Pittsburgh Steelers legendary cornerback Rod Woodson remains unsure of what the team is doing after hiring Mike McCarthy.
Woodson, who toured on Super Bowl radio row this week, questioned the hire, and thought the team was gonna go in the direction of a younger coach.
“I’m on the shelf on that one because I was shocked,” Woodson said on The Jim Rome Show. “I’m thinking in my head, one of the younger coaches to build them up, like you [have} done throughout the history of the Pittsburgh Steelers. And I know he has some roots in the area, but I’m still shocked.”
McCarthy, a Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Packers, last coached for the Dallas Cowboys last year. He was let go by Jerry Jones after his contract expired and had been interviewing for other jobs in this cycle.
McCarthy, 62, is a Pittsburgh native and grew up in the Greenfield neighborhood. He graduated from Bishop Boyle High School in Homestead before going on to play college football.
With the ties to the area and McCarthy’s pedigree for developing quarterbacks, Woodson does understand the hire, however.
“I think the lifespan of coaches in the National Football League is gonna be different. The John Harbaughs, the Mike Tomlins are gone. If you get eight years, 10 years, that’s a long time nowadays in the National Football League. As head coach, I don’t think you’re gonna get a lot of head coaches 15 years at one spot,” Woodson said.
The first major coaching position of his career came at the University of Pittsburgh in 1990, and he stayed with the Panthers through the 1992 season before he was plucked by the Kansas City Chiefs for their staff.
Over his career, McCarthy has gone 185-123-2, and he has been a head coach for 18 years of his career. That will make him by far the most-tenured candidate amongst the field.
In addition to that, McCarthy and Steelers general manager Omar Khan worked with each other in New Orleans during the 2000, so they have crossed paths.