The Pomp And Joe Show
10AM - There is growing intrigue surrounding Mike McCarthy as Steelers head coach; Mike DeFabo joins to break down each Steelers head coaching candidate now
21 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What are the initial thoughts on Mike McCarthy as a candidate for Steelers head coach?
I know. He's right across from me, Bob Pompeiani. And Bob? I feel like I haven't been attentive enough to you lately. It's kind of like my daughter sometimes, like she just disappears from my life. And even when you're here, I feel like I'm not being attentive enough. I talked to Doug Whaley. I talked to Crowley and Dickerson and had to get the show ready.
And it's almost like you're in the background and I'm not, I'm not asking Bob, how are you? I'm not looking you in the eye.
We're two ships passing in the night, Bob. That's what we are. And watching you do your thing. I, It's good to see you, though. It is good to see you. It's a nice wintry day, and I'm afraid of what's coming this weekend.
I'm not. I love snow. Oh, you won't love it?
Well, you're from Buffalo, so you would love a whole bunch of snow.
Well, the unspoken part, Bob, is you haven't been attentive enough to me either. I think we've just been sort of passing, literally passing each other. We see each other at 5 to 10. We do a radio show together, and then it's the old Bronx Bomber Yankees. 27 guys, 27 cabs, right? Pretty much. We all go our different way.
Everybody splits up. Unless you want to come in and help me later in the day, you're more than welcome.
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Chapter 2: What insights does Mike DeFabo provide about the Steelers coaching candidates?
Can I be a guest on your TV show? Whatever it might be? I ask you every Sunday night, and you always tell me no.
Oh, yeah. Forgot about that. How are you, Bob? You good? Yeah, I'm fine. How are you? I'm hot. I don't know why. It feels like a sauna again in here. Limits with the man whose name I continuously forget back there. How are you, Limits? I'm doing well. Who's the guy with you? I want to introduce himself to you. Yes, sir.
Robert. Robert.
Robert, how are you?
I'm good.
Where do you live? That didn't seem like a trick question, did it? We can't hear you. You've met Robert like five times. I know I have limits. Everybody's a ship passing in the night. I'm under a lot of pressure here. I don't get a chance to interact with people a lot.
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Chapter 3: How does Mike McCarthy's experience influence his candidacy?
He likes to be called Bob. He does? Yeah. Do you remember my first name? Yes, city. All right. We got a lot to talk about, Bob. And this is the first time you and I have had a chance to kibitz on this a little bit. There's a lot happening. Mike McCarthy is interviewing today. By the way, let me just throw this out there early. Besides that, Off the Top is presented by JP Roofing and Siding.
Mike DeFabo from The Athletic is going to join us at 1030, Bob. They did a deep dive on each candidate. It'll be like a game show. I'm bringing Mike on to give us sort of a 60 second thumbnail sketch on each of these guys. And I've been remiss. I haven't dived in enough. If that's the past tense of dive. And I think it is. I haven't dived in enough. but I have in the last 24 hours on these guys.
Who the hell are they? I mean, I know Mike McCarthy and Flores, but who are these other guys? What are their personalities like? Why would they qualify for this job? It's so much more than stats. Like I hear people throwing out, well, this guy was ninth as defensive coordinator and that guy was 12th and past defense. Nobody gives a crap.
Mike Tomlin, I think, as I recall, had a really good pass defense and a terrible run defense, maybe a great run defense and a terrible pass defense.
Chapter 4: What are the pros and cons of hiring Brian Flores as head coach?
I don't remember what. In his one year as coordinator, nobody gave a crap about his stats. They gave a crap that when you opened the door and he came in the interview room, he blew everybody away. That's what matters here. Not where Chris Shula's defense ranks in yards EPA. I don't even know what that means, Bob. So I'm curious to Anthony Weaver. What do I know about Anthony Weaver?
Well, now I've watched some very interesting things on Anthony Weaver. Take a listen to this, Bob, on Anthony Weaver. We're all over the place, I know, but so is everybody on these guys. Go ahead. Give me John Harbaugh last offseason on Anthony Weaver, oh, limitless wonder.
Maybe I'm speaking out of turn, Eric. Maybe I'll get in trouble. There is a league rule against this, but he'll be a great head coach. You know, if I... He didn't get hired this cycle, and great coaches got hired. But someday some people are going to look back and they're going to say, man, we had a chance to hire Anthony Weaver. I guarantee you that.
They're going to see they missed their chance. And the next time around, somebody's not going to miss their chance. So that's how I feel about Anthony.
That's how he feels about Anthony. I don't know if Anthony's going to walk into the room and captivate the place, and Omar and Art are going to hire him on the spot. I don't know. I don't know enough about these guys, but I know more than I did 48 hours ago, Bob. I've done my homework. Your thoughts on this.
The only thing I'll say about him is that I've also read, and again, it's only reading after looking out trying to find information.
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Chapter 5: Why is Anthony Weaver considered a strong candidate for the Steelers?
He said he's considered a CEO type. That's how it's been described. But he's also very quiet and just he's not the same maybe as Mike Tomlin in that regard. But regardless, if he has the ability to be that guy, a CEO type. He's quiet? What do you mean? It was described to me as a quiet confidence guy. Okay. And that's fine, too.
I don't think people have to come in here and just overtake the room with words. They are going to look deep into what these guys have done, and they should. I mean, you've got to look at what defenses look like with these guys in charge. Right. But by all accounts, he is aā A guy who can make an impression. That's another thing. I talked to a friend of mine who's down.
He said he'll make an impression when he comes there. That's what I mean. What that means.
That's what I mean. And that's just an example. And no, they don't have to walk in and give a win one for the Gipper speech. It's a presence that you have the minute you walk in the room. You have that presence. Yes, you do. You have a certain presence about you that's very welcoming. You have a certain vibe about you. Bob has a presence. I'm being dead serious.
Chapter 6: What makes Chris Shula a top choice for the Steelers coaching position?
Do you agree? I thousand percent agree. When I first met Bob and I first walked into the room, I was one starstruck to taken aback and three was slurring my words. I didn't know what to say to you, Bob. I was so starstruck. Some people do, some people don't, and it's all different. It's about are you uniquely yourself and do you sort of command attention? That's the best way I can phrase it.
So Anthony Weaver is just an example. The guy in the building today ā is Mike McCarthy. And I didn't have him on my radar, Bob. I don't know about you, but when I saw that Mike McCarthy was going to interview for this job, I sort of laughed and said, is this about offensive coordinator? I mean, if you wanted to run it back with Mike Tomlin, hiring Mike McCarthy is basically doing that.
He's got the same resume. He had a franchise quarterback and only won once, which is good. You win once, great. And he struggles in the playoffs. And He has a similar career record as Tomlin. Now, the difference would be he's an offensive-minded guy. He's an offensive-minded guy, but he doesn't fit the historic profile.
No, but he's gone through enough.
Which might not be bad.
Which might not be bad. In Dallas, even, they led the league in points scored two different years when he was their head coach. Now, he had Dak Prescott everywhere he's gone. He's not a good quarterback. That makes a big difference here. That is up in the air here about moving forward.
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Chapter 7: How does Jesse Minter's background impact his candidacy for head coach?
But he's a guy who knows how to put together an offense. We had this discussion over the last couple of days. If you hire an offensive guy, does that automatically mean your defense becomes bad? No, it doesn't. You just have to find the right guy to handle the other side of the room, whether it's defense or offense. I think Mike McCarthy, his experience will make him attractive to them.
If they think they're still in the contention business and they sincerely believe that, I mean, he's a guy who's been there, done that. So he's won a lot of division titles. He knows all of that. That's an advantage he has over a lot of these candidates. He's been there, done that. But
I always believe that they're going to stick to what they've done, which is look younger and try to find someone they could build around for multiple years. Not to say that McCarthy can't do it at age, what is he, 64? I mean, he could be here for 10 years. Who knows?
He could be Andy Reid.
He could be Andy Reid. What age was Andy Reid when he was brought to Kansas City? I don't know. What is he, late 60s now? Yeah, he should be in his 50s, right? Right. Whatever. He's a guy who's been there, done that. He's not the kind of guy who comes in and blows you away, I don't think, when you first meet him in terms of jumping out. Wow, look at that personality.
But he's a guy who's been there, done that, and I think that's his best attribute. He knows what he's doing because he has the proof.
So Tomlin's on a seven game playoff losing streak.
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Chapter 8: What are the final thoughts on the potential candidates for the Steelers head coach position?
Mike McCarthy has one playoff win in his last seven years as a coach. But is there a chance? And I heard the PM guys talking about this and it was a good discussion. Is there a chance that Art... And or Omar sort of want to put their own personal stamps on this thing, Bob, and maybe not go with the franchise M.O. on hiring a coach, the young, untested, rising CEO, defensive coordinator type.
At the start of this, it looked like that's exactly what they were going for. But now the pool is a little bit mixed with different kinds of resumes. How do you think that factors in, the chance that Art and or Omar want to say this is mine now?
Yeah, I think it factors in. I think the other thing that McCarthy has going for him is he's used to these high expectation places. He's coached in them. He knows exactly what the pressure's like in Green Bay to win on a regular basis. He was brought to Dallas to do that as well.
And although he didn't ultimately have the kind of success I think Jerry Jones wants or helps a head coach, he did have success in his offense. He knows what that's like to try to deliver quickly. So I think that's an advantage for him as well. Not many of these guys have a lot of experience as a head coach on this list.
So therefore, if that's something they believe is important, that he has the experience, he could have a checkmark in that box.
Would you be excited with a Mike McCarthy hire?
I think, yes.
Do you know him?
Yes.
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