'We better be a good football team:' Coach Tomlin embracing the challenges entering year 17
LATROBE (KDKA) - The pads are popping, the sun is shining, and the standard remains the standard at Saint Vincent College as the Steelers prepare for the 2023-24 season.
For Mike Tomlin, it's year 17 at the helm and for Coach T, it's a labor of love and the beginning of a process that excites him.
"You got to have a hardcore plan while being light on your feet from an adjustment perspective," he told CBS Sports' Evan Washburn. "We pour a lot of time into the calendars and planning and installation schedules and so forth. Experience tells me, 17 years in, I'm probably more flexible than I was years ago to be willing to adapt and adjust to what I'm seeing out there."
As camp progresses, the Steelers find themselves in a unique position. They have a young offense with a lot of second-year players while having an experienced defense. As the franchise has in years past, they didn't just take "the best player available at their position" a lot of planning, deliberation, and purpose was put into the draft picks and free agent signings.
"A lot of the pieces we covered in the draft, they're intangible qualities, the type of people they are, and I think that's going to be the catalyst for their infusion into us," Tomlin said. "Guys like Landon Roberts, man, I can remember myself and Kevin Colbert standing in the parking lot of the University of Houston and talking to him and his dad for an hour after pro day. So this is more of a continuation or reintroduction of the relationship, we know the type of guy he is...the same can be said about Keanu Neal and some of the others - it's not a get-to-know-if-you-will, we already know some things about these guys."
That includes newcomer Patrick Peterson, who has not been shy about his admiration for Coach Tomlin and the Steelers organization since signing with the team this offseason. Like so many other things in this city, there was, of course, a Pittsburgh connection.
"Pat P, man, I think the first time I met him, he was in 12th grade," Tomlin said with a smile. "Bryant McFadden played for us, was his older cousin at the time, B-Mac was like 'You're gonna know about my little cousin,' like he forced Pat P on me, I had to know who he was."
Coming into camp this year, all eyes are on second-year quarterback Kenny Pickett. A first-round pick in 2022, the Pitt hero has been counted on to become the next franchise quarterback.
Pickett showed strides after taking over for Mitch Trubisky early last season, including helping the Steelers climb back to a 9-8 record, finishing the season 7-2 after the bye week.
"With each passing day, as he gains experience in the surface-level things that his job requires him to do, he's able to open himself up and make himself more available to the some of the deeper things, the deeper dives, and some of the unofficial things that come with being who he is and what the quarterback position is," Tomlin said about his second-year quarterback.
Tomlin added that Pickett's progression is also based on simply the fact that now he's got the experience of being a starting quarterback and coming into camp, he's learning now what it means to be the QB 1 and be a leader both on and off the field.
"He has experience this year that he didn't have a year ago, he's got exposure," he said. "Going through this process of team development and readiness is different for him based on that experience. He's more cognizant of things outside of himself, he's more open to absorbing some of the unofficial responsibilities of the position of quarterback."
As per usual, the AFC North is expected to be a battle with the Bengals expected to once again be Super Bowl contenders along with the Baltimore Ravens right there with them. The Browns are expected to make a jump as Deshaun Watson starts his second year with the club and the Steelers are bringing back a stout defense and an improved offensive line.
For Coach T, it's not going to be about one player or one position, it's going to be about the collective.
"We better be a good football team," he said. "When you look at our division, the other teams have outstanding quarterback play and outstanding commitments to those quarterbacks. We're in a different place, we have a young quarterback who is emerging, so we better level the playing field by being good around him, relative to the others."
Simply put, "We better beat those teams."
