Mike McCarthy on Coaching Steelers & Pittsburgh’s 1st-Round NFL Draft Pick

For Mike McCarthy, the strange part of his first draft as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach is not the war room or the board. It is the commute. The new Steelers boss told Rich on The Rich Eisen Show that the daily walk into the office still does not quite feel real, weeks after the press conference.

"It's been surreal, you know, since really since the interview, then the press conference, and to look out your office window and see your neighborhood across the river," McCarthy said. "The drive into work is on the streets that I grew up on. So personally it's just been incredible." The Pittsburgh native framed year one as the kind of grind he actually enjoys: putting together a staff, putting together the playbooks, and getting players in the building for the first two and a half weeks of work. With the draft staged in Pittsburgh, McCarthy described the city's vibe around the team as singular even by Steelers standards.

On the Steelers' first-round pick at number 21, McCarthy zeroed in on a single offensive-line trait to explain the selection. "One thing I've always look for, I look for particularly in offensive line, the ability to strike and sustain, and he does that," McCarthy said. "When he strikes, he sticks on blocks, he finishes. Does a great job against second and third reaction." He called the rookie an incredible fit for an offensive line group he is already high on after the early on-field work.

The Broderick Jones question hung over the pick, and McCarthy addressed it without ducking. He acknowledged Jones is working through a medical situation and a normal rehab process, but said it did not narrow the board. "You can't have enough big men in your building," McCarthy said. He added that Jones is doing well, but that the return "is going to be a minute."

The night's most-told story was the McKai Lemon call-waiting moment, where the Steelers were still working the phones on a player Philadelphia ultimately drafted. McCarthy said the specific in-call interruption was a first for him, but the underlying mechanics were nothing unusual. "When you get down to these picks, particularly when you're down in the 20s, you usually have a pod of players, and Lemon was definitely part of that," McCarthy said. "The good Lord is, you know, always works his magic. I feel great about the way it ended up. Lemon will do great there over in Philadelphia, but we're right where we need to be for good reason."

Rich asked the question fans always ask him: why bother calling the player at all before the card is in. McCarthy treated it as part of the ceremony of the day. "That's a great question," he said. "Really the excitement of bringing an individual into your building, I mean, that is part of the draft day process. I don't think it's out of the norm."