Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin loves to sit outside the dorms at Saint Vincent College, overlooking the rolling hills of the Laurel Mountains, and know that the quiet and tranquility that surrounds the campus in the early morning is exactly what training camp is all about.
"I like the sanctuary. That is what it is to me," said Tomlin. "We minimize a lot of the things in our life. We get singularly focused on football for a short time and that is great for me."
Today, players will arrive at the dorms, cars filled with the necessities for the next month will be unloaded, from pillows to PlayStation, and everyone will settle in for the 50th training camp at Saint Vincent College.
Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pa. is the summer home of the Steelers, a place where things began for six Super Bowl Championship teams. It's where monks walk alongside Pro Bowlers, where fans cheer on their heroes, and where team bonding is at its best.
In a day and age when teams are bringing their training camps to their own practice facilities, having it at Saint Vincent College is special to Tomlin.
"Continuity is invaluable," said Tomlin. "Having an extended relationship with Saint Vincent just eliminates a lot of issues associated with training camp. We know the drill, we know how the ground is laid. We have a great, long standing relationship with that university and you feel it the whole time you are there.
"It runs like a top and there is no other way around it other than the time spent and I think we all benefit from the time we have spent there."
