When former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin resigned after the Wild Card loss to the Houston Texans, he put tectonic shift-level changes into motion. The first big change? Bringing in an offensive-minded head coach in Mike McCarthy.
Then McCarthy set about doing things his way. Insider Gerry Dulac noticed a big difference in how McCarthy ran Organized Team Activities in the spring versus his predecessor. Was that a one-off? Or will McCarthy continue to operate his practices his way and not the old way?
93.7 The Fan’s The Fan Morning Show co-host Adam Crowley asked beat writer Mark Kaboly on Monday about how McCarthy runs practice in Pittsburgh.
“Totally different,” Kaboly said. “I don’t know if there’s anything the same. And this is just what we saw during the summer. I mean, just the way they go about business…Just everything that schedule-wise, even now during the week of game days or during the regular seasons, are gonna be totally different as well. I mean, that’s not a bad thing. It shakes things up a little bit.”
Different doesn’t always mean better in a vacuum. It simply means things are different. However, when an organization has done things largely the same for nearly two decades, things can get a bit stale. Sometimes you don’t operate with the sense of urgency and detail that you had when you first started.
According to Dulac, Mike McCarthy was certainly operating with urgency while still maintaining focus in the spring. Kaboly believes that will continue even once the regular season rolls around. Will that be enough to elevate the Steelers beyond the 10-7, one-and-done-in-the-playoffs seasons?
Well, it’s not that McCarthy is only changing how the Steelers are practicing. He’s bringing a renewed focus on the offense. That alone could make a foundational shift in the Steelers’ organization for the next few years.
Only time will tell how successful Mike McCarthy will be as Pittsburgh’s head coach. There is no doubt he’s trying to get everyone focused and moving in the right direction as quickly as possible, though.
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