PITTSBURGH — Remember Adrian Klemm?

He got the chance of a lifetime back in 2021 when he was promoted to offensive line coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Then, suddenly, 15 games into the season, he left. In the middle of a playoff run.

The Steelers and their apologists told us there was nothing to see here. Hey, the guy was offered an assistant coaching job at Oregon and wasn't going to be asked to return, anyway, so what's the big deal?

I mention Klemm not because of that bizarre episode (word leaked that Klemm and offensive coordinator Matt Canada weren't exactly best buds) but because Klemm was a key figure in launching what has become the Steelers' "Return to Physicality" Tour, which has lasted roughly as long as The Rolling Stones.

Which is to say, they haven't returned yet. At least not to the consistently dominant brand of physical football to which they aspire.

We're still waiting, on both sides of the ball.

Last we saw this team, with Klemm long since gone, the Steelers were still unable to get a yard when they needed one, were giving up 300 yards rushing in a playoff game and were watching the Philadelphia Eagles shove the football down their throats for the final 10 1/2 minutes of a game. And as you know, they have not even been competitive in a playoff game since the 2016 season.

So pardon me if I felt slightly cynical when I heard, in the wake of this year's draft, general manager Omar Khan talking about draftees possessing "Steelers DNA" and coach Mike Tomlin saying the goal this offseason was to "retool physicality in all areas."

I'm not even sure what "Steelers DNA" means anymore. It feels as elusive as searching for brontosaurus DNA. I think first-round pick Derrick Harmon and the return of injured 2024 first-round pick Troy Fautanu could help in this pursuit, but I have to see this team consistently push people around before I believe it.

When Klemm was promoted in 2021, the byword was "nasty." The Steelers were selling it after drafting players like Kevin Dotson (in 2020), Kendrick Green, Dan Moore, Najee Harris and even guys like Buddy Johnson on defense, if you can believe that. (And to be fair, the Steelers have unleashed some bone-crushing performances on defense in recent years, just never when it matters.)

As one writer described it, "Green fits the mold of what the Steelers have been doing with their offensive line all offseason. They've preached the return of physicality."

The return of physicality.

Of Green, Klemm said, "We love the way that he plays in terms of what we have been talking about and in terms of changing our demeanor. Just the type of attitude that we want to carry onto the field."

The headline from SI.com for the 2021 draft was, "Steelers Go Old School and Win Big."

The 2022 draft, we were told, was "steeped in physicality."

The 2023 draft, Tomlin told us, featured more of the same.

"I don't know if size, per se, was a point of emphasis," Tomlin said at the time. "But obviously we value physicality and those [players] are capable of playing a brand of football we value."

And that brings us to last year's "return to physicality" in training camp. The Steelers and those around them couldn't stop talking about it all summer long. We were told it was the most physical training camp in the NFL.

One account: "The word 'physicality' has been on the tip of many players' tongues."

New offensive coordinator Arthur Smith told people he wanted to field the most physical offense in the league. He was known to favor a run-heavy, multiple-tight end bully offense. Thing is, it only really worked several years ago, when he had superstar Derrick Henry running the ball in Tennessee.

Rookies couldn't believe all the tackling at camp. Jaylen Warren told a reporter that other teams "know what they're up against" when they play the Steelers.

The head coach was talking extra tough.

"You can't box without sparring," Tomlin said.

By the end of the season, that is precisely what the Steelers had once again become: a sparring partner for the NFL's real heavyweights. Just somebody to smack around. No Steeler DNA detected here. Just a cloud of delusion and empty words.

This continued a pattern that has been extended to nearly a decade. No NFL team had ever given up 40-plus points in three straight playoff games, for example, until the Steelers turned the trick between 2017-2021. And you better believe that if Tom Brady needed 40 in the loss that preceded that string, he would have gotten it (he settled for 36), and if Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson had needed 40 in the two games since the streak ended, they would have gotten it (they settled for a combined 832 yards of total offense and 59 points).

Then came last year's Philly and Baltimore debacles, among others (like the Steelers being unable to get a single yard when it needed one against the Bengals and Browns). And now the Steelers really mean business!

Nobody should have been surprised that Tomlin and Khan were preaching bully ball and physicality and this is what we're all about the other day. The Steelers talk about it every spring.

Maybe it'll translate to winter one of these years.

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