A Different Whistle in Latrobe: Steelers Open Camp Without the Coach a Generation Grew Up On

The team reported to Saint Vincent College for the 59th summer in a row on Tuesday. Almost everything else about this camp is new.

If you have ever made the drive east on Route 30 in late July, past Greensburg and into the hills above Latrobe, you know the ritual. Lawn chairs on the grass slope at Saint Vincent College. The gold jerseys against the green of Chuck Noll Field. A crowd that treats a Wednesday practice like a holiday.

The ritual is back this morning. The Steelers reported to campus Tuesday, and the first of 15 practices open to the public began at 11:20 a.m. today, free with a mobile ticket. It is the 59th consecutive summer the team has trained at the Benedictine college, a partnership that dates to 1966, interrupted only by the pandemic years.

But for anyone under 25, this camp will feel unfamiliar in one specific way. It is the first one since 2007 that does not belong to Mike Tomlin.

How the change happened

Tomlin stepped down in January, one day after the Steelers lost to the Houston Texans in the AFC wild card round. The exit closed a 19-year run that included a Super Bowl title, a second Super Bowl appearance, and not a single losing season. It also closed on a sour note: the wild card loss extended the franchise's playoff victory drought to nine years, stretching back to the 2016 season.

Two weeks later, the Steelers hired Mike McCarthy, and the choice broke the franchise's own mold twice over. Chuck Noll, Bill Cowher, and Tomlin were all young, first-time head coaches with defensive backgrounds. McCarthy is 62, an offensive coach, and arrives with 18 seasons of head coaching experience: 13 with Green Bay, where he won Super Bowl XLV against the Steelers, and five with Dallas. He is also from Pittsburgh, a Greenfield native, and becomes just the fourth head coach the team has hired since 1969 and the 17th in franchise history.

McCarthy took the 2025 season off after leaving the Cowboys. In Pittsburgh he will call the offensive plays himself, something he has done for nearly his entire head coaching career, and he has described his approach as rooted in the West Coast offense, built around the run game to make the quarterback successful.

A staff rebuilt almost from scratch

The turnover did not stop with the head coach. McCarthy assembled what has been described as the largest coaching staff in franchise history, and most of the names are new to Pittsburgh.

Patrick Graham, most recently the defensive coordinator in Las Vegas, runs the defense. Brian Angelichio, who spent the past four seasons as passing game coordinator and tight ends coach for the Minnesota Vikings, holds the offensive coordinator title, though McCarthy keeps the play sheet. Danny Crossman, formerly of Miami, coordinates special teams. Joe Whitt Jr. joins as assistant head coach and secondary coach.

Only a handful of assistants survived the transition, notably quarterbacks coach Tom Arth and inside linebackers coach Scott McCurley. Many of the newcomers have history with McCarthy from Green Bay or Dallas, a familiarity the coach has leaned into. One has history closer to home: tight ends coach Robert Kugler, son of former Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler, played his high school football at North Allegheny.

The quarterback saga, resolved in May

The question that hung over the entire offseason was whether Aaron Rodgers would come back. The 42-year-old signed a one-year deal in 2025, won the AFC North in his first season in Pittsburgh, threw 24 touchdowns against 7 interceptions, and then went quiet after the playoff exit.

The front office kept its options open with a rarely used tool: an unrestricted free agent tender, which guaranteed Pittsburgh draft pick compensation if Rodgers signed elsewhere. He never did. On May 16 he agreed to return on a one-year deal worth up to $25 million, reuniting with the head coach he played 13 seasons for in Green Bay.

Rodgers headlines a crowded quarterback room. Mason Rudolph returns as the veteran backup, Will Howard enters his second year after being drafted in 2025, and the Steelers used a third-round pick in April on Penn State's Drew Allar, a big-armed developmental project whom the coaching staff has praised for having the best arm in the class.

New faces on the field

General manager Omar Khan spent aggressively around his returning quarterback. The headline addition came by trade: wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr., acquired from Indianapolis in a swap of late-round picks. Pittman has caught at least 65 passes in each of the past five seasons and pairs with DK Metcalf to give Rodgers two physical veteran targets.

In free agency, the Steelers made cornerback Jamel Dean, formerly of Tampa Bay, the second-largest outside signing in team history at three years and $36.75 million, pairing him with Joey Porter Jr. The safety room was rebuilt with Jaquan Brisker and Darnell Savage, and running back Rico Dowdle and defensive lineman Sebastian Joseph-Day added depth on both sides of the ball.

The departures tell the other half of the story. Safety Kyle Dugger, a midseason trade acquisition in 2025, left for Cincinnati. Tight end and special teams contributor Connor Heyward signed with Las Vegas. Wide receiver Adam Thielen retired, and Calvin Austin III moved on as well.

Ten rookies for a new era

Khan entered April's draft with 12 picks and, after three trades, left with 10 players. First-rounder Max Iheanachor, an offensive tackle from Arizona State taken 21st overall, joins a young offensive line room alongside recent first-rounders Troy Fautanu and Broderick Jones. The Steelers traded up in the second round for Alabama receiver Germie Bernard, then used third-round picks on Allar, Georgia cornerback Daylen Everette, and Iowa lineman Gennings Dunker.

McCarthy's stated philosophy for the class was volume. He has said he thinks in terms of 68 players, not 53, counting the practice squad as part of the roster he intends to develop.

What to watch from the hillside

Camp runs through August 17. The pads come on for the first time Monday, August 3. The team announces its 2026 Hall of Honor class Saturday, August 1, and the annual night practice moves to Latrobe Memorial Stadium on Saturday, August 8. The season opens at home against Atlanta.

The hillside, the campus, and the calendar are the same as they have been for six decades. What is different this year is the man holding the practice script. The Steelers have handed the whistle to only four men in 57 years. Today, 40 miles east of Pittsburgh, fans get their first public look at the fourth.

Sources: Pittsburgh Steelers (steelers.com), Saint Vincent College, ESPN, NFL.com, CBS Sports, Behind the Steel Curtain, Steelers Depot, Pro Football Focus.