The Pittsburgh Steelers are going in a new direction with Mike McCarthy as head coach and the expansive staff he’s been busy putting together. While many fans who wanted a younger coach instead aren’t won over by the decision, McCarthy is a coach with much experience.
This includes smaller things, like running a practice. That’s something that really impressed former NFL head coach Jon Gruden. He visited McCarthy’s practices in Green Bay often during his time commentating for ESPN. Gruden was especially impressed with the way McCarthy handled things, notably dealing with practices in cold weather.
“Mike McCarthy, when he was in Green Bay, he did a hell of a job, man. The way he utilized the indoor facility, instead of having, sitting down on a meeting, sometimes they’d get up, take 10 minutes in the indoor facility to demonstrate a play or a concept. They took advantage of outdoor-indoor with the cold weather. They might go outside for 15 minutes, and work on anti-turnover circuit, and then come in where it’s warmer, where they could concentrate. McCarthy did a great job,” Gruden said Tuesday on the Games With Names podcast.
Things like this aren’t massive in the grand scheme of things. But it might be a little more notable for a city like Pittsburgh. The Steelers had the same head coach in place for nearly two decades. And the staff around Tomlin wasn’t much of a revolving door. There are lots of veterans on this roster who have been in this building for years now. They certainly were very comfortable with how Tomlin ran practices.
For those players, it will be a jolt this year. There’s a lot that goes on that fans don’t get to see, like daily routines and practices. So it is encouraging to hear how impressed Gruden was with Mike McCarthy’s operation, which will be different from Tomlin’s. It won’t make a huge difference by itself. But perhaps little things like this could re-energize a locker room that has had the same routine for years.
With Pittsburgh being a cold-weather city like Green Bay, he’ll have to navigate that, too. And although it doesn’t mean much, McCarthy certainly would have more experience in that regard, unlike someone like Nate Scheelhaase or Chris Shula coming from Los Angeles.
At the end of the day, the Steelers clearly desired a head coach with experience when they landed on Mike McCarthy. Details like these aren’t major and won’t especially excite fans. But knowing how to run a practice and get the most out of your players goes a long way during a long NFL campaign. To Gruden, that’s something McCarthy excels at.
