Nobody pushes his team harder in training camp than does Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Even players coming from organizations known for their physicality find Latrobe to be an eye-opening experience. The Steelers are one of few teams who actually go full-contact in live tackling drills, and they do so regularly.
It makes a difference, according to the players out there who are supposed to tackle — and Pro Football Focus. The outlet has the Steelers as the most efficient tackling defense in the league so far this year. Guys like Payton Wilson and DeMarvin Leal see that as an extension of what they started at Saint Vincent College.
“I think it’s big, especially Week 1. A lot of teams haven’t tackled yet, and we pretty much had a whole season worth of tackling coming out of Latrobe,” Wilson said on Wednesday, via the Steelers’ website. “[It’s just] the speed with which we play the game. Coach Mike Tomlin says it all the time. We don’t warm up to it. Game 1, 2, and 3 we came out flying, came out hitting, and I think a lot of that’s a credit to how we do camp and how much we hit and go live in camp.”
Wilson is a rookie, so he has no basis for comparison to other NFL training camps, here or elsewhere. But he knows that what the Steelers do in training camp is not at all the NFL norm. They are now an outlier, with many teams opting to minimize the work of their core starters. Sure, Tomlin offers veteran days off and a “contusion of the birth certificate” here and there. But if you’re on the field in pads, you’re either hitting or taking a hit.
“It’s helped a lot, truly,” said third-year DL DeMarvin Leal, who knows what Steelers training camp is like. “Latrobe does a lot of crazy things to us. Sometimes good, sometimes very good. This is one of those situations where it’s very good. We’re just gonna keep building, keep moving with this momentum, and keep stacking these wins.”
Not only are the Steelers one of few teams with live tackling drills, they are one of few teams who still travel off-site for camp. They believe Latrobe offers them a lot of different things, and new players, rookie or veteran, buy in quickly.
Elandon Roberts is one of the Steelers’ most physical players, if not the most physical. However, even he found himself surprised entering training camp last year for the first time with the team. He never experienced a camp like that before, but he quickly grew to love it, anticipating next season.
Entering Week 4, the Steelers have both the top-ranked scoring and yardage defense. They rank sixth in takeaways, seventh in drive time, and first on third down. On 32 attempts, opposing offenses have converted just seven times on third down. The Steelers’ defensive backs in particular deserve praise for their impressive work in tackling efficiency. And I’m sure it has something to do with the crazy doings up in Latrobe.
