The Mike McCarthy era will be different from Mike Tomlin\u2019s 19-year tenure with the Steelers. When training-camp gets rolling, there will be one major change from nearly two decades of Pittsburgh football.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe won\u2019t do live tackling,\u201d McCarthy told reporters on Tuesday. \u201cNo, I\u2019ve done live tackling in the past. . . . Every drill\u2019s been evaluated. There\u2019s a GPS component behind everything that we do. You know, there\u2019s more stress that we need to apply to our training situations than just going the ground. The footwork\u2019s the priority. It always will be about the feet and everything that we do whether tackling, blocking, you know, ball security, all those things. So the footwork component about it is important.\u201d<\/p>\n
The balance is preparation and health of the players. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to assess stress in everything you do,\u201d McCarthy said. \u201cThat\u2019s [what] I look at as one of the primary responsibilities of being a head coach, and one of the primary focal points of being in charge of a training regimen for your football team. So tackling is a good way to go. I\u2019ve done it. But I feel like, you know, we\u2019ll be able to get it done in in other ways of training, particularly in our tackling drills, in the team drills. So, injuries are part of the game, you know? And I think you\u2019ve clearly got to do the best you can. And it\u2019s a judgment. You try to reduce risk. So \u2014 but we will not live tackle. And we\u2019ll have goal-line, but we won\u2019t live tackle. And it is, you know, that\u2019s one of the harder drills to get that done.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tomlin preferred live tackling in training camp. In 2017, for example, he said, “[W]e see the benefits<\/a>\u201d of intense tackling sessions, and \u201cwe\u2019ll continue to do what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n The big change last year wasn\u2019t to change what they do but to when they do it. Tomlin moved practice to a hotter part of the day.<\/p>\n