Welcome to The Terrible Take, a daily segment telling Steeler Nation what's on our minds.

I'm Melanie Freelander.

When the Steelers made their choice for the new head coach in Pittsburgh, a lot of fans were disappointed.

Count me as one of them.

Bringing in a veteran coach who just happened to be a Pittsburgh native might have sounded great.

But Mike McCarthy had been sitting on his couch for a year after

posting a 7-10 record in his final season as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys. Despite winning

the NFC East twice in his five years with Dallas, he only had one playoff win to show for it.

It didn't seem like much of an upgrade over Mike Tomlin, who hadn't scored a playoff win since the 2016

season. Many fans were hoping for a young

and up-and-coming coach, someone who would bring innovation and new ideas. So the choice of McCarthy

felt like a high risk for more of the same mediocre results, a non-losing season and a one-and-done in the

playoffs. And now, with the Steelers bringing back Aaron Rogers for one last ride, it sure doesn't

seem like the team is focused on the future. It's easy to see why a lot of fans are not optimistic

or even excited about the 2026 season. With that said, we all need to pump the brakes on our

disappointment and give McCarthy the benefit of the doubt. With massive turnover on the coaching staff,

some of his hires seem pretty promising. He's giving importance to the special teams unit

based on free agent signings and draft picks, and he remains the team's best chance to develop

young quarterbacks Will Howard and Drew Aller to see what their potential may be. As the head coach

of the Green Bay Packers, McCarthy posted a 61.8%

win ratio in the regular season and won 10 of 18 playoff games, including a Super Bowl victory over

the Steelers. With Dallas, his win percentage was only 58.3%, winning one of four postseason games.

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