While some teams have hired new head coaches, the Pittsburgh Steelers are still searching. They haven’t been slacking, interviewing multiple candidates. However, it’s unclear what direction they’ll go in. One name that’s gotten some buzz is Mike McCarthy, former head coach of the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. While McCarthy is a Super Bowl champion, former Steelers wide receiver Nate Washington doesn’t want him to be Pittsburgh’s next head coach.

“I have a ton of respect for what he was able to do with the Packers and the Cowboys,” Washington said recently on Mike Patton Network’s YouTube channel. “But I just don’t like it. I think there’s a situation there where we’ve seen him with two organizations and I feel like we’ve seen his ceiling. We’ve seen him maximize what he’s able to do.

“While he was able to win a Lombardi in Green Bay with the Packers, I think you have to also acknowledge that he had one of the best quarterbacks in the game at the time with Aaron Rodgers. Especially with the Pittsburgh Steelers, being in a position to not have a quarterback solidified, I don’t see that same possibility with him being able to go out and be great.”

McCarthy had a lot of success in both his stops as a head coach. He took the Packers to the playoffs eight seasons in a row, and that included a Super Bowl championship. Then, he helped the Cowboys make the postseason in three of his five seasons there.

However, the Packers and Cowboys both had established quarterbacks when McCarthy took over as head coach. When he arrived in Green Bay, Brett Favre was the starter, and Rodgers had already been drafted. Also, Dak Prescott was an established quarterback by the time that McCarthy was hired in Dallas.

The Steelers don’t have a starting quarterback in place. Rodgers was with them last season, but he’s a pending free agent, and he could choose to retire. While some have wondered if the Steelers hiring McCarthy could lure Rodgers back to Pittsburgh, that likely wouldn’t produce the same results that the two had together in Green Bay. Rodgers is 42 years old, and the Steelers don’t have the talent that the Packers did.

Could the Steelers do worse at head coach than McCarthy? Yes. However, hiring McCarthy feels like a move to win now. He’s 62 years old. How long is he going to continue coaching? Would he be around long enough to help the Steelers find and develop their next franchise quarterback?

Maybe McCarthy’s time away from the NFL has helped him get some fresh ideas. If the Steelers hire him, it wouldn’t be the end of the world. It might not give the Steelers the best chance to succeed, though.