Steelers have typically hired up-and-coming assistants as HCs
Since 1969, three men have coached the Steelers: Chuck Noll (1969-91), Bill Cowher (1992-2006) and Tomlin (2007-25), all of whom guided the team to a Super Bowl. None had head-coaching experience when hired, but each had qualities successful coaches need.
Noll served as a defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts (then based in Baltimore) before accepting the Steelers’ job and winning four Super Bowls as HC. His attention to detail impressed his boss, Don Shula, the winningest coach in NFL history (328 regular-season games, 19 playoff games).
“He was one of the first coaches that I was around that wrote up in great detail all of the techniques used by players — for example, the backpedal and the defensive back’s position on the receiver,” Shula told Cleveland.com in December 2008. “He was like a classroom teacher.”
Cowher, another Pittsburgh native, replaced Noll at 34 after serving as a DC for the Kansas City Chiefs. His people skills helped him go 149-90-1 in the regular season and hoist the Lombardi Trophy in the 2005 season.
“In Pittsburgh, I tried to create a culture that really fostered collaboration and innovation and players took ownership of that,” Cowher told The Athletic’s Richard Deitsch for a story published in September 2025. “There was collaboration with everything we did, connecting players, coaches and the front office. Everything we did in that building was collaboration and innovation.”
Like Cowher, Tomlin was 34 when he became Steelers HC. Before that, he was a Minnesota Vikings DC for one season. Despite his inexperience, it became apparent that the coach’s confidence would help him command a room.
“I’m still coming to grips with what this means,” Tomlin said in February 2007, via ESPN. “But I am what I am as a coach — I don’t call myself a 34-year-old coach or an experienced coach, I’m a football coach.”
After losing seven straight playoff games, the Steelers clearly need a fresh start. To successfully rebuild, they should stick to the pattern that has worked for decades, not hiring a retread in McCarthy.