Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin Was Alarmed With "A Lot Of Issues" During The 2008 Training Camp

The 2008 Pittsburgh Steelers will go down as one of the greatest teams ever. The amount of elite talent that they had on the team made you forget about players like William Gay and Lawrence Timmons who were younger at the time. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin was the mastermind behind this team. Tomlin in his own right was young for a head coach. During the 2008 season, he would become the youngest coach to ever win a Super Bowl at just the age of 36. But that is often overshadowed by how exciting and good of a game that was played by the Steelers and Arizona Cardinals.

Going into the season, Tomlin knew how good of a team he had. In an old interview brought to light by Steelers.com's Teresa Varley, Tomlin would go on and talk about how eager he was for the season.  With what seemed to be a younger team, Tomlin was ready to take them to the next level and become Super Bowl champions.

"I love football. I love this process." Tomlin would then say, "I love going to camp. I love team building, readying ourselves to pursue our goals. I am extremely excited. If I had to characterize it, I would say no more excited or no less excited than a year ago."

Although he knew that they were going to be a good team, Tomlin also realized that there were going to be struggles along the way. The year prior, the Steelers were able to win the AFC North, but lost in the Wild Card round. This would already put pressure on Tomlin going into the season. Pittsburgh's biggest worry going into the season would be their offensive line. They had just lost their Hall of Fame guard Alan Faneca and were looking for a replacement there. No one knew who was going to be the starting center, and there was a battle going on over who would be the starting right guard.

To make matters worse, the Steelers had to start their preseason with an injured Troy Polamalu. He had suffered a hamstring injury that kept him sidelined for most of camp. Thankfully it wasn't too serious, and he was able to help lead them to the Super Bowl.

"There will be a lot of issues, and that is what training camp is about," said Tomlin. "I think one of the things that I am always conscious about is that I never try to tell a story. I always try to let the story unfold and call it as I see it. That is what I intend to do this year as well."

The Biggest Question For The Steelers

The running back position was still a concern for Tomlin and the team. They had recently drafted Rashard Mendenhall with their first pick in the draft in hopes of him becoming the next big thing. He was the Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year in 2007 while at Illinois and looked to be the future. The only problem for him was that he would have to share reps with Willie Parker, much like Jerome Bettis did. The two would be used as a great one-two punch. Tomlin would welcome the competition though and would give anyone an opportunity to prove themselves.

"One of the things we've learned around here and I've learned in this business is that if a man has a helmet and is invited to camp, he has an opportunity."

This one-two-punch of running backs is something that the Steelers still use today. In 2023, it looks like Najee Harris will be the one that takes most of the beating and Jaylen Warren, someone who shocked everyone last year as an undrafted free agent, will come in to take the load off of Harris. This is just one of the many pages that Tomlin has taken from past teams over the years.

So, what do you think, Steeler Nation? Will the 2023 season look something like the 2008 season? Let me know in the comments below!

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