Steelers' Mike Tomlin Faces Ultimate Criticism With Mike McCarthy In Town: "Dinosaur"

Not too long after the Pittsburgh Steelers experienced an embarrassing playoff defeat against the Houston Texans back in January, legendary head coach Mike Tomlin decided that it was time for him to step down. The news shocked the NFL world, but fans in the Steel City were immediately excited for some sort of change due to the lack of postseason success dating back to 2017. It's not a small or easy thing to transition after a specific voice led the locker room for almost two decades. Now, players and fans alike are getting used to a different style under Mike McCarthy.

It remains to be seen if the grass is greener on the other side. McCarthy could come in and boast an incredible offense, but the defense might lack splash-play ability. The team could essentially flip philosophies and focuses but end up getting the same result. That's why there has been so much hesitation about the new regime. No one is going to believe big changes are on the horizon without seeing them.

Training camp has completely flipped on its side with McCarthy running the show. Tomlin was known for having intense, physical practices with the goal of those workouts translating perfectly to meaningful football games come September. With the new setup, despite pads being on, there is not nearly as much hitting, and live tackling is not something that is really going on.

Missed tackles are a part of the game, but the first occurrence in the regular season will lead to pushback from fans regarding the training camp approach. On the contrary, less physical activity will lead to (hopefully) less injuries up and down the roster. The Steelers will be in a lot better shape if they enter the campaign with one of the healthiest rosters in the NFL.

During a fan chat that was hosted by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Ray Fittipaldo, he was asked about McCarthy's approach to practicing at this time of year. The beat writer compared it to what Tomlin did, and it's safe to say that the Steelers are now doing things that revolve more around the status quo.

"It's definitely the standard around the league," Fittipaldo wrote. "Tomlin was a dinosaur with how he practiced."

Tomlin had a unique way of doing things, and they worked for 19 years. That doesn't mean, however, that a new staff wasn't going to put its own hands on the offseason strategy. One very strong positive about how everything is being operated in 2026 revolves around long-term health and endurance. Not hitting so hard in July and August could lead to key players having a lot more energy come December. Some of Tomlin's rosters occasionally seemed gassed late in the year.

Some of the veteran individuals on the team could be really enjoying this type of training camp approach. While hitting is part of the game and players love to compete on the football field, the physicality that comes along with tackling cannot go unnoticed. On top of that, a lot of coaches around the league are deploying the same strategy as McCarthy has. It appears as if Tomlin was one of the outliers, or as Fittipaldo noted: dinosaurs. 

There is a lot of change going on with the Steelers, so plenty of fans will be putting up the former head coach and his now successor. This certainly stuck out when McCarthy announced it to the media, so how the team responds in the first preseason matchup will determine if the roster responded well to this new reality in Pittsburgh.

Steelers Can't Start The 2026 Regular Season Flat

The Atlanta Falcons will come to Acrisure Stadium in Week 1, and it will be the NFL first game hosted in the stadium since Pittsburgh got beat up in the postseason back in January. Emotions should be high and players have no excuses when it comes to tackling, hitting, and energy. A slow start to the year would immediately fall back on McCarthy and make the dinosaur in Tomlin look a little bit better.

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