The Pittsburgh Steelers have gone through a ton of change throughout the 2026 offseason, and most of the tweaks have been talked about a ton. There is a good amount of optimism surrounding the new coaching staff, and all of the roster moves have been praised for the most part. The roster looks better on paper than it did at this time in the 2025 offseason, which is a promising sign. The franchise has more weapons on the offensive side of the ball and the defense is expected to improve, but the organization has improved in other areas that should also pay dividends on the field.
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Steelers' Art Rooney II speaks during his press conference at the end of the 2025 season.
Having talent on the roster and a good system in place in every area of the game is incredibly important, but it is also crucial to be sure that every player can stay on the field. That means limiting injuries and making sure all players are as available as possible, and that is an area that the Steelers have struggled in over the last few years. Soft tissue injuries were popping up more and more, which is hard to deal with during a season because the timeline on an injury like that is relatively unpredictable and it could be easy to re-aggravate.
When former head coach Mike Tomlin decided to step down after the 2025 season, it meant that a new strength would be coming in under eventual head coach Mike McCarthy, and reports on the new group have been good so far. Beat writer Mark Kaboly was asked about this during a recent mailbag on X.
"I haven’t heard much specifically, but I did hear that the guy who runs the program really knows what he is doing," Kaboly wrote. "Put it this way – I haven’t seen many, if any, soft tissue injuries so far, and that’s plagued this franchise for years."
It is probably best not to hear much about a strength staff throughout training camp and the season. Just two years ago, Russell Wilson strained his calf during a conditioning test prior to the start of camp, and the strength and training staff was under fire from the fan base almost immediately. Not hearing anything should be considered good, and it seems like the team has been able to stay healthy throughout the first few weeks of camp.
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Steelers' Mike McCarthy at league meetings during the 2026 offseason.
McCarthy hired Mark Lovat as the new head strength and conditioning coach during the 2026 offseason. Lovat has plenty of experience as he has been in the league in some way for the last 28 years. He was most recently with the Tennessee Titans before being hired by McCarthy. The organization has a total of 57 years of NFL experience across the four coaches on the training staff, which is a good sign moving forward. There have been no issues yet, and hopefully that continues.
Steelers Need To Remain Healthy In 2026
The Steelers have a decent amount of talent, but the main area where things get a little shaky is depth. This means guys being able to stay healthy throughout a 17-game season is extremely important when it comes to the success of this team in 2026. If the starters can all stay on the field then there is a chance that the team can do better than some might expect. The roster is also fairly old, which makes a strength staff even more important.
It is also important to note that injuries are not the fault of the training staff. Football is a violent game and injuries are going to happen, however, some trends can be concerning. It was clear the Steelers had a problem when it came to soft tissue injuries over the last several seasons. The same players were having recurring injuries and it was hurting the team, so hopefully that issue doesn't pop back up with this new staff.
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