Mike Tomlin wants Steelers players to be 'miserable' during training camp in the heat

Pittsburgh Steelers mandatory minicamp has concluded, and training camp will begin July 24 in Latrobe, Pa. Head coach Mike Tomlin is shaking things up at training camp, he said Thursday.

Last year, the Steelers held training camp practices in the morning. This year, training camp practices will take place in the afternoon. The “more miserable,” the better, Tomlin said.

“Wasn’t hot enough last year,” Tomlin said. “To be quite honest with you, heat aids in the development of physical conditioning. It makes it a more stressful environment, and that’s what we go to camp for. We go to camp to get better, and if it’s a little bit more miserable late in the day, man, that’s what we want.”

Tomlin is looking for anything that can help get his Steelers squad get over the hump. Pittsburgh has made five playoff appearances since the 2016 season. Five playoff appearances, five playoff games, zero playoff victories.

It’s become the Steelers’ identity in the second half of Tomlin’s 19-season tenure at the helm. Perhaps what’s needed is a change of approach ahead of the 2025 season. It’s already been an offseason of change in Pittsburgh, with several new faces on offense.

New-look Steelers set for 2025 season under Mike Tomlin

Out are quarterbacks Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, running back Najee Harris and receiver George Pickens. In are quarterback Aaron Rodgers, running back Kaleb Johnson and receiver DK Metcalf.

The Steelers have been hard at work already, but more work is to be done. Tomlin said that mandatory minicamp was a “football-like environment.” By the time they get to Latrobe, it will be a “football environment.”

“They all know what it means, because we’ve had, we’ve been afforded the opportunity to playing football over the last several weeks, and they get a sense of the rigors of their roles and so, and then they’ve also had an opportunity to work alongside veterans and see the additional work that they do to aid in the preparation,” Tomlin said. “And so, our goal is to kind of define it for them and to teach them, but they’re going to be gaining big time understanding about that and a lot of other things continually throughout this process.”