Staying in contact
LATROBE — From the very minute the Pittsburgh Steelers were due at training camp, everything has been different as they make the coaching transition from Bill Cowher to Mike Tomlin.
Rather than gathering for a leisurely meeting Monday, they took to the practice field within one minute of the reporting deadline to get their mandatory run tests out of the way as quickly as possible.
The trend has continued all week at a hurried-up, there's-much-to-be-done pace more reminiscent of a team rushing to prepare for a Thursday night game instead of one that began practicing with a week of July still remaining.
The schedule has changed, the practice has changed, even the look has changed.
It's a considerable amount of adjustment in so little time for a franchise that is accustomed to familiarity, one that has more Super Bowl victories (5) since 1969 than it has had coaches (3).
The changes aren't merely cosmetic, either. The first morning practice Tuesday featured all-out hitting in full pads, something last seen so early in camp when Chuck Noll was the coach — and, fittingly, the Steelers now practice on the newly named Chuck Noll Field at Saint Vincent College.
There was an entire practice devoted Wednesday to special teams, with five or six more such practices on the way. Tomlin keeps reminding his players the kicking game can decide three to four games a season.
"Coach Cowher's not around anymore," wide receiver Hines Ward said. "It's coach Tomlin's team now."
Anyone who has watched even a minute of practice has quickly grasped that.
"It's definitely different," defensive end Brett Keisel said.
Nobody can argue that Cowher's practices weren't businesslike — they were, often with the coach yelling and motivating and pushing for more. But, except for the special teams practice, the workouts under Tomlin have been uncommonly intense, with considerable contact. On Thursday, there were two full practices in pads, something that never happened under Cowher.
"I'm not looking at this as a tone-setter, or how this camp is going to compare to camps in the future or compares to camps in the past," Tomlin said. "We have to be prepared to be our very best."
Tomlin also unveiled a new version of the backs vs. 'backers blocking drill in which linebackers go against running backs in full-speed sessions. This time it was backs vs. backs, with the nickel and dime defensive backs practicing pass rushing by going against the running backs who, so far, are doing more blocking than running.
"We do it in the games, but we'd never done it in practice before," cornerback Deshea Townsend said. "When he talks about it, he means it. Special teams, too. It's what we expected, for it to be tough and, so far, it's been tough."
What the Steelers don't know is how much more difficult it will get, not with six full weeks of practice and five exhibition games remaining before the Sept. 9 opener in Cleveland.
"I don't think he's going to kill us," Keisel said. "Once he sees us starting to get beat up, I'm sure he'll back off a little bit. We're right at the beginning of things and he needs to test guys and see who he wants and who he doesn't want."
Tomlin also wants the Steelers to understand the urgency of getting things done quickly in a sport that is played with a clock. A portable scoreboard clock counts down the time of drills, though some Steelers are wondering if it's rigged.
"Every time you look over, it looks like it's going nowhere," Ward said. "The seconds go by slowly."
