Welcome, Mikes
PITTSBURGH — Mike Tomlin admittedly will be excited to stand on the Heinz Field sidelines for the first time as an NFL head coach Saturday night. The coach on the other side of the field may feel much the same way.
While the Packers-Steelers exhibition game will serve as Tomlin's home-field debut — though his for-real introduction will come Sept. 16 against Buffalo — Mike McCarthy will be similarly thrilled to be coaching in Pittsburgh.
McCarthy, the Packers' second-year coach, grew up in the city. In his youth, he worked in his family's tavern near a steel mill and, later, as a toll collector on the Pennsylvania Turnpike. His dad was a firefighter and a police officer.
So, while it will be Tomlin's night as the city welcomes only the third Steelers coach in 38 years, McCarthy will have some hometown fans cheering him on, too.
Since it's the preseason and not a game that counts, perhaps both coaches can focus for a minute or two on enjoying the moment, as well as getting as much work as possible for their players.
"The biggest distraction is all the requests of all my friends," McCarthy said. "It's been great. A lot of my friends have already got tickets so I appreciate that. I'm looking forward to it. I'm sure it's something that I'll always remember."
Since being hired as Bill Cowher's replacement seven months ago, Tomlin has come to appreciate Pittsburgh's passion for the Steelers. He is reminded of it any time he ventures into the public, and by the large crowds the team attracts at its Latrobe training camp one hour east of the city.
But, until now, Tomlin has never stepped foot on Heinz Field with his team behind him. If nothing else, the game will allow him to get comfortable in the stadium where, until now, only Cowher coached the Steelers.
"It has to be another game, but I'm sure I'll appreciate it and enjoy it. But I can't let it get in the way of doing my job," Tomlin said.
Because the Steelers are playing five exhibition games — they started the NFL's preseason by beating New Orleans 20-7 in the Hall of Fame game Sunday night — Tomlin has an extra weekend to evaluate talent and to get his starters enough playing time to keep them sharp.
That means quarterback Ben Roethlisberger may play a couple of series rather than the single series he ran with such efficiency Sunday, needing only six plays to direct an 80-yard touchdown drive highlighted by a 55-yard completion to Cedrick Wilson.
It was only one drive, but it served to illustrate how efficient Roethlisberger has been since camp opened July 23. He was nearly flawless in running the two-minute drill in practice Wednesday, and he has looked much sharper than he did at any point in last year's training camp.
Then, only a few weeks after being seriously injured in a motorcycle crash, he was the daily focus of a disrupted camp and never seemed to fully relax.
"Comfort wise, yeah, I feel more comfortable in this camp than in any of them so far," Roethlisberger said. "I feel like I can talk to them (his receivers) a lot easier. If you see a receiver throwing his hands up down the field, I can kind of let him have it now."
