FMIA: Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin Welcomes Training Camp Tour To Latrobe With 3 Words—Bring It On

LATROBE, Pa. — Mike Tomlin was back with the punters Saturday afternoon. When you ask those who’ve been around him for years, you always hear, Tomlin coaches the whole team. In the middle of Saturday’s training-camp practice, his focus was incumbent punter Pressley Harvin III and Cameron Nizialek.

“Let’s go!” Tomlin yelled with Harvin poised to boot. “For us, 5.0’s the standard!”

He meant a 5.0-second hang time, which would be exemplary; the average hang time for the league’s top 10 punters in 2021, per Pro Football Focus, was 4.27 seconds. Maybe the standard is 5.0, or maybe that’s the dream. Whatever, Tomlin boomed it out, and Harvin responded with a Ray Guy-like rainmaker down the right side. Great punt.

“The standard!” Tomlin said. “Five point oh!”

Nizialek’s turn. He’s not likely to beat out the vaunted Harvin, the 2021 seventh-round draft pick, but he’s competing. Nizialek took the snap and duck-hooked the punt low down the left sideline, out of bounds. “Ooooooooh,” the crowd responded. Yikes. Not going to make this team, or any one, punting like that.

Tomlin didn’t say anything (at least that I heard). The drill went on. Why is it important? Maybe it isn’t. I think it is. Harvin and Nizialek know it’s a big deal when the head coach takes 12 to 15 minutes to focus entirely on the punters among the 90 players in camp. This isn’t just a July drill to Tomlin. He wants to know what happens when the pressure is on. If you shank one in Latrobe with all the fans loving on you in July, how will you perform with the bright lights on you in Baltimore in a very big game? In this one moment, Harvin passed the test and Nizialek didn’t. So Tomlin could chalk up some mental evidence in one small roster battle.

Tomlin’s usually