PITTSBUGRH (93.7 The Fan) –The impression many in Pittsburgh have of Mike McCarthy is a proud Yinzer who drops stories about Greenfield. Someone who loves his hometown and the traditions and nuances surrounding it. He’s that. What we are now really learning through offseason work, is what Mike McCarthy the coach is about.
It’s different. While a few staffers were retained, the veteran head coach said there is just a lot to do to make the Steelers what he thinks the Steelers should be.
“This being the third time going through it, you understand that everything we do has a progression and a regression to do it,” McCarthy said. “Whether it's the strength and conditioning, whether it's the training room, especially the coaches, scheme development, fundamental development, game advancement, installation, all that. So, you've got to keep progressing, but you still have to have the feedback, because if you have to regress, you take a step back and keep moving forward.”
McCarthy said he appreciates the way the team consistently worked, every day.
“That's what we need to do,” McCarthy said. “I mean, you know, the pom poms flying around and yelling, screaming isn’t going to do anything right now. We need to learn the offense, learn the defense, make sure we know the special teams, make sure we have a clear understanding of the fundamentals, make sure each player has a toolbox that's full, make sure they are successful.”
“Don't give them too much, keep building that in a progressive, aggressive way. All those things, game management, situational football, can't do enough of it.”
For the first time in a couple of decades the Steelers offseason work looks much different. Instead of two or three weeks of voluntary work followed by the mandatory mini-camp, it was two weeks of voluntary work all week long instead of Tuesday through Thursday. Week three was mandatory work and then week four was voluntary again, which allowed for those who needed more work to get it and others to get time away.
Next week for three days the rookies will stay and bookend the Steelers offseason. McCarthy calls it ‘rookie school’ and include a lot of individual time with coaches. Then vacation until reporting to St. Vincent College at the end of next month.
Vacation for the players and coaches, but McCarthy will continue to work. He says it’s normal first-year chores. With all the emotions of realizing a dream, he wants to be focused and ready for day one.
McCarthy even produced a 100-day report about his first 100 days on the job and he shared it with the coaching staff.
“It's been a very hectic, busy offseason, but it should be its year one,” McCarthy said. “This is what year one looks like, but at the end of the day, the players have responded. They're doing the work. I think you see it out here. This is a teaching environment. We go to the CBA tempo, like we have to, but there's a lot getting done.”
‘Go to the CBA tempo’ is an interesting way of saying it’s been intense, crisp work without benches or breaks, but it’s legal. McCarthy believes the team responded with a good work ethic.
“I think our veterans have done an excellent job,” McCarthy said. “I'm a big believer in consistency and regularity. You have to have that from your
experienced players and coaches. Who wants to work with someone that is different every day? I think that starts at the top. If that’s the case, that’s probably the way you’re going to play when the game starts.”
“I think our veteran players came in, and we've been very upfront in trying to be direct with them as far as how we see them and the direction that we’re going. I think we did a really good job of identifying the things that were done at a high level here, and we are trying to maintain as much of that as we could throughout our scheme development.”
Steelers will again take to the field as a full team on July 29. Part of the consistency McCarthy talked about is keeping the practice times the same at camp as regular season. You will see 11am starts and who knows what we might see on the field, but know it will likely look different to you.
“When we get up to Latrobe, we want to play football,” McCarthy said. “We have the three practices in helmets and shorts and ramp up, but you know when that Monday hits (and they can be in full pads), we want to get going and make sure we're ready to play games.”
What the new coach is doing to get his system & change up what was done before
What the new coach is doing to get his system & change up what was done before
