Although the Pittsburgh Steelers have a new head coach in Mike McCarthy, not everything is changing. McCarthy has already committed to the 3-4 defense, expressed a desire to have Aaron Rodgers back, and seems to be winning over some players. Although Mike Tomlin is gone, the process is going pretty smoothly so far with McCarthy and most of his new staff now in the building.

For any head coach, connecting with a new roster is the biggest first hurdle. But McCarthy, with nearly two decades of experience as an NFL head coach, won’t have an issue with that, according to former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

“McCarthy has been around for a long time. He’s coached veterans. He knows what it’s like to be a veteran in this league. He’s going to have an understanding, a soft spot if you will, for Cam [Heyward], for T.J. [Watt], for Boz [Boswell],” Roethlisberger said Tuesday on his Footbahlin podcast.

For some of the veterans on this roster, it’s hard to move on from Tomlin. Even for someone like Cam Heyward, who has spent his entire NFL life in Pittsburgh, he will be playing under a different head coach for the first time in his career. He and several other established veterans on the Steelers’ roster all have to buy into McCarthy’s vision before anyone else will.

Fortunately, that seems to be happening. Alex Highsmith and Joey Porter Jr. showed up to his introductory press conference. A couple of players have come out with public support for him since taking the job. McCarthy’s been in this league for quite a while and has always been able to command a locker room, so it shouldn’t be a huge task for him in Pittsburgh.

However, there is one area in which Roethlisberger hopes Mike McCarthy does better than Tomlin did.

“I think sometimes Tomlin got a little too lenient with young guys… Early on, he cracked the whip on everybody, veterans, young guys. Then, he kinda, okay, veterans got away with some stuff, which is probably okay. Then to the point where almost even young guys could get away with some stuff. I’m hoping that McCarthy’s the type that’s like, okay, if you earned it, I’m gonna treat you all fair, but not equal… I’m hoping that he comes in, and is like, no listen, we’re gonna make a change.”

Coaching in the same building for as long as Tomlin did, it’s not a surprise that he had to change some things up. It’s hard to keep the same level of intensity over that many years, especially as some key players are only getting older. There’s a reason the T.J. Watts and the Heywards of the world get more veteran rest days.

However, you can critique Tomlin for his leniency with some younger players. The first, obvious answer that would come to mind is George Pickens. Tomlin always had his players’ backs, and that was evident with Pickens. Despite plenty of off-the-field concerns, including being late to games, Tomlin went to bat for his young receiver.

That’s just one example, and it’s not ill-intentioned on Tomlin’s part. He had a tremendous feel for the locker room and obviously wanted to have Pickens’ back as often as possible. Players will always love to play for a coach like that. However, Roethlisberger thinks things got too lenient with younger players as his tenure wore on. He hopes Mike McCarthy will bring some renewed intensity and accountability.