Gerry Dulac: Mike McCarthy's coaching tree keeps growing. Will his first Steelers OC find similar success?

Gerry Dulac, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 31, 2026

Published in Football

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

PHOENIX — In 19 years as head coach, Mike Tomlin never had a coordinator he hired be promoted to a head coach. The only assistant he ever hired to be promoted to a coordinator was Brian Flores, who had already been a head coach. His coaching tree was as barren as a maple in November.

Not so with Mike McCarthy.

Brian Schottenheimer was the most recent offensive coordinator he had in Dallas who was hired as the Cowboys head coach when McCarthy was fired after the 2024 season.

And he said he owes it all to the Pittsburgh native who is the Steelers’ new head coach.

“Everything I learned from quarterback play — quarterback fundamentals, decision-making — it’s all Mike McCarthy,” Schottenheimer said Monday during the NFC coaches breakfast at the league owners meetings. “It gets passed down from Bill Walsh to Paul Hackett, Paul Hackett to Mike McCarthy, now myself.”

Schottenheimer traces his relationship with McCarthy back to 1998, when both were members of the Kansas City Chiefs’ coaching staff under Schottenheimer’s dad, Marty.

Schottenheimer had been an offensive coordinator at three other stops — New York Jets, St. Louis Rams and Seattle — and was planning to sit out a season after he was let go after one season as a pass-game coordinator in Jacksonville.

But McCarthy brought him in as a coaching analyst in 2022, and he never left.

“I owe a ton in this business to Mike,” Schottenheimer said. “Just him bringing me here to Dallas as a consultant and allowing me to be involved in a year where, quite honestly, I was going to take a year off. I owe a lot to Mike.”

Schottenheimer said he watched McCarthy’s introductory press conference with the Steelers and knew he would break down when he saw McCarthy’s parents in the audience. He said that emotion, coupled with his drive and attention to detail, is “what makes him so great.”

Then he added, “What a dream come true for Mike, going home.”

Schottenheimer was the Cowboys’ offensive coordinator for two seasons before he was hired to replace McCarthy last year. The previous offensive coordinator, Kellen Moore, also went on to be a head coach with the New Orleans Saints, though McCarthy didn’t initially hire him in Dallas.

That trend could bode well for Brian Angelichio, the Steelers’ new offensive coordinator. McCarthy hired him from the Minnesota Vikings, where he spent the past four seasons as the pass-game coordinator and tight ends coach.

None of that would surprise Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell.

“He’s so prepared for this opportunity,” O’Connell said. “It’s long overdue for him to get to coordinate. It’s one of those things where you wish you can keep guys like Ange, you wish you can keep them forever, but part of being a good head coach is hiring good coaches. Unfortunately, the rest of the league starts to notice their potential and they get the opportunity they deserve.”

It has been no secret around the NFL. The former Pitt assistant — he was the Panthers’ offensive assistant and tight ends coach from 2006-2010 — is considered one of the bright, innovative assistants in the league.

However, like all of McCarthy’s offensive coordinators going back to Green Bay, Angelichio will not call the plays.

“Ange is a guy I’ve coached with him in multiple spots and multiple systems, and what always kept coming out was similar philosophical beliefs on how you attack people, specifically in the pass game,” O’Connell said. “But Ange has a really good understanding of the run game and how to marry it together, how to marry the play pass, and keep your game to your base way of running the football. He’s been vital for me in the red zone.”

____