19 years under Mike Tomlin taught Steelers Nation to expect a predictable rhythm. Enter Mike McCarthy, a coach making it clear that old habits no longer apply. McCarthy signaled this new reality back in March, skipping Clemson’s Pro Day and breaking a decade-old scouting tradition by sending VP Dan Rooney Jr. and scout Zack Crockett in his place. It was a subtle preview of bigger changes to come. As Pittsburgh prepares to open the regular season against the Atlanta Falcons on September 13th, McCarthy is experimenting with team management by overhauling the Steelers’ long-standing captaincy model.

“Yes, we’ll do the weekly captain format. So without getting ahead of myself here, when we get to that point in that week, we’ll get that information to you,” McCarthy said in Monday’s presser, a video of which was shared by the Pittsburgh Steelers on YouTube. 

The Steelers used to have temporary captains until 1998, when they began trusting seasonal captains, and McCarthy’s plans will reverse that.

Throughout his 19 seasons in Pittsburgh, Tomlin’s leadership philosophy was simple: democracy over interference. While Tomlin controlled the structure, strictly capping selections to four or five leaders split across offense, defense, and special teams, he left the names entirely to the locker room. He refused to handpick captains or rotate them weekly, famously maintaining that the player’s votes spoke for themselves and that he is “not interested in interpreting” who made the cut.

Last year, after voting, the Steelers picked four players as their captains: quarterback Aaron Rodgers on offense, defensive tackle Cameron Heyward and linebacker T.J. Watt on defense, and safety Miles Killebrew on special teams.

But as Pittsburgh welcomes a new head coach for the first time since 2007, McCarthy, who grew up rooting for the Steelers, doesn’t want to mess things up. So, he adopted something he is comfortable with. He took the same approach of changing captains week to week when he was the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys from 2020 to 2024. Green Bay Packers, too, witnessed McCarthy put captains on their toes as he named captains rotation-wise. 

“I feel like it’s an opportunity for your full roster to experience – it’s an opportunity for leadership,” McCarthy said in 2020 when he led the Cowboys. “There’s a number of positive factors in my view of doing it that way.”

At the end of the day, naming new captains every week motivates the players to improve themselves rather than take things for granted. It also allows the head coaches to honor players who step up throughout the year. McCarthy can let natural leaders emerge rather than deciding on leadership before Week 1 arrives. That approach could help create a long-term culture of trust, where players know recognition is earned rather than simply handed out.

And McCarthy isn’t the only elite head coach who believes in letting game-day captains earn their spot week by week.

Since Andy Reid took over, the Kansas City Chiefs have bucked the traditional approach of naming permanent regular-season captains. The team instead rotates its coin-toss captains each week in the postseason. The success rate of this approach? They won three Super Bowls under Reid.

After all, this flexible approach keeps the locker room accountable for their actions. It keeps the competitive spirit alive to do better and earn the head coach’s trust every week. This season, like the Steelers, the Cleveland Browns also got rid of the idea of handing the captaincy charge to one player throughout the season. 

“I just like it that way,” new head coach Todd Monken said. “We have a fairly young team. I’m not ready to name guys that are permanent for us. I do think it’s cool for players to go out for the coin toss. I think it’s really cool.”

Monken has picked five captains for the Browns’ Week 1 matchup in Jacksonville. Deshaun Watson and Zion Johnson will lead the offense, Tyson Campbell and Mason Graham will captain the defense, while Rex Sunahara captains special teams.

Meanwhile, one team that has gone the other way – from temporary captains to seasonal captains – is the Baltimore Ravens, with Jesse Minter appointing five seasonal captains via a team vote.

As for the Steelers, there are a couple of names who can earn McCarthy’s trust to win the captaincy multiple times in 2026. 

Three Returning Steelers Captains Who Can Earn Mike McCarthy’s Trust

Out of the four captains from last season, Miles Killebrew left the Pittsburgh Steelers for Tampa Bay. In that case, besides him, the other three players have a strong chance to captain this time. Given that it is Rodgers’ last season in the NFL, he might get the chance on sentimental grounds; not saying that he’s incapable of being captain, but the looming retirement after a Hall of Fame career would contribute to his chances.

Other than that, the QB1, even though he fell short in mobility last season, proved he is still one of the strongest arms in the NFL and is capable of making extraordinary throws. Plus, the 2026 season marks the reunion of McCarthy and Rodgers from their Green Bay Packers days, and the duo will look forward to turning haters into supporters.

When it comes to Cameron Heyward, he has been a defensive captain in the Steelers camp for 11 years in a row. The same goes for T.J. Watt, as the 2025 season marked his fifth time as captain. 

The Steelers will begin their new season on September 13 with a home matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Even though McCarthy has yet to announce the captains, he has already set the expectations straight for Week 1. 

“Biggest challenge for Week 1 is, clearly, playing within yourself — especially for a new staff, new players,” McCarthy said. “We spent a tremendous amount of time and energy detailing how we want to play schematically, most importantly fundamentally, and I think the biggest challenge in Week 1 is sticking to your fundamentals.”

The Steelers have 11 rookies on their initial 53-man roster, along with 12 players aged 30 or older and Jamel Dean nearing that mark. McCarthy will count on that depth of experience to name different captains each week.