to detail things, ’cause he’s been around ball for so long. And it seems like he’s a very observant individual.”
It’s a small comment from McAfee, but it is notable. McCarthy’s last season as a head coach came in 2024, with the Dallas Cowboys declining to bring him back once his contract ended. McCarthy didn’t coach anywhere in 2025. He was out of the league until the Steelers hired him last weekend.
Despite not having a job as a head coach, McCarthy still kept up with the league. As someone preparing to join a draft show, it makes sense to have notes on the prospects anyway. But it is a sign that McCarthy was still doing his research and keeping a close eye on the draft in anticipation for another hire as a head coach in the future.
It’s also interesting to note considering some of the other things we’ve heard about McCarthy. During his introductory press conference in Dallas many years ago, he made a comment, jokingly, saying he lied about watching every Cowboys snap from the previous year in an effort to get the job. Those words are picking up a lot of traction since his hiring in Pittsburgh. And it’s helping paint him in a light which shows some he might not care about attention to detail as much as Steelers fans would hope.
Now that he’s back in the league, he’ll obviously be much more dialed in. But it is slightly encouraging that he was researching draft prospects even without having a job. He’ll have to make the right moves to win over the fan base, one which generally doesn’t approve of his hiring. But that’s something McAfee feels confident McCarthy can do.
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