The Pomp And Joe Show
There is growing intrigue surrounding Mike McCarthy as Steelers head coach
21 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: What initial thoughts are shared about 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. 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.
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Chapter 2: How does Mike McCarthy's playoff performance impact his candidacy?
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.
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.
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Chapter 3: What insights does John Harbaugh provide about Anthony Weaver?
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 is 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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Chapter 4: What qualities make Mike McCarthy an attractive option for the Steelers?
I said 1030. All right. You know what? Here's what we're going to do. Let's hear Ben on Mike McCarthy. Ben is a Mike McCarthy fan. Let's take it. Let's take a brief intermission. Get to Fabo hooked up. and then have him weigh in. It's going to be like a game show.
Like I said, he's going to weigh in like they did today in the piece that he was the head of over at The Athletic on each one of the known candidates. Okay? Take us inside a little bit. Okay, Limits? But first, let's hear Ben on the guy who is in the building today interviewing Mike McCarthy.
So if I didn't do that, my next choice would be a... would be literally... What he means is a young offensive head coach.
Right. A young offensive mind is Ben's first choice. Now he moves to McCarthy.
Mike McCarthy. Mike McCarthy is an offensive-minded veteran coach. Guy that's been there, done that. He has Pittsburgh ties, so he understands the Steeler way and what it is to be a Steeler and understands the Rooney family and how it works and all that kind of stuff. A lot of respect for him.
I think the, you know, and he can bring in a younger coordinator or whatever to help or maybe brings in older staff. The kind of downsides to potentially that is how long would he keep coaching for? Would he want to do 5, 10, 15 years? Would he only want to coach for, I don't know. You had talked about that. The potential positive side to him coming in here would be the potential of
Aaron Rodgers coming back, right? They have a relationship together. Now, I don't know what the relationship is, but I assume that it's good enough. They won a Super Bowl together. You could bring his offense in. Aaron wouldn't know the offense. He would feel super comfortable in an offense that he knows.
And that gives you a chance to bring Aaron back, which we'll circle back around to when we start talking about players. I don't hate having Aaron come back for another year. But that's one of the thoughts I have if you brought Mike McCarthy. I truly love that pick. I like Mike McCarthy. I think he's a great coach. I would love to play for him.
Agree or disagree with Ben, I can see his point, but I've made mine clear. I don't like the idea of McCarthy and Rogers coming in. You?
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Chapter 5: How does McCarthy's experience compare to the Steelers' current coaching strategy?
Worked together all those years and all those times and games and there's no text. I know.
At least a goodbye. Good luck.
That tells me something about Stefanski.
All right. That's Ben on Mike McCarthy. Your thoughts out there coming up after Mike DeFaba. Let's dive into these candidates and get a little bit of a better feel. Mike has some inside stuff. We're going to talk to him. We're going to give him the floor for a minute, and then we're going to get your thoughts.