Mike McCarthy isn't messing around at Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs

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May 25, 2026 - 16:59

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Mike McCarthy isn't messing around at Pittsburgh Steelers OTAs originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

Head coach Mike McCarthy appears to be setting the tone very early on in his tenure as Pittsburgh Steelers head coach.

The Steelers began organized team activities (OTAs) on May 18 and have navigated three sessions thus far, with the fourth set to take place on May 26.

Over the course of the first three practices, Steelers beat writer Mark Kaboly noted just how "intense" the sessions have been as compared to most OTAs.

"It's been quite intense for an OTA in my book," Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan.

“I’ve been really impressed with how he’s run these practices. I’m just curious to see how the training camp goes now," he added. "You can’t really do that throughout the whole season or training camp I don’t think.”

Fellow Steelers reporter Jeff Hathhorn was impressed by how well-organized the Steelers head coach has run his practices.

"It's been very orderly and timely and regimented so far," Hathhorn said.

During his tenure as head coach, Mike Tomlin went back and forth between opting for more high-intensity practices and going a bit easier on his players. That was often determined by the time of the year and how the team was performing.

It's pretty clear early on that McCarthy is going with the former approach, but he's got to find the right balance, especially with the kind of veteran team he has.

As the year drags on, more strenuous practices can wear on players, both mentally and physically. A coach can get away with that when he has a younger team, but veterans are not going to take kindly to that approach.

That's something an experienced coach like McCarthy knows well, so we would expect him to know exactly when to dial it back and when to amp it up.

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