Mike McCarthy didn’t wait long to put his stamp on the Steelers’ offense.
One training camp practice was enough to change the feel of the entire operation in Latrobe. The pace picked up, dead time got trimmed away, and Pittsburgh’s offense started getting something it rarely had under Mike Tomlin: an immediate second chance when a rep went sideways.
D.K. Metcalf put it bluntly: “When the offense messes up, we get to go again. I never had that in my career.”
That matters for Metcalf, who is working under an offensive head coach for the first time in his seven-year career. Under defensive-minded setups, the offense often had to keep rolling after a mistake while the defense got the benefit of extra correction.
McCarthy changes that rhythm. He stops the play, fixes the issue, and runs it back so quarterbacks and receivers can feel the adjustment instead of just hearing about it later.
The difference shows up in the structure of practice, too. According to data from Behind the Steel Curtain, Pittsburgh averaged only 58.1 offensive plays per game in 2025, and its post-Ben Roethlisberger offenses were operating at roughly 29.2 seconds between snaps. McCarthy’s teams have averaged 64.8 plays, which helps explain why the tempo in camp has already been turned up to match the volume and speed he wants on game day.
Steelers Depot’s Alex Kozora noticed the change from the ground in Latrobe: two simultaneous 11-on-11 periods, two groups of punt gunners, early center-quarterback exchanges and six JUGS machines to keep players moving instead of standing around. By comparison, Tomlin’s practices could drag. McCarthy is squeezing value out of every minute.
The setup around the team has changed along with the pace. GPS data is now tracking workloads, live tackling is gone, and even the benches have been removed. It all adds up to a more tightly managed training operation that looks built for the modern NFL.
Drew Allar said the structure forces him to “have a purpose behind every rep.” The coaching staff has already tweaked parts of the rookie quarterback’s processing and footwork, and those instant re-dos give the changes a chance to stick in real time instead of sitting in a meeting-room notebook.
McCarthy also made sure two-minute work was part of the opening day of camp, then finished each of his first two practices with it. He estimates about eight games a season come down to the final possession, with that number rising in the playoffs.
There’s still a long way to go before anyone can call the offense solved, especially with only four camp practices in the books and no defender allowed to finish a tackle. Even so, the arrival of offensive line coach James Campen adds another clear upgrade after NFL analyst Brian Baldinger called him “infinitely better”.
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