With 18 years of experience and now three new beginnings, Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy has a feel for the flow of OTAs.
And from the veterans on down to the rookies, McCarthy believes they're on pace to get everything accomplished that he had in mind for this phase of the calendar.
"This is usually where the rookies kind of hit the wall a little bit," McCarthy said Thursday after the team's fifth practice of OTAs. "You didn't see that today. I've been really impressed with the way they've come in and picked it up and tried to learn from the veteran players. It's going well."
Of course, the older Steelers are still learning, too. Even those who have been in Pittsburgh for years are adjusting to McCarthy's process and a new coaching staff.
Thursday marked four months and one day since McCarthy's hiring. And McCarthy just finished putting together a report on his first 100 days with the Steelers, which has been filtered throughout his assistants.
"There are things you can definitely learn in those first 100 days," McCarthy said. "I've learned through experience it's more important for me to listen and observe right now than talk."
But when he is talking, it's about laying the foundation. There will come a time down the road when the Steelers try to check every box of preparation.
For now, though, McCarthy considers this time of year "a teaching phase" as they emphasize gathering video to study and installing their system on offense, defense and special teams. They've done some work on situational football the past two weeks, but the heavier lifting will be saved for later conversations.
"Our guys are into it," McCarthy said as footballs shot out of the machine whirring on the field, with pass-catchers putting in some extra time. "It gives us a chance to move the needle forward."
As does routine, including his own approach. McCarthy holds himself to a standard of consistency, which he hopes will have a trickle-down effect on his fellow coaches, the players and, eventually, the team they put on the field.
When there's not a lot of familiarity or continuity to draw on, regularity is key. McCarthy understands that even more now, having been through this transition twice before.
"Who wants to work with someone who's different every day? And I think that starts at the top," McCarthy said. "Because if that's the case, that's probably the way you're going to play when the game starts. I think our veteran players have come in, and we've been very upfront, frank and direct with them as far as how we see them and the direction that we're going. I think we did a really good job of identifying the things that were done at a high level here, trying to maintain as much of that as we could throughout our scheme development, so that's been an adjustment."
Sometimes, that might even mean taking three steps forward and one step back. With anything from strength and conditioning to training regimens to game management operations, there are bound to be hiccups.
McCarthy views it as a natural ebb and flow. "Progression and regression," as he calls it, in everything they do in these early stages.
"You've got to keep progressing, but you still have to have the feedback," McCarthy said. "Because if you have to regress, you take a step back, and then keep moving forward. I really appreciate the way our men have consistently come in here every day and worked. Because that's what we need to do. The pom-poms flying around, yelling and screaming, that isn't going to do [anything] right now."
The Steelers will be back on the field at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex for their sixth practice of OTAs Friday, the final one prior to next week's veteran minicamp.
That step in the progression is mandatory. But McCarthy likes what he's seeing in the voluntary period, as well.
"It's been a very hectic, busy offseason, but it should be. It's year one," he said. "This is what year one looks like. At the end of the day, the players have responded. They're doing the work."
