After 19 seasons, the Mike Tomlin experience in Pittsburgh has come to an end. The Steelers now have a new head coach in Mike McCarthy, who, ironically, defeated the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV alongside his current quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
While this season serves as a fresh start for McCarthy, it’s the end of the line for Rodgers, who is coming into the campaign adamant that this will be the final season in what has been a first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
In fact, Rodgers said that he was pretty certain last season, when he led the Steelers to an AFC North title before falling to the Houston Texans in the Wild Card round, was going to be his final one, until the Steelers hired McCarthy and his wife gave him the green light.
“I felt last year might be it, and then Mike got hired, and I talked to the wife, and she said, you can do one more year,” Rodgers said, per Alan Saunders, before ensuring that after this season there will be “zero debate” about returning for another.
Fascinatingly, Rodgers revealed on Monday that he was the reason teh Steelers brought in McCarthy in the first place.
“I just left him with one thing that I thought was kind of a throwaway,” he said of his exit interview with general manager Omar Khan, according to Blitzburgh.
Aaron Rodgers mentioned to Omar Khan that he should interview Mike McCarthy during his Exit Interview: “I just left him with one thing that I thought was kind of a throwaway. I said, ‘I don’t think it would hurt anything to just interview Mike McCarthy. I think you need to get…
— Blitzburgh (@Blitz_Burgh) August 3, 2026
“I said, ‘I don’t think it would hurt anything to just interview Mike McCarthy. I think you need to get the perspective of an older coach. Everybody hires these young upstarts, mostly from the Shanahan/McVay tree, and obviously they’ve done some nice things. But just consider the other side of an older coach who’s experienced.'”
Khan and the Steelers certainly heeded his advice. Now the two veterans, one restarting his career and one finishing it, will work together to end Pittsburgh’s 10-year drought of playoff wins.
About Qwame Skinner
Qwame Skinner has loved both writing and sports his entire life. In addition to his sports coverage at Comeback Media, Qwame writes novels, and his debut; The First Casualty, an adult fantasy, is out now.