Usually, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ release of their training camp schedule is just ceremonial and a chance for fans to plan what practices to attend and buy their tickets. And while it still is, there was one big change this season, with all weekday practices being held at 10:30 AM/ET., a change from the previous start time of 1:55 PM. Appearing on 93.7 The Fan, Ray Fittipaldo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said he thinks that the change stems from Pittsburgh’s new strength and conditioning staff, which wants players eating more later in the day.
“There’s a new strength and conditioning staff this year, and I think those guys went to the coaching staff and said ‘Hey, look, we feel the players will be better nourished if they’re practicing early.’ And then this way they feel like eating later in the day,” Fittipaldo said. “A lot of times when you practice in the afternoon, all you feel like doing when it’s 90-95 degrees out, all you feel like doing at six o’clock at night is hydrating. Whereas if you hydrate in the afternoon, get a little lunch, and then eat a big dinner, I think it’s much better for those guys to keep on some good weight.”
The Steelers overhauled their strength and conditioning department this offseason, adding Phil Matusz as their head strength and conditioning coach and Justus Galac as their assistant strength and conditioning coach, while bringing in Roderick Moore as their sport science coordinator. It would make a lot of sense if this change was pushed by the strength department. While the initial speculation was because of weather, Mike Tomlin has always embraced practicing in bad weather during training camp.
If the change was for player health and keeping them more nourished and helping them maintain weight, then it obviously makes sense for the Steelers to implement it and it should be a good thing for the team. I can attest that the last thing you want to do after a long, hot practice is eat a meal, and I was playing low-level high school football as a backup lineman and not going up against NFL players in a ridiculously competitive environment on a daily basis.
It’ll be an interesting change from a fan perspective, as fans will obviously have to trek down to Latrobe much earlier than usual to catch practice on weekdays (weekend practices are still at 1:55 PM/ET), but Saint Vincent College will no doubt be as packed as usual. The earlier practice time might even enhance the fan experience, as there will be more time after practice to explore Latrobe or grab a bite to eat.
It certainly sounds as if it could be beneficial from a football perspective, and hopefully it does wind up being a positive change.
