It's very well possible that the Pittsburgh Steelers miss Mike Tomlin in their first season with a new coach in nearly two decades. That's certainly been the popular narrative around the team in Mike McCarthy's first season. The Steelers still want to contend, feature a roster loaded with Tomlin's players and look outmatched in a crowded AFC North. Yes, it's 2025 all over again.
Say what you will of McCarthy, he has abandoned plenty of Tomlin's tactics, including a physical training camp and the Steelers' usual Friday Night Lights scrimmage, which instead took place on a Saturday this year. He's given young players a real chance to shine in his system, especially at quarterback. Will Howard and Drew Allar split all the carries last Friday against the New York Jets. You get the picture. For so long, Tomlin's standard was the only way forward. In just a couple of preseason games and training camp practices, though, the Steelers look free and refreshed. Whether that results in wins rather than losses remains to be seen.
Let the young kids make mistakes
Tomlin spoke highly of his draft classes, until they made a mistake. Look no further than players like Kaleb Johnson and Roman Wilson, selected one year apart. Wilson ran some bad routes in practice and rarely saw the field again. Johnson made a special teams mistake early in 2025 and was relegated to the bench for the rest of the season.
I don't necessarily disagree with those decisions. Benching Johnson, Wilson and more young players of their ilk can help with development, and learning from mistakes. Keeping them on the bench for weeks at a time is bound to stunt that growth, as we've seen far too often from Steelers rookies who just didn't pan out. Unlike Tomlin, McCarthy has thrown Howard and Allar into the fire. Germie Bernard has made plays this preseason. All three have made mistakes. That's just part of growing up in the NFL.
Practice without pads
Tomlin's practices in Latrobe were often ruthless and as gritty as they come. Coach T wanted his players in pads as often as the league would allow. Rather than double down on these policies, McCarthy has instead tried to avoid injury as much as humanly possible. This means no contact unless absolutely necessary, and focusing more on schemes and preparation than hitting.
To his credit, Tomlin-coached teams were often deemed more ready come Week 1 in part because they were so physical in training camp. Just a few seasons ago, Pittsburgh handled the heavily-favored Bengals in Cincinnati in Week 1, a feat even Bengals players attributed to the lack of contact in camp. So, this could work both ways.
It's only two preseason games, but so far one of the Steelers biggest issues is not tackling. Blocking and penalties? Absolutely. But the hits will come, whether McCarthy allows tackling at practice or not.
Broderick Jones, Kaleb Johnson and more Steelers projects
Not to harp on Tomlin's recent draft record, but the likes of Broderick Jones, Roman Wilson and Kaleb Johnson have been downright brutal in the preseason thus far. This does not include training camp, but the Steelers invested so much in the trenches and at the skill positions in recent years, it makes you wonder how Tomlin's staff could've been so wrong with these high picks. Jones went in the first round. Johnson in the second. Wilson in the third. What gives?
Now, all three of these players (and many others, obviously) are learning under a new coaching staff. There is bound to be a delay of sorts, especially in a system like McCarthy's that preaches perfection.
Hiring accomplished assistant coaches
The Tomlin coaching tree doesn't exist. I'm not entirely sure why, but throughout Tomlin's decades in Pittsburgh, he rarely hired an accomplished, former head coach to a coordinator or assistant role. Tomlin inherited beloved former Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau. Many of his later coaching hires, including Arthur Smith, were forced upon him due to a lack of playoff success (and let's be honest, Smith was a safe hire anyway).
Whether it be Matt Canada or Teryl Austin, Tomlin loved having assistants around who wouldn't challenge him, and would allow him to micromanage. McCarthy has been the exact opposite, hiring well-respected assistants like Patrick Graham, who could be a head coach in the making himself. McCarthy may call the plays, but Brian Angelichio and Tom Arth handle the weekly planning and film sessions. McCarthy loves to delegate, and it'll make the Steelers stronger as a result.
Focus on the future at quarterback
Here's the big one. Tomlin never wanted a rebuild. His goal aligned with Art Rooney Jr.'s, and that was to finish with a winning record every season and make the playoffs as often as possible, even if it cost them a chance at real contention (think a Super Bowl) down the line. No, I'm not suggesting the Steelers should've bottomed out, but they failed to find their quarterback of the future while Ben Roethlisberger was still on the roster, and have looked lost ever since.
Rather, Pittsburgh reached for local product Kenny Pickett in the first round despite his third-round grade. Tomlin got impatient with Pickett's poor play and signed Russell Wilson instead, thus beginning the Steelers recent run of veteran quarterbacks that has delayed the process of finding a QB of the future even more.
McCarthy knows he was hired to solve this problem. He did it once in Green Bay, helping Rodgers develop into a superstar, and even played a role in turning a young Dak Prescott into a perennial Pro Bowler. That's why McCarthy started Howard and Allar on Friday against the Jets in a demanding environment. If they don't have the it factor, McCarthy would rather find out now.
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