Steelers' Art Rooney II: Mike McCarthy has 'winning track record' - ESPN

PITTSBURGH — Steelers owner and team president Art Rooney II cited Mike McCarthy's previous accomplishments as an NFL head coach and his ability to develop quarterbacks as the difference-making traits that led the organization to tab the 62-year-old Pittsburgh native as the franchise's next head coach.

«He is someone who has a longer track record than many of the other candidates, a winning track record,» Rooney told the team website in his first public comments since the Steelers and McCarthy reached a verbal agreement Saturday. «He's been a winner everywhere he's been. Probably just as important for our purposes, the quarterbacks that he's worked with have all been very successful. So, he has a proven track record of developing top-flight quarterbacks. Those are the things that maybe stick out the most.»

News of the Steelers' intent to hire McCarthy was met with an overwhelmingly negative response from fans on social media. Rooney, though, rebuffed the discourse.

«We're really not worried about winning the initial press conference,» Rooney said, «It's about picking the coach we believe will help us win games, and social media really doesn't enter into it. And none of that will matter once we're starting to play games.

»The message for our fans is: We're very excited. We think we have a coach who is well-equipped to lead us into the next winning phase of Steelers football, and that's what it's all about. I think they're going to love Coach Mike."

The Steelers held three in-person interviews from an initial pool of nine candidates after Mike Tomlin announced his resignation Jan. 13. With a total of 310 games coached between tenures with the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers, McCarthy had the most NFL head coach