You’ve heard of Tomlin Tuesday, but what about McCarthy Monday? Beyond the press conference alliteration, the Pittsburgh Steelers are making meaningful changes to their in-season weekly routine.
“I think some other things organizationally are going to change,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac shared Monday via 102.5 WDVE’s Morning Show with Randy Baumann. “He’s gonna do his weekly press conference on a Monday. Mike Tomlin always did it on a Tuesday. Mike McCarthy believes, Monday, there’s no victory Monday. The players are coming in every Monday. They’re gonna watch film. Mike’s gonna do his press conference. He’s gonna talk about Sunday’s game. I believe even the media will get to meet with the coordinators on Monday…And that’s because McCarthy believes, ‘Okay, Monday you talk about Sunday’s game and Monday night, that’s it. It’s on to the next game.’”
Mike Tomlin didn’t give players every Monday off, but typically would after a solid win to relax and recuperate for the week ahead. It doesn’t sound like that will be the case under McCarthy. We even saw a lighter offseason schedule under Tomlin in his final season, opting to use just six of a possible 10 OTA sessions. McCarthy has all 10 scheduled and spread out over a longer period of time to keep players around and engaged.
Both McCarthy and Tomlin were around before the 2011 CBA that restricted practice time during the season. McCarthy’s philosophy seems to be aimed at maximizing every bit of time the Steelers are afforded by league rules — though he did end rookie minicamp a day early to make sure players could spend time with family on Mother’s Day.
The early indication is that players appear bought in to the new way of doing things. Many of the young players made comments about T.J. Watt, Cameron Heyward, and many other veterans showing up to voluntary minicamp before the draft. That doesn’t happen with every team around the league.
That’s not to say McCarthy’s way is inherently better. Will more players hit the proverbial late-season wall with less time to recuperate throughout the season? And how will this disrupt some players’ routines for body upkeep to make sure they are as healthy as possible?
Either way, Mike McCarthy will look to flush the previous week’s results—good or bad—as soon as possible after each game. Then it’s all attention ahead to securing victory the following week.
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