A video segment of “The Standard” on the Steelers page of the NFL Plus app featured Mike Tomlin as he addressed the team. I can see why players want to be in the room with him. Tomlin is still bringing passion and energy to work like it’s his first year with the team instead of going on just shy of two decades now. Some highlights of what Coach Tomlin said:

I just want to give every man in this room enough information to position themselves to live out their dreams, man. To be a part of this, to define their roles within this, to chase this damn confetti.

Men, I’ve been in the football business all my adult life, but I’ve been on football teams every year of my life since I was eight, and there is a difference. I’m very experienced at both, and it’s my job to educate you guys, particularly you young ones, about this business of football. But it’s also my job to remind you that football is our game, but our business is winning. And we are going to handle business.

That’s good stuff. Now comes the hard part. In order to “chase the confetti,” there is much work to do. Installing a new offense is no easy task. This team might be relying on rookies to contribute early and often in crucial positions, which is a situation they usually try to avoid. There are newly acquired free agents on both sides of the ball that will have to learn a new system and be able to play fast without thinking right out of the gate. Team veterans that might have bad habits ingrained from the last offensive system will have to delete that muscle memory and embrace new coaching and strategy.

For too long, the Steelers have handled the business of winning by the thinnest of margins. There is a feeling that .500 ball and first round playoff exits are no longer acceptable not only for fans, but for the organization and the players as well. If this offseason were a high stakes poker game, the statements coming from both Khan and Tomlin would have them pushing in all the chips. Now we just have to see if they are holding a straight flush or a pair of twos. How well the staff identifies habits to be corrected and techniques refined, and how well players accept the coaching and give maximum effort will go a long way in determining the hand we all have been dealt.

Pittsburgh is not considered a favorite to win the chip this year, or even the division, and that’s fine. It doesn’t matter what the odds say, or the predictions by the prognosticators. Every year, teams get hot and go on runs, and when the right circumstances combine with effort and work, anything can happen. I look forward to seeing all the reports on training camp battles and player progress that will be coming from the talented people here at SCN. The journey to the Superdome next February can’t happen without the blood and sweat and hard work in Latrobe this July. Why not the Steelers? This team should be going into this training camp with the mindset of preparing to win it all. Mike Tomlin has done a good job of setting that expectation from the start. Time to put on the pads and start chasing that damn confetti.