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Brooke Pryor, ESPN Staff WriterSep 4, 2024, 06:00 AM ET
- Previously covered the Kansas City Chiefs for the Kansas City Star and Oklahoma University for the Oklahoman.
PITTSBURGH — For Arthur Smith, the call came as he sat in a hotel room in Dubai. For Justin Fields, it was while he ate a late dinner in Italy. And for Russell Wilson, it came at 7 a.m. on FaceTime as he trained at his home in San Diego.
All three were emerging from situations that didn’t quite fit, and all three needed something new after high-profile struggles and failures.
And because Mike Tomlin needed a reset of his own after another season of tumultuous offense, an early playoff exit and questions about his future, the Pittsburgh Steelers coach offered the trio refuge.
“All three guys, to be really transparent, are somewhat scalded,” Tomlin said in a TV interview during the NFL draft. “They got something to prove professionally. But we as a collective feel the same way. We have something to prove, and I just think that is a good frame of mind to be in as individuals and as a collective as we prepare ourselves for the 2024 season.”
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Smith, who was unceremoniously fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons after last season, entered the offseason contemplating his next move. Wilson, benched late last season by the Denver Broncos, wanted another chance to prove he’s still a top-tier quarterback. And once anointed to lead Chicago Bears out of mediocrity, Fields’ inconsistency led him to be jettisoned for the next quarterback wunderkind in Caleb Williams.
The Steelers, too, faced a crossroads. With eight years separating the team from its last playoff victory and its defensive stars reaching the twilight of their prime, Tomlin and the organization entered the offseason with a sense of urgency.
“I’m not lacking confidence in my ability to do the job while at the same time there’s frustration because I want that confetti for this group,” Tomlin said in January. “And so, whatever we got to do to do it, whatever changes need to be made, I’m open to it.”
As a result, the team made uncharacteristic, high-profile moves, hiring Smith as offensive coordinator and retooling the quarterback room by trading away a recent first-round pick and landing Wilson and Fields to unite a group galvanized by change in an organization that traditionally resists it.
The opportunity for a fresh start came to the Steelers’ offensive trio in the far-flung corners of the world and, though they each arrive in Pittsburgh with different baggage, all have the same goal as the they open the 2024 season against the Falcons: resetting and moving forward.
Steelers quarterbacks Russell Wilson, left, and Justin Fields are both looking for a new beginning in Pittsburgh. Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images
SMITH WAS ON on his way to the Maldives when his phone rang. He and his wife were on a layover in Dubai, more than 7,500 miles removed from one of the most trying stretches in his coaching career and 2,000 miles away from complete isolation and relaxation.
Hired by Atlanta after putting up record-setting numbers as Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, Smith exited with a 21-30 record and no trips to the playoffs in three seasons.
While he relished the opportunity to run his own team, being the head coach came with responsibilities that took him away from hands-on coaching and offensive scheming. So when Tomlin presented the opportunity in January to interview for a vacant offensive coordinator position for an organization steeped in football history, one that molded many of his mentors, Smith knew it was the perfect fit. He called to set up an in-person interview upon his return and flew to Pittsburgh a day later.
“It’s funny how life works that way,” Smith said in May. “Things don’t go your way, and then a door opens, and I couldn’t have asked for a better situation.”
With his family still in Atlanta, Smith set up at the SpringHill Suites next to the Steelers’ facility and used his downtime for a critical self-evaluation, the kind he didn’t have time to do when he was juggling head coaching responsibilities. In between trips to visit his family on the weekends, he spent long hours in his new office, picking through his past.
“I got to get back to just looking,” Smith said. “I got to look at the last five years … get a fresh set of eyes and dive in what you did, what you like, what fits us. That part’s been really fun.”
Once he was settled in Pittsburgh, Smith found a weight lifted as he transitioned to being a cog in the wheel rather than the linchpin. He weighed in on personnel decisions during the draft and now frequently voices his opinions in team meetings, but he has a new appreciation for his role.
“It’s kind of freeing,” Smith said, cautiously grinning after a training camp practice. “You don’t have to worry about [the roster]. Especially if you were involved in a roster as much as I was in Atlanta. It’s like, ‘Hey, that’s not my call, and I’m going to coach guys we got.’
“I always joke that when you’re a head coach or you’re an athletic trainer, nobody’s ever coming to you with a good problem.”
Players who were with him in Atlanta and followed him to Pittsburgh see a positive shift in Smith, too.
“I feel like Arthur’s just a little more relaxed,” said wide receiver Van Jefferson, a Steelers free agency addition who was acquired by the Falcons midseason in 2023. “I think he’s having fun doing what he’s doing. Not saying that he didn’t have fun in Atlanta, but I think that now he just doesn’t have to worry about everything. “
This is Arthur Smith’s first season as offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers after spending three seasons as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Barry Reeger-USA TODAY Sports
WILSON WAS AT his San Diego home after a second messy football divorce when he received a FaceTime from Tomlin. Soon after, his phone lit up with calls from defensive tackle Cameron Heyward, linebacker T.J. Watt and safety Minkah Fitzpatrick, vetting him for a possible job in Pittsburgh.
And after a whirlwind courtship, Wilson announced his intent to join the Steelers with a hype video posted to social media as he attended the Vanity Fair Oscars after party in February.
But if Wilson feels resentment toward the Broncos, a team that signed him to a five-year, $245 million contract, and coach Sean Payton, who asked him to take a pay cut in the middle of a bounce-back season, he doesn’t show it.
“I feel the fountain of youth,” Wilson said a couple of months after arriving in Pittsburgh. “I feel revived in every way, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I feel confident.”
Wilson deflects most questions about fresh starts, but his coaches believe the quarterback’s drive and ability to reset after adversity are what make him great.
“As [Wilson] was preparing for the NFL, someone asked him, ‘Hey, what’s going to set you apart?’ And he said, ‘What I got in here and what I got up here,'” Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth said, pointing to his heart and his head as he relayed the story.
“To me, that’s who he is. And it’s what I respect most about him as a person and as a leader. … It’s about how you keep coming back and how you respond in the face of adversity.”
LIKE WILSON, FIELDS is hard to read.
Despite a drawn-out trade saga, two head coaches and three roller-coaster seasons in Chicago, the quarterback hasn’t shown any signs of feeling scalded.
There was, of course, an acute sense of relief when he got the call from his agent to close that chapter of his career. Fields was eating dinner around 10 p.m. in Italy, on a quick break from a European tour of hosting football camps with Las Vegas Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins.
“We were in the same situation last year with having the No. 1 pick, and it was just a little bit different this year,” Fields said in May of his exit meeting in Chicago. “I’m not naive to that fact. I can read body language and stuff like that. It wasn’t really just a shock to where it’s like, ‘Oh, I got traded.’ I knew what was going to happen beforehand. So I’m just glad I got traded to the spot that I wanted to be at.
“It was definitely a relief to kind of be on a team and know where I’m going to be.”
Fields prefers to keep a low profile. To those who know him best, he’s even-keeled and introspective, strengths during a tumultuous tenure with the team that drafted him No. 11 overall.
“His demeanor never changes,” private quarterback trainer Oliver Bozeman, who has worked with Fields since 2023, said. “He comes to work out happy, ready to train, ready to go no matter what the situation is. That’s one thing I can say about him and that I admire about him. … With younger guys, they tend to wear their emotions on their shoulders, and I can kind of pick up on it, but he’s very mature. I love the way he carries himself and handles his emotions.”
Fields has a lightness about him that seems to come from starting over in Pittsburgh, a team and a head coach for which he wants to play.
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Five months after he got the call that ended the months-long limbo, Fields is acclimating to his new city the same way he learned his old one: by foot.
The 25-year-old takes frequent walks around his Mount Washington neighborhood with his dog, traversing the sidewalks and backroads high above the city.
Sometimes he gets stopped by fans who recognize him, but he mostly keeps to himself.
“I feel like if I was a little bit shorter then maybe I could [go unnoticed], and especially my hair out now, it causes a bunch of attention.” Fields told ESPN. “I think the difference between here and Chicago is just people, I think they just respect space in your area.
“They might just say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ And keep it pushing. ‘Good luck this year’ and keep it polite and respectful. So that’s what I appreciate about people.”
The fanbase is undeniably excited about Fields’ potential. The calls for autographs from Steelers fans crowding the fence at training camp in Latrobe were as loud for Fields as they were for Wilson.
But with Wilson being officially named starter after the preseason, Fields won’t be able to truly test the reset’s effectiveness in Week 1. There’s a chance it might not come at all this season. Still, Fields relishes the opportunity to start over and grow.
“I’m not the same quarterback as I was last year, and I’m not the same quarterback as I even was yesterday,” Fields said in May. “So I’m going to continue to get better each and every day. … I’m nowhere near my ceiling, for sure.”
There, of course, is the uncomfortable reality that all three might not — and likely will not — accomplish the same reset. Smith’s success is largely tied to his quarterbacks, and the quarterbacks have an inverse relationship with one another’s individual success.
At 35, four years removed from a playoff victory and three from a winning season, Wilson might be out of time for a fresh start. And for Fields, a change of scenery might not do enough to solve the issues — namely his decision-making and the resulting sacks and interceptions — that led to his ouster.
But in Pittsburgh, each newcomer begins with a pen hovering over a blank page. Their next chapter starts Sunday.
