Just hours after officially taking over as the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Mike McCarthy is already leaving his imprint on the most important position in football. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, McCarthy has taken a strong interest in young quarterback Will Howard as the franchise begins mapping out its post Aaron Rodgers future.

With Rodgers’ return for next season increasingly uncertain, the Steelers face a pivotal crossroads at quarterback. While veteran Mason Rudolph remains under contract, attention inside the building has quietly shifted toward Howard, a sixth round pick in 2025 who is generating unexpected buzz behind the scenes.

“They do have other options on the roster. Mason Rudolph is still under contract,” Pelissero said. “Will Howard, a late round draft pick last year out of Ohio State, that they are really high on in the building. My understanding is Mike McCarthy also is very intrigued by the upside on Will Howard.”

Howard’s rise comes after a frustrating rookie year in which he never truly got his opportunity. A freak hand injury sidelined him for the entire preseason, effectively putting his development on pause before it ever began. Despite that setback, those inside the organization believe the tools are there, and now McCarthy appears eager to see them firsthand.

One factor working strongly in Howard’s favor is the influence of Aaron Rodgers. Throughout the season, Rodgers invested significant time mentoring the young quarterback, with sources noting Howard’s attention to detail and willingness to absorb every lesson.

Rodgers poured significant time and effort into helping Howard in any way he could. Howard proved to be a receptive student, diligently taking notes and absorbing the insights Rodgers passed along.

That mentorship may carry more weight than most draft evaluations ever could.

If Rodgers says a quarterback has “a chance to be great,” it’s worth listening.

The reality is that very few sixth round quarterbacks ever become NFL starters. The odds are steep, and history isn’t kind to late round passers. Still, the league has seen enough exceptions to know it’s not impossible. Tom Brady, Tony Romo, Brock Purdy, and Kurt Warner all entered the league without first round expectations and rewrote their own narratives.

The timing of McCarthy’s arrival only adds fuel to the speculation. Pelissero’s comments surfacing so quickly after the hire strongly suggest Howard was discussed during the interview process. Both sides appear aligned on at least one thing: finding out exactly what the young quarterback can do.

If Rodgers retires or finishes his career elsewhere, Pittsburgh is unlikely to delay the inevitable by chasing another aging veteran. Given how thin the 2026 quarterback class is expected to be, Howard could represent the most intriguing in house option for a team looking to reset without sacrificing flexibility.

As the Steelers begin a new era under Mike McCarthy, one thing is clear. Will Howard is no longer just a developmental name buried on the depth chart. He is officially part of the conversation, and all eyes will be on him as Pittsburgh charts its future at quarterback.

Pittsburgh Steelers Hire a Super Bowl Champion Coach to Replace Mike Tomlin as Head Coach

The Pittsburgh Steelers’ brief search for a new head coach has come to an end, and it concluded with the most Steelers status-quo hire imaginable.

Rather than wait to bring in Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Chris Shula or pass game coordinator Nate Scheelhaase for respective second interviews and potentially hire one of the young up-and-comers, or give the keys to the likes of Brian Flores or Anthony Weaver, the Steelers did the most stuck in the past, scared of change thing they could do and hired former Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy.

For what it’s worth, you can absolutely make the argument that McCarthy is an upgrade over Tomlin. He has 11 10-win seasons in 18 years as a head coach (Tomlin had 12 in 19 seasons). Additionally, he has 11 playoff wins to Tomlin’s eight, including a win over Tomlin in Super Bowl XLV.

The problem isn’t that McCarthy is a bad head coach – he’s not. However, he’s 62 years old and not what the Steelers needed. They needed a reset with a young mind leading them into a new era, which is exactly what they needed when they hired 34-year-old Bill Cowher in 1992 and 24-year-old Mike Tomlin in 2007. They’ve done this before, but for whatever reason, they seemingly forgot.

Could this hire be a net positive? Sure. McCarthy is an offensive-minded coach, which fans have been wanting for quite some time. From 2021-23, the Cowboys’ offense ranked first, 11th, and fifth in total offense. Again, he isn’t a bad coach, but this just feels like going from an Altima to an Accord. And they can push that this has nothing to do with Aaron Rodgers, but it hardly feels like a coincidence that Pittsburgh has made it known they want Rodgers back, and then hire his former head coach shortly after the fact. In a nutshell, this is a short-sighted hire used to bring back a 42-year-old quarterback to play the hits together like it’s 2012. The best version of the McCarthy-Rodgers duo won a single NFC Championship – what do the Steelers think the Paramount Plus reboot version will do?

Pittsburgh had a chance to completely change who they are and get with the times of the modern NFL. That’s what the Baltimore Ravens did. They fired John Harbaugh and hired 42-year-old Jesse Minter, who is one of the game’s brightest defensive minds. With the likes of Shula (39), Scheelhaase (35), Flores (44), and Weaver (45) all younger, fresh faces of whom Pittsburgh could have built their new identity around, they instead have decided to continue riding on horseback when there are cars on the road.