PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Steelers are doing things differently under new head coach Mike McCarthy. You would think this would be met with unbridled joy, especially after the calls for former head coach Mike Tomlin's job reached a crescendo last season. Instead, there has been a surprising response to what McCarthy has the Steelers doing. It's just the second week of training camp, but after the first day of pads, there was a constant refrain criticizing the lack of physicality. Can we all just take a breath, relax, and think about this for a second? The Steelers are an organization rooted in tradition, but that tradition hasn't bred postseason success over the past decade. While McCarthy's approach is a departure from the way things used to be done, the new coach deserves the benefit of the doubt as he installs a brand-new approach and style of football. Is It Training Camp or Football School?The way some have reacted to McCarthy's rule of no live tackling during training camp, it's as if tackling was taught for the very first time when the team arrived in Latrobe. How quickly it's forgotten that these are all professional football players, many of whom have played the sport since they were children. Yes, the coaching staff refines the technical skills and aims to improve their abilities, but let's not be overdramatic. If you can't tackle in the NFL, it's not because your team wasn't doing it enough in the summer; it's probably because you aren't cut out for the top professional football league. Aug 03, 2026; Latrobe, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers safety Jaquan Brisker (3) provides coverage during a practice session at Training camp at Saint Vincent College. Mandatory Credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters ConnectDoes Tackling at Camp = Better Tackling in Season?The question any doubters of McCarthy's approach have to answer is how tackling in camp translates to better tackling during the season. For many organizations, the opposite is the case. Just ask the defending Super Bowl champions, the Seattle Seahawks. The Seahawks abandoned traditional live tackling over a decade ago, when Pete Carroll was their head coach. All these years later, including last year, the team avoids bringing players down to the ground. That unique style and approach is now commonplace across the NFL, with nearly the entire league avoiding live tackling at camp. Maybe that's what McCarthy has taken notice of. As a coach who has worked both during the era of two-a-day practices and under the new and stricter Collective Bargaining Agreement rules, he has a unique understanding of how to train and improve a team. And that's why we should trust him to institute the system before judging the results. The regular season is far off, and the Steelers have ways to go before we can fully judge Mike McCarthy's new system. Make sure to bookmark Steelers On SI, and find our podcast All Steelers Talk on YouTube or anywhere you listen!Add us as a preferred source on GoogleFollow