Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth talks about changing the franchise’s head coach for the first time since 2007. We are getting some hints about when the Steelers may bust out their alternate uniforms.
The Pirates are getting ready for a cross-state rivalry series against the Philadelphia Phillies. And a “Duck” ties the knot.
All that in Friday’s “First Call.”
From the mouth of Muuuth
Over his first five NFL seasons, Steelers tight end Pat Freiermuth has only known Mike Tomlin as an NFL coach. Now he’s getting used to life under Mike McCarthy.
Speaking at the Ryan Malone “Black and Gold Breaking the Mold” celebrity hockey game on Wednesday night, Freiermuth admitted that seeing a different person as the team’s leader was a bit odd at first.
“It definitely was weird, the first team meeting,” Freiermuth told WDVE at the RMU Island Sports Center. “Just kind of seeing a new face up there and not hearing ‘Mike T’ talking, but I’m adjusted to it now, and I’m just excited for this year.”
As far as the style of football people can expect, Freiermuth is looking forward to some changes. However, he downplayed any seismic adjustments fans may be expecting, given that a more offense-oriented head coach is now at the helm instead of the defensive-leaning Tomlin.
“The installs and the new playbook, it’s exciting. I think it’s definitely going to be a breath of fresh air for everyone – fans, players. The type of offense that we’re going to put out on the field,” Freiermuth continued. “It’s going to look a little different. Football is football. Obviously, we’re going to keep that Steeler brand of football that we’ve had through the Super Bowl 70s and everything like that. The fans should expect some big plays. Hopefully, we can have a successful season.”
Freiermuth said he is “keeping his opinion close to his chest” about when Aaron Rodgers may arrive, and claimed that the quarterback has “21 years of reps” he can rely on even if he arrives after most of the other players.
‘Do you take this Duck…’
Speaking of Steelers quarterbacks, congratulations to Devlin “Duck” Hodges. The former Pittsburgh QB married his fiancée, country music star Lainey Wilson, on Sunday.
CONGRATS: Iconic Pittsburgh #Steelers quarterback Duck Hodges announced that he got married l to country star Lainey Wilson.
????❤️
Congratulations to Duck and Lainey — wishing them all the best in their marriage! pic.twitter.com/VbJkNGF8eb
— MLFootball (@MLFootball) May 14, 2026
According to Variety.com, the ceremony took place at Ruskin Cave in Dickson, Tennessee. The couple has been engaged for roughly 15 months.
The New Orleans group Rebirth Brass Band performed at the reception. Hodges and Wilson met in 2021.
Hodges played in eight games with the Steelers in 2019, splitting time as the Steelers’ starter with Mason Rudolph after Ben Roethlisberger was lost for the year with an elbow injury in Week 2.
More sports
• Tim Benz: NFL schedule makers banking on Aaron Rodgers’ return to Pittsburgh (or Steelers winning without him)
• Tim Benz: Kyle Dubas admits Penguins’ problems, but a plan to fix them isn’t as clear
• U mad, bro?: Readers are fed up with the Aaron Rodgers wait, NFL schedule expansion, Evgeni Malkin criticism
Laundry list
Based on how Penguins fans are blaming the team’s playoff failures partially on wearing their alternate gold jerseys against the Philadelphia Flyers, the Steelers might want to be very selective in when they bust out their color rush and throwback apparel.
Franchise president Art Rooney II told Steelers.com that the club likely will wear its Color Rush uniforms for one of the night games at home. As for the throwbacks, they will again be the uniform the franchise wore in its inaugural season of 1933.
That means the gold helmets.
“We’ll wear our throwbacks for one of the feature games,” Rooney said. “We’re still working through the schedule, and I’m sure we’ll be announcing that in the coming weeks.”
As of now, the Steelers have only one designated night start at home. That’s the Sunday night game against Houston on Dec. 6. Although the Black Friday game the previous week against Denver is a 3 p.m. start. So that might be the other Color Rush opportunity Rooney is talking about.
Let’s try this again
The Penguins lost a playoff series to the Flyers. The Eagles punked the Steelers at the draft. Now it’s up to the Pirates to perhaps get a little revenge against Philadelphia this weekend as the Phillies come to town.
The Bucs are coming off a series win against Colorado. The Phillies also recently took 2 of 3 from the Rockies and 2 of 3 in Boston. In fact, the Phillies have won 12 of their last 16 games.
However, Philadelphia is still under .500 at 21-23. That’s good enough to be tied for second place with the Washington Nationals in the National League East. Both clubs are nine games back of first-place Atlanta (30-14).
The Phillies feature the National League’s leading hitter, Brandon Marsh. He’s at .340 right now. Marsh is hitting .422 in the month of May. Also, Kyle Schwarber leads Major League Baseball in home runs with 18. He hit another one on Thursday against Boston.
Kyle Schwarber breaks the scoreless tie with his MLB-leading 18th home run ???? pic.twitter.com/I5V9O8u05U
— MLB (@MLB) May 15, 2026
It’s been more of a struggle on the mound, though, for the Phillies. The Philadelphia pitching staff has yielded more hits (414) than anyone else in baseball. Also, opposing lineups are getting on base at a .268 clip. Only Colorado is worse (.270). That said, Phillies pitchers have 419 strikeouts, most in the National League.
Aaron Nola (2-3, 5.14 ERA) gets the call for Philadelphia for Friday night’s game at PNC Park. The Pirates counter with Braxton Ashcraft (2-2, 2.77). He has allowed just one run in his last 14 ⅔ innings.