The quarterback Mike McCarthy probably praised most Tuesday wasn’t the four-time league MVP that won a Super Bowl with him in Green Bay.

Instead, it was Will Howard, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ sixth-round pick in last year’s draft. Sure, McCarthy answered questions about Aaron Rodgers’ future, but McCarthy also offered unsolicited praise for the 24-year-old who won a national championship in college.

“I’m real excited about Will Howard,” said McCarthy, who was introduced Tuesday as the Steelers’ head coach. “He’s someone that I thought really came on there at Ohio State. I’m anxious to work with him. It’d be great to have Aaron back, but Will and Mason (Rudolph), I’m really excited to get started with those guys.”

McCarthy, 62, has a reputation for developing NFL quarterbacks, having worked with Rodgers, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and New Orleans’ Aaron Brooks in key parts of their careers. He also worked with Joe Montana in Kansas City and Brett Favre in Green Bay. But McCarthy made clear he sees potential in Howard.

The Steelers have searched for a long-term solution at the position since Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2022 and hope McCarthy can usher in their next franchise quarterback, whoever that might be.

“With everybody we talked to, the conversation of developing the next young quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers was part of it,” general manager Omar Khan said. “I think Mike’s resume speaks for itself, who he’s been around. But we’re excited about working with Will. And that was a part of it.”

The 6-foot-4, 236-pound Howard passed for 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns while completing 73% of his attempts in leading the Buckeyes to the 2024 national championship. A training camp injury to his throwing hand got his rookie season off to a slow start. He returned later in the season and served as the team’s third QB behind Rodgers and Rudolph.

Six-year pro Rudolph also returns.

“I think you’re always developing the quarterback,” McCarthy said of his philosophy. “I’ve been blessed to have great starters … but we’ve always approached it as the quarterback room because that second quarterback, third quarterback, they need to emulate the starter because that starter is dictating the rhythm and time and precision with the perimeter guys.”

McCarthy said the position has changed since he entered the league in 1993 as an offensive quality control coach for Marty Schottenheimer in Kansas City. The rules protecting quarterbacks have changed, he said, but the job nowadays also requires a more mobile athlete.

“The quarterback runs, the called quarterback runs, is probably the biggest thing that’s changed in the last five, six, seven years,” McCarthy said. “Obviously, the rules protecting them and making it possible, I mean, just the way you play defense.”

But none of McCarthy’s quarterbacks were necessarily known for their legs. Prescott tossed an NFL-leading 36 touchdowns in 2023 while rushing for 242 yards.

“At the end of the day, to win these big games that are being played in January, they still got to make throws from the pocket,” McCarthy said. “That’s why the belief and the footwork and the training and all those things that go into it. But the running quarterback is the biggest change that I’ve seen.”

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