Doc Rivers Is the New Coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers: How Did We Get Here?

When Doc Rivers won his one and only NBA title in 2007-2008, he did so with a roster that was lauded as one of the best of the generation at the time, which has held up in hindsight. Headlined by players like Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and Rajon Rondo and supported by role players such as Tony Allen, James Posey and Glen Davis, the team rolled to a 66-16 record in the regular season and finished first in the NBA in net rating. What many forget is, despite this dominance, the Celtics almost missed the finals that season due to a 7-game series in both the first and second rounds of the postseason, and while credit is deserved for finishing the job, it was an important sign for the future of Doc Rivers, who would go on to gain the reputation of someone who's teams fall apart in the playoffs, however fair or unfair one may find that to be.

Just two years later, in Arlington, Texas, something similar happened. The Green Bay Packers faced off against and beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Super Bowl, led by future 4x MVP QB Aaron Rodgers who was entering his prime, a receiving core of Donald Driver, Greg Jennings, and Jordy Nelson as well as TE Jermichael Finley who (besides Driver) were all under the age of 30, and the second ranked scoring defense in the NFL, and they were directed by Head Coach Mike McCarthy who captured his first Super Bowl Victory. Since that game, McCarthy has been given several Head Coaching chances at several different high-profile organizations across the NFL in the hopes that he can bring them to the same heights, and has failed at each step. Notably, he has been given the reputation of someone who doesn't make adjustments in key moments of the postseason and whose team often play as if they are unprepared for the big moment, however fair or unfair one may find that to be.

This would likely lead someone to ask why these coaches still continue to get jobs, after all, one of the most famous quotes of all-time (often misattributed to Albert Einstein) is "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results," so why continue going back to coaches like Doc Rivers and Mike McCarthy?

Experienced coaches with championship hardware are hard to find, and not often available in the off-season market, and while the idea of a "culture-changing" coach gets tossed around often, many see that quality most specifically in coaches who have been to the pinnacle of the sport previously. This often sways certain types of organizations. Teams like the Dallas Cowboys, who have an owner who has no greater desire than to have his team dominate the headlines, or the Milwaukee Bucks, who were desperate to keep their star, Giannis Antetokounmpo, happy at all costs.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are not the type of team that pops into mind when thinking of the teams that make these hires. While it is a small sample size, going into this off-season the Steelers had only had to hire 3 coaches since 1969: Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Mike Tomlin. Two things those three men had in common: They were all defensive coaches with defensive backgrounds, and they all were hired by the Steelers before the age of 40, with the oldest being Chuck Noll at age 37.

To refresh some memories, Mike McCarthy is 62 years old and has been known as an offensive coach for his entire career. So why did Pittsburgh deviate from a pattern that has led them to being one of the most successful and stable organizations since Noll was hired? Hiring a 62-year-old coach implies to most of the league that Pittsburgh feels their team will be ready to compete soon, which is confusing with a likely-retiring QB in Aaron Rodgers and a defense that regressed heavily this season after being the centerpiece of the team in years past. It brings up another popular and often misattributed quote; "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

This by no means is saying that the Steelers will automatically be a disaster for years to come, but their refusal to acknowledge the rebuild stage they need to be in has led them into more of what their fans have come to fear the most over the final years of the Mike Tomlin era, continuous mediocrity without real contending.

Teams around the league that have embraced their rebuilds have shown that they don't necessarily have to be decade-long transitions, the two teams in the Super Bowl on Sunday, the Patriots and Seahawks, both went through very quick turnarounds after they let go of their QB's and coaches that they had previously had success with, it can be done. However, teams that resist the full-rebuild and try to contend WHILE rebuilding have found that to be a difficult transition. Teams like the Raiders (trading for Geno Smith and hiring Pete Carroll) come to mind.

The Steelers have a tried and true formula that has worked for the Rooney's on three separate and consecutive occasions when in this spot in the past, and there were several young head coaching candidates available in this cycle that were available who were also interested in them, including but not limited to Chris Shula, the Defensive Coordinator for the Los Angeles Rams, who was the primary coach linked to them throughout the process.

Whether or not McCarthy's roots in Pittsburgh were part of the hire, or if the Steelers feel their roster is in a different stage of contention than the rest of the league and fans believe, hiring a Mike McCarthy/Doc Rivers style coach is not expected from an organization like Pittsburgh, and while it is foolish to believe the Steelers brass did not do their proper due diligence when conducting their Head Coaching search, it is fair to question if they have an off-season plan that the public is not aware of, or if they simply (perhaps foolishly) believe they are in a spot to contend with their current team in the next few seasons.