The Pittsburgh Steelers have had all kinds of different traditions in training camp for years, and it will be interesting to see how or what exactly gets changed with a brand new head coach. Mike Tomlin would always make his players earn certain things, like a good dinner, or certain accommodations with the rooms they were staying in. Certain veterans earned some perks through seniority and consistent play, while everyone else had to work as hard as they possibly could just to get noticed. That is still praised to this day.
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Former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin looks in the distance as his players practice during 2022 training camp at St. Vincent College in Latrobe, PA.
It took a long time for some of these players to reach that level of trust with Tomlin. While making an appearance on The Pump Fake, former Pro Bowl lineman Alejandro Villanueva explained the coach's mindset towards him in particular.
"It made Coach Tomlin happy to mistreat me a little bit," Villanueva said. "All of the O-linemen were first- or second-rounders. They were very established guys, second contracts. Everyone drove a Range Rover; they had the chain and everything. I'm a chameleon. If everyone is joking about this, I would want to feel like I was one of them. I wanted to feel that I had the entitlement to make a joke. I'm playing left tackle."
Villanueva may have been the tallest player in the NFL at the time, but guys like Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro were seen as the big dogs in the room, among others. He had managed to win the starting job during the 2015 season and eventually earned the role of blindside blocker of the future. He had done well, but he had not accomplished enough to be treated like the others in the eyes of Tomlin according to Villanueva.
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Former Steelers lineman Alejandro Villanueva pass blocks against the Baltimore Ravens.
Villanueva continued on, giving an example of what Tomlin would do to him to show he was not in the same category as all the other veteran linemen.
"I'm playing the most valuable position on the field right now, so I want to feel like I'm worth my position, but Coach Tomlin always saw me as a very young guy in terms of my experience, so he always wanted to keep me humble," Villanueva said. "He made me room with someone all the time in Latrobe. I never had my own room."
Despite being one of the best offensive tackles in the NFL, a two-time Pro Bowler, and a guy that earned a second contract of his own, Villanueva was never seen as one of the veterans of the team. It also shows how much Tomlin respected everyone else on the offensive line, as they all got preferential treatment.
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Former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger with Maurkice Pouncey, Ramon Foster, and Alejandro Villanueva during a home game.
Villanueva didn't get into any other specifics of what Tomlin would do during that time, but there are plenty of stories about different forms of minor hazing and other types of "rookie treatment" that many players would have to go through. It's safe to say that Villanueva had to do some of these things that the young guys would always have to do.
Steelers Have Lots Of Questions With New Coaching Staff
Now that Tomlin has stepped down, Mike McCarthy has to decide how much of the old traditions will stay, and and which ones can finally come to an end. For starters, would the Steelers even go back to Latrobe for training camp, or just stay in Pittsburgh? Would every player get a good dinner afterwards, or will it continue to be earned? With many other questions, McCarthy will have to answer these before training camp starts in July. It'll be interesting to see which direction the new coach goes in.
What do you think about Tomlin supposedly mistreating Villanueva a bit in training camp? Do you think he earned veteran treatment? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
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