August 9, 2025 • 14 mins
Steelers historian Bob Labriola sits down with Head Coach Mike Tomlin ahead of the Steelers preseason week 1 matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
He's the Mike Tomlin gen Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, you talk about overcoming the
adversity created by the weather, and how practice time changes
help prepare for the flow of a regular season, and
how resting veterans is more about giving other guys an
opportunity to practice and improve. Okay, I get all of that,
(00:22):
but what about this whole destination training camp thing is
fun for you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I love to work to capture that which we cannot
measure but we know is significant, that camaraderie component a team,
that understanding that's required to be great as a collective.
I think when you're at a destination camp, it's those
informal moments, the evenings on picnic tables and spending time
(00:49):
in each other's rooms, getting to know one another. That's
the value in the destination camp. The formal work, there
is no difference, But there comes up point in time
when you're not at a destination camp where the formal
work is done and people get in their cars and
they go to their respective homes, and I just think
it's a winning edge to be at a destination place
(01:12):
to live and to eat together. Or to spend informal
time together. I just think it's part of team development
that is very much a real thing. We can't measure it,
but we know when we're good in that space, that cohesion,
that camaraderie, It gets you out of a lot of
tough circumstances.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Okay, there are a lot of new players this summer,
and new players who are significant in terms of where
they are in the depth chart and what they can
mean to this group's success. So do guys have to
come to like each other for that to happen?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You know, I've had a lot of success where guys
didn't necessarily like each other. You better understand each other,
and you better respect each other. There's probably words that
resonate more with me along those lines. And and so
that that's a process to understand someone their perspective on things,
(02:07):
or the lens through which they see life and or football,
or to respect someone for what they're willing to do,
not their talents, the things that they're willing to display
in terms of their individual and collective get better on
a daily basis. That that's a process. And so that's
very much a component of this destination camp. And as
(02:30):
you mentioned particularly when many of those guys are going
to comprise the leadership of this collective. Man, I gotta
I gotta help them with their leadership. They got to
understand me. They're going to understand the culture that we
build here, the things that we value, their roles in it.
And so you know, I'm not only training them in
(02:50):
terms of being ready for the season, but I'm training
them and getting aligned with them in terms of our
values so that they can trumpet those values and lead
to collective.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So that coming to respect each other, that social interaction.
Can that happen on the field or is that something
that really has to happen after hours both.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I think certainly it has to happen through our formal
work on the field and in the classroom or in
the weight room. But certainly that understanding component can certainly
be developed outside those lines in much more informal settings.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, you were hired here in two thousand and seven,
and then through the end of twenty twenty one there
was consistency at the top of the depth charted quarterback,
But for the four seasons since, there's been a lot
of change at that position, and this summer is the
second straight one where all the guys are new. How
does the head coach have to handle that much change
at that spot?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Man, I gotta be light on my feet, you know,
I view it as I view it as a welcome challenge.
Should be quite honest with you. Everybody understands the nature
of the roles that being the head coach and the
quarterback and the amount of scrutiny and so forth that
goes with those jobs. And so it's important that I
spend time with those guys, that that we get to
(04:17):
know one another, that we are aligned in terms of
the things that we need to get done. And so
it's been an enjoyable process for me. It's forced me
to alter my daily routine some in the in recent
years and the effort to carve out time, But that's
the job. My job is to be what this collective
(04:37):
needs me to be, uh, and components of this collective,
what components of this collective needs me to be. And
so certainly having a new quarterback room requires my time
and attention and and and so I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So in your camp opening news conference, you referred to
the NFL as a coverage league. What makes it a
coverage league? Is it personnel schemes, the way the games
are legislated by the officials.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I just think, particularly in today's game, the passing game
is such an evolving and major component of play. The
weighty moments are often one dimensional passing downs. You better
be able to cover and cover extended in today's game.
I think quarterback mobility in today's game, the number of
mobile quarterbacks, and not only from an ability standpoint, but
(05:23):
from a schematic standpoint, really is challenging. From a covered standpoint,
those that cover the schematics that you use to cover.
It's just a lot that's going on in today's game
from a personnel and from a strategic standpoint. That makes
that a real statement from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So, what's the recipe for being a difference making defense
in a coverage league?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
To disrupt the normal flow of the offense and whatever
is required to make that happen, if you really want
to talk about it in black and white terms, if
you're gonna be a good defense, the first step to
stopping an offense is to disrupt the normal flow of
their operation. And so that's done in a lot of ways,
(06:07):
and zone is done through re routing, eligibles and man
and man is done and bump and run for example.
And so those are some of the things that that
I'm highlighting when I'm talking about we have to be
elite from a coverage perspective. You have to disrupt the
normal flow. You have to be able to cover extended
(06:28):
to match athleticism at the quarterback position or schematics that
extend plays. It's just a component of today's game that
really I see very vividly.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Make the quarterback hold the ball a little bit longer,
no question, is there a time Like TJ. Watt said,
a tenth of a second can be a difference. Is
that is that accurate? Very much?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So you got to remember, you know a lot of
passing concepts, particularly drop back ones, are very time and oriented.
A quarterback goes to a progression, he might read right
to left, left to right, strong to weak. In the
manner in which he goes to that progression, man is
paramount to a success of a play. If he gets
(07:12):
to a third read a tenth of a second late,
what was open might not be open. And so the
ability to disrupt all of that, whether you're getting the
quarterback off the spot and making him move or disrupting
the releases or the vertical stems of routes. It's all
a component of disrupting the normal flow of rhythmic passing
in an effort to destroy the success rate.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Your daily injury update always refers to bumps and bruises
associated with play. Those kinds of things are inevitable in
a training camp setting, but is there any conventional wisdom
about how to minimize those?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You know, sometimes removing them from short term participation is
a component of that. Some of the people that we
give days off and protect in the big scheme of things,
if it was a regular season, they would be capable
of practicing. But removing them is a strategic approach to
(08:07):
not letting a small thing become a big thing. And
so there's certainly a lot of avenues to keep the
individuals and the collective upright. And sometimes I don't get
into the details of it, but some of the guys
that don't work do the minor bumps and bruises associated
with the process. If it were the regular season, they
would be full participants. And that's just an example of
(08:28):
the mindset.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So is that something you developed or do you get
help from the training staff, the medical people that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know, it's it's certainly the medical experts have a
say and a perspective. But I've been sitting in you know,
bi weekly medical meetings man for the last nineteen years.
You know, I kid our guys.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I got a lay person's medical degree from some of
those meetings, and so it's something that I've definitely become
better at balancing through experience, through listening to those guys
over the years, to understanding and cataloging what a grade
one soft tissue injury is and understanding what that looks
(09:13):
like and understanding how to nip it in the bud
or minimize it, not allowing it to become a grade
two or grade three. And so experience from my perspective,
the lens through which I see it is a component
of the process. But certainly, first and foremost technology and
(09:33):
the medical expertise are key components of the decision making process.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So when you're at a practice, how do you pick
which group to watch in any specific period like seven
on seven's going on and then there's O line D line.
Another one was tight ends lights outside linebackers blocking, and
there was something that the receivers and the dbs were
doing same time, different fields. You can't watch both.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
How do you pick When we're fully suited and we're
in full paths and that component of play is a variable,
I almost always go to the big battles, the bigger
the men. That's where I'm going to be. If we're
doing seven on seven and O line versus D line
(10:18):
and pass protection, I'm going with the bigs. If the
wide house and dbs are working but the tight ends
and outside linebackers are working on run blocking, I'm going
with the bigger people. There's a big man component of
this game and the physicality component of this game that
will never be legislated out through trends or rules of
play and so forth, and I show consistent respect to
(10:41):
that by consciously making that decision. When physicality is a
component of the drill, I always go to the bigger
men because I want them to understand my feelings about it.
It's a big man's game. It's a physical game. It
always will be, and so I'm very conscious it's about
how I travel. When we're not and we're working in helmets,
(11:05):
I try to balance out my presence by going to
little man competitions. If we're in helmets only, you'll see
me with the wide house and defensive backs because physicality
is less a component of those days and skill is,
and so I try to show my respect to that
component of play by being in those places on those days.
(11:27):
But when the rubber meets the road, it's a big
man's game. Physicality often defines who wins and who loses,
and so my presence is required around those variables.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
So tonight is the preseason opener. Do you want to
see different things from the offense and the defense or
is this a game where you just want to see
basic things from everybody.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's just a game where I want to see basic
things from everybody. I want them to make routine plays, routinely,
makeable tackles. I want to see them make makeable catches.
I want to see them make for example. And so
that's what I mean when I say routine things, routinely,
things common to their areas of expertise. I expect to
see them operate in an efficient way certain things that
(12:11):
are within our control, like pre snap penalties, pre snap
cleanliness on offense, shifts and motions, management of play clocks
on defense, balls ready so we not being off sides
pre snap things, things that are firmly within our control.
I expect to see at a high level. I expect
to see displays of knowledge relative to situational football and
(12:33):
corresponding behavior. I expect to see us move in and
out of appropriate personnel groups in those moments. I expect
us to be chained or aligned the gain, aware whether
it's red zone or possession downs. Things that we've really
been focused on this week and transition to it a
big way this week leading up to this game. I
(12:54):
expect to see those things execute it in stadium. And lastly,
how we transition from unit to unit. It's very difficult
to simulate that in practice, moving from offense to special
teams to defense, from defense to special teams, the offense,
and so those transitional things, moving groups on and off
(13:14):
the field in a coordinated way, while at the same
time managing adjustments. Can a receiver who's on punt team
get the corrections necessary without jeopardizing his responsibilities in special teams?
Can a defender make adjustments on defense but at the
same time be ready to run out on punt team
(13:36):
and be locked in. Not only would the adjustments being made,
but be in tune with what's going on in game
as fourth down approaches, that he plays right guard on
punt team, and so it's just a lot of operational
things that really capture your attention that might not be
interesting to the viewer, but when your slip is showing, man,
it's very significant.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
There have been some NFL coaches who haven't played their
starting corequarterback at all over the course of the entire preseason.
Would you ever consider that you might be looking at
one in twenty twenty five. Hey, this guy's been doing
this for twenty one years. His cumulative snap total and
(14:16):
what's required for him to be ready to play is
different than others. And so if I'm not adaptable and
open to adjustments relative to the needs of our guys,
then I'm not doing my job. And so you might
be looking at one of those coaches in twenty twenty five.
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
(14:39):
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
Network that's available on the Steelers mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
He's the Mike Tomlin gen Day Podcast with Steelers Digest
editor Bob Labriola. Okay, coach, you talk about overcoming the
adversity created by the weather, and how practice time changes
help prepare for the flow of a regular season, and
how resting veterans is more about giving other guys an
opportunity to practice and improve. Okay, I get all of that,
(00:22):
but what about this whole destination training camp thing is
fun for you?
Speaker 2 (00:26):
I love to work to capture that which we cannot
measure but we know is significant, that camaraderie component a team,
that understanding that's required to be great as a collective.
I think when you're at a destination camp, it's those
informal moments, the evenings on picnic tables and spending time
(00:49):
in each other's rooms, getting to know one another. That's
the value in the destination camp. The formal work, there
is no difference, But there comes up point in time
when you're not at a destination camp where the formal
work is done and people get in their cars and
they go to their respective homes, and I just think
it's a winning edge to be at a destination place
(01:12):
to live and to eat together. Or to spend informal
time together. I just think it's part of team development
that is very much a real thing. We can't measure it,
but we know when we're good in that space, that cohesion,
that camaraderie, It gets you out of a lot of
tough circumstances.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
Okay, there are a lot of new players this summer,
and new players who are significant in terms of where
they are in the depth chart and what they can
mean to this group's success. So do guys have to
come to like each other for that to happen?
Speaker 2 (01:46):
You know, I've had a lot of success where guys
didn't necessarily like each other. You better understand each other,
and you better respect each other. There's probably words that
resonate more with me along those lines. And and so
that that's a process to understand someone their perspective on things,
(02:07):
or the lens through which they see life and or football,
or to respect someone for what they're willing to do,
not their talents, the things that they're willing to display
in terms of their individual and collective get better on
a daily basis. That that's a process. And so that's
very much a component of this destination camp. And as
(02:30):
you mentioned particularly when many of those guys are going
to comprise the leadership of this collective. Man, I gotta
I gotta help them with their leadership. They got to
understand me. They're going to understand the culture that we
build here, the things that we value, their roles in it.
And so you know, I'm not only training them in
(02:50):
terms of being ready for the season, but I'm training
them and getting aligned with them in terms of our
values so that they can trumpet those values and lead
to collective.
Speaker 1 (03:02):
So that coming to respect each other, that social interaction.
Can that happen on the field or is that something
that really has to happen after hours both.
Speaker 2 (03:15):
I think certainly it has to happen through our formal
work on the field and in the classroom or in
the weight room. But certainly that understanding component can certainly
be developed outside those lines in much more informal settings.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
Okay, you were hired here in two thousand and seven,
and then through the end of twenty twenty one there
was consistency at the top of the depth charted quarterback,
But for the four seasons since, there's been a lot
of change at that position, and this summer is the
second straight one where all the guys are new. How
does the head coach have to handle that much change
at that spot?
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Man, I gotta be light on my feet, you know,
I view it as I view it as a welcome challenge.
Should be quite honest with you. Everybody understands the nature
of the roles that being the head coach and the
quarterback and the amount of scrutiny and so forth that
goes with those jobs. And so it's important that I
spend time with those guys, that that we get to
(04:17):
know one another, that we are aligned in terms of
the things that we need to get done. And so
it's been an enjoyable process for me. It's forced me
to alter my daily routine some in the in recent
years and the effort to carve out time, But that's
the job. My job is to be what this collective
(04:37):
needs me to be, uh, and components of this collective,
what components of this collective needs me to be. And
so certainly having a new quarterback room requires my time
and attention and and and so I'm all for it.
Speaker 1 (04:50):
So in your camp opening news conference, you referred to
the NFL as a coverage league. What makes it a
coverage league? Is it personnel schemes, the way the games
are legislated by the officials.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
I just think, particularly in today's game, the passing game
is such an evolving and major component of play. The
weighty moments are often one dimensional passing downs. You better
be able to cover and cover extended in today's game.
I think quarterback mobility in today's game, the number of
mobile quarterbacks, and not only from an ability standpoint, but
(05:23):
from a schematic standpoint, really is challenging. From a covered standpoint,
those that cover the schematics that you use to cover.
It's just a lot that's going on in today's game
from a personnel and from a strategic standpoint. That makes
that a real statement from my perspective.
Speaker 1 (05:41):
So, what's the recipe for being a difference making defense
in a coverage league?
Speaker 2 (05:45):
To disrupt the normal flow of the offense and whatever
is required to make that happen, if you really want
to talk about it in black and white terms, if
you're gonna be a good defense, the first step to
stopping an offense is to disrupt the normal flow of
their operation. And so that's done in a lot of ways,
(06:07):
and zone is done through re routing, eligibles and man
and man is done and bump and run for example.
And so those are some of the things that that
I'm highlighting when I'm talking about we have to be
elite from a coverage perspective. You have to disrupt the
normal flow. You have to be able to cover extended
(06:28):
to match athleticism at the quarterback position or schematics that
extend plays. It's just a component of today's game that
really I see very vividly.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Make the quarterback hold the ball a little bit longer,
no question, is there a time Like TJ. Watt said,
a tenth of a second can be a difference. Is
that is that accurate? Very much?
Speaker 2 (06:51):
So you got to remember, you know a lot of
passing concepts, particularly drop back ones, are very time and oriented.
A quarterback goes to a progression, he might read right
to left, left to right, strong to weak. In the
manner in which he goes to that progression, man is
paramount to a success of a play. If he gets
(07:12):
to a third read a tenth of a second late,
what was open might not be open. And so the
ability to disrupt all of that, whether you're getting the
quarterback off the spot and making him move or disrupting
the releases or the vertical stems of routes. It's all
a component of disrupting the normal flow of rhythmic passing
in an effort to destroy the success rate.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
Your daily injury update always refers to bumps and bruises
associated with play. Those kinds of things are inevitable in
a training camp setting, but is there any conventional wisdom
about how to minimize those?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
You know, sometimes removing them from short term participation is
a component of that. Some of the people that we
give days off and protect in the big scheme of things,
if it was a regular season, they would be capable
of practicing. But removing them is a strategic approach to
(08:07):
not letting a small thing become a big thing. And
so there's certainly a lot of avenues to keep the
individuals and the collective upright. And sometimes I don't get
into the details of it, but some of the guys
that don't work do the minor bumps and bruises associated
with the process. If it were the regular season, they
would be full participants. And that's just an example of
(08:28):
the mindset.
Speaker 1 (08:29):
So is that something you developed or do you get
help from the training staff, the medical people that kind
of thing.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
You know, it's it's certainly the medical experts have a
say and a perspective. But I've been sitting in you know,
bi weekly medical meetings man for the last nineteen years.
You know, I kid our guys.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Man.
Speaker 2 (08:51):
I got a lay person's medical degree from some of
those meetings, and so it's something that I've definitely become
better at balancing through experience, through listening to those guys
over the years, to understanding and cataloging what a grade
one soft tissue injury is and understanding what that looks
(09:13):
like and understanding how to nip it in the bud
or minimize it, not allowing it to become a grade
two or grade three. And so experience from my perspective,
the lens through which I see it is a component
of the process. But certainly, first and foremost technology and
(09:33):
the medical expertise are key components of the decision making process.
Speaker 1 (09:37):
So when you're at a practice, how do you pick
which group to watch in any specific period like seven
on seven's going on and then there's O line D line.
Another one was tight ends lights outside linebackers blocking, and
there was something that the receivers and the dbs were
doing same time, different fields. You can't watch both.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
How do you pick When we're fully suited and we're
in full paths and that component of play is a variable,
I almost always go to the big battles, the bigger
the men. That's where I'm going to be. If we're
doing seven on seven and O line versus D line
(10:18):
and pass protection, I'm going with the bigs. If the
wide house and dbs are working but the tight ends
and outside linebackers are working on run blocking, I'm going
with the bigger people. There's a big man component of
this game and the physicality component of this game that
will never be legislated out through trends or rules of
play and so forth, and I show consistent respect to
(10:41):
that by consciously making that decision. When physicality is a
component of the drill, I always go to the bigger
men because I want them to understand my feelings about it.
It's a big man's game. It's a physical game. It
always will be, and so I'm very conscious it's about
how I travel. When we're not and we're working in helmets,
(11:05):
I try to balance out my presence by going to
little man competitions. If we're in helmets only, you'll see
me with the wide house and defensive backs because physicality
is less a component of those days and skill is,
and so I try to show my respect to that
component of play by being in those places on those days.
(11:27):
But when the rubber meets the road, it's a big
man's game. Physicality often defines who wins and who loses,
and so my presence is required around those variables.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
So tonight is the preseason opener. Do you want to
see different things from the offense and the defense or
is this a game where you just want to see
basic things from everybody.
Speaker 2 (11:47):
It's just a game where I want to see basic
things from everybody. I want them to make routine plays, routinely,
makeable tackles. I want to see them make makeable catches.
I want to see them make for example. And so
that's what I mean when I say routine things, routinely,
things common to their areas of expertise. I expect to
see them operate in an efficient way certain things that
(12:11):
are within our control, like pre snap penalties, pre snap
cleanliness on offense, shifts and motions, management of play clocks
on defense, balls ready so we not being off sides
pre snap things, things that are firmly within our control.
I expect to see at a high level. I expect
to see displays of knowledge relative to situational football and
(12:33):
corresponding behavior. I expect to see us move in and
out of appropriate personnel groups in those moments. I expect
us to be chained or aligned the gain, aware whether
it's red zone or possession downs. Things that we've really
been focused on this week and transition to it a
big way this week leading up to this game. I
(12:54):
expect to see those things execute it in stadium. And lastly,
how we transition from unit to unit. It's very difficult
to simulate that in practice, moving from offense to special
teams to defense, from defense to special teams, the offense,
and so those transitional things, moving groups on and off
(13:14):
the field in a coordinated way, while at the same
time managing adjustments. Can a receiver who's on punt team
get the corrections necessary without jeopardizing his responsibilities in special teams?
Can a defender make adjustments on defense but at the
same time be ready to run out on punt team
(13:36):
and be locked in. Not only would the adjustments being made,
but be in tune with what's going on in game
as fourth down approaches, that he plays right guard on
punt team, and so it's just a lot of operational
things that really capture your attention that might not be
interesting to the viewer, but when your slip is showing, man,
it's very significant.
Speaker 1 (13:56):
There have been some NFL coaches who haven't played their
starting corequarterback at all over the course of the entire preseason.
Would you ever consider that you might be looking at
one in twenty twenty five. Hey, this guy's been doing
this for twenty one years. His cumulative snap total and
(14:16):
what's required for him to be ready to play is
different than others. And so if I'm not adaptable and
open to adjustments relative to the needs of our guys,
then I'm not doing my job. And so you might
be looking at one of those coaches in twenty twenty five.
That's the Mike Tomlin Game Day Podcast. Subscribe and download
(14:39):
new episodes every week and check out all of the
other shows we have to offer on the Steelers Podcast
Network that's available on the Steelers mobile app, the iHeartRadio app,
or wherever you get your podcasts.
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