Steelers HC Mike McCarthy Talks Aaron Rodgers, NFL Draft & More with Rich

Pittsburgh's first home draft as a hosting city set the backdrop for new Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy's first sit-down on The Rich Eisen Show, and the conversation hopscotched from a Mount Washington dinner view of the lit-up skyline to the open question hovering over the franchise: when Aaron Rodgers will give an answer.

McCarthy described the gig in his hometown as still surreal weeks into the job. "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," he said. "The drive into work is on the streets that I grew up on. So personally it's just been incredible."

On the Steelers' 21st overall pick, Arizona State tackle Maxi Honachure, McCarthy zeroed in on a specific trait. "One thing I've always look for, I look for particularly in an offensive lineman, the ability to strike and sustain, and he does that," McCarthy said. "When he strikes, he sticks on blocks, he finishes." He framed Honachure as an immediate fit for an offensive line group he is already high on, and noted that Broderick Jones' ongoing rehab did not dictate the pick. "You can't have enough big men in your building," McCarthy said.

The night's other Steelers subplot was the now-public story of McKai Lemon's phone ringing on call waiting before Philadelphia took him. McCarthy said the experience was a first for him personally but treated the outcome as routine board management. "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," he said. "The good Lord is, you know, always works his magic. Max is with us. I feel great about the way it ended up."

Rich pressed on the Rodgers timeline and McCarthy held the line. "We're in constant, consistent communication," McCarthy said. "He's going through his process. We're just continuing to keep working. Our focus is on the draft, and hopefully we'll have a decision in near future." He added that Rodgers' absence has actually helped the room. "I'd prefer for the veteran not to be here at this particular time, because it gives us the opportunity to be fully focused on our two younger quarterbacks," McCarthy said of Mason Rudolph and Will Howard, calling Howard's first quarterback school reps "a hell of a job."

Rich closed by laying out the strange symmetry of McCarthy waiting on a Rodgers in Pittsburgh after once waiting on Brett Favre for a Rodgers in Green Bay. "It's hard to believe everything you just said is actually true," McCarthy said. "The experience with Aaron and Brett, it serves me well. It gives me peace in these type of moments."