A brand new OC and two new QBs: Will the Steelers' daring offensive strikes repay?

PITTSBURGH — For Arthur Smith, the decision got here as he sat in a lodge room in Dubai. For Justin Fields, it was whereas he ate a late dinner in Italy. And for Russell Wilson, it got here at 7 a.m. on FaceTime as he skilled at his dwelling in San Diego.

All three have been rising from conditions that did not fairly match, and all three wanted one thing new after high-profile struggles and failures.

And since Mike Tomlin wanted a reset of his personal after one other season of tumultuous offense, an early playoff exit and questions on his future, the Pittsburgh Steelers coach supplied the trio refuge.

“All three guys, to be actually clear, are considerably scalded,” Tomlin mentioned in a TV interview throughout the NFL draft. “They obtained one thing to show professionally. However we as a collective really feel the identical means. We’ve one thing to show, and I simply assume that may be a good mind set to be in as people and as a collective as we put together ourselves for the 2024 season.”

Smith, who was unceremoniously fired as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons after final season, entered the offseason considering his subsequent transfer. Wilson, benched late final season by the Denver Broncos, needed one other probability to show he is nonetheless a top-tier quarterback. And as soon as anointed to guide Chicago Bears out of mediocrity, Fields’ inconsistency led him to be jettisoned for the following quarterback wunderkind in Caleb Williams.

The Steelers, too, confronted a crossroads. With eight years separating the group from its final playoff victory and its defensive stars reaching the twilight of their prime, Tomlin and the group entered the offseason with a way of urgency.

“I am not missing confidence in my capacity to do the job whereas on the similar time there’s frustration as a result of I need that confetti for this group,” Tomlin mentioned in January. “And so, no matter we obtained to do to do it, no matter adjustments should be made, I am open to it.”

Consequently, the group made uncharacteristic, high-profile strikes, hiring Smith as offensive coordinator and retooling the quarterback room by buying and selling away a latest first-round decide and touchdown Wilson and Fields to unite a bunch galvanized by change in a corporation that historically resists it.

The chance for a recent begin got here to the Steelers’ offensive trio within the far-flung corners of the world and, although they every arrive in Pittsburgh with totally different baggage, all have the identical aim because the they open the 2024 season in opposition to the Falcons: resetting and shifting ahead.

SMITH WAS ON on his method to the Maldives when his telephone rang. He and his spouse have been on a layover in Dubai, greater than 7,500 miles faraway from one of the attempting stretches in his teaching profession and a pair of,000 miles away from full isolation and leisure.

Employed by Atlanta after placing up record-setting numbers as Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator, Smith exited with a 21-30 file and no journeys to the playoffs in three seasons.

Whereas he relished the chance to run his personal group, being the top coach got here with obligations that took him away from hands-on teaching and offensive scheming. So when Tomlin introduced the chance in January to interview for a vacant offensive coordinator place for a corporation steeped in soccer historical past, one which molded a lot of his mentors, Smith knew it was the proper match. He known as to arrange an in-person interview upon his return and flew to Pittsburgh a day later.

“It is humorous how life works that means,” Smith mentioned in Might. “Issues do not go your means, after which a door opens, and I could not have requested for a greater state of affairs.”

Along with his household nonetheless in Atlanta, Smith arrange on the SpringHill Suites subsequent to the Steelers’ facility and used his downtime for a essential self-evaluation, the type he did not have time to do when he was juggling head teaching obligations. In between journeys to go to his household on the weekends, he spent lengthy hours in his new workplace, choosing by his previous.

“I obtained to get again to only trying,” Smith mentioned. “I obtained to have a look at the final 5 years … get a recent set of eyes and dive in what you probably did, what you want, what suits us. That half’s been actually enjoyable.”

As soon as he was settled in Pittsburgh, Smith discovered a weight lifted as he transitioned to being a cog within the wheel moderately than the linchpin. He weighed in on personnel selections throughout the draft and now often voices his opinions in group conferences, however he has a brand new appreciation for his position.

“It is type of releasing,” Smith mentioned, cautiously grinning after a coaching camp follow. “You do not have to fret about [the roster]. Particularly for those who have been concerned in a roster as a lot as I used to be in Atlanta. It is like, ‘Hey, that is not my name, and I’ll coach guys we obtained.’

“I at all times joke that whenever you’re a head coach otherwise you’re an athletic coach, no person’s ever coming to you with a great downside.”

Gamers who have been with him in Atlanta and adopted him to Pittsburgh see a constructive shift in Smith, too.

“I really feel like Arthur’s just a bit extra relaxed,” mentioned extensive receiver Van Jefferson, a Steelers free company addition who was acquired by the Falcons midseason in 2023. “I believe he is having enjoyable doing what he is doing. Not saying that he did not have enjoyable in Atlanta, however I believe that now he simply does not have to fret about the whole lot. “

WILSON WAS AT his San Diego dwelling after a second messy soccer divorce when he obtained a FaceTime from Tomlin. Quickly after, his telephone lit up with calls from defensive sort out Cameron Heyward, linebacker T.J. Watt and security Minkah Fitzpatrick, vetting him for a doable job in Pittsburgh.

And after a whirlwind courtship, Wilson introduced his intent to hitch the Steelers with a hype video posted to social media as he attended the Vainness Truthful Oscars after celebration in February.

But when Wilson feels resentment towards the Broncos, a group that signed him to a five-year, $245 million contract, and coach Sean Payton, who requested him to take a pay lower in the course of a bounce-back season, he does not present it.

“I really feel the fountain of youth,” Wilson mentioned a few months after arriving in Pittsburgh. “I really feel revived in each means, mentally, emotionally, spiritually. I really feel assured.”

Wilson deflects most questions on recent begins, however his coaches imagine the quarterback’s drive and skill to reset after adversity are what make him nice.

“As [Wilson] was making ready for the NFL, somebody requested him, ‘Hey, what is going on to set you aside?’ And he mentioned, ‘What I obtained in right here and what I obtained up right here,'” Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth mentioned, pointing to his coronary heart and his head as he relayed the story.

“To me, that is who he’s. And it is what I respect most about him as an individual and as a pacesetter. … It is about how you retain coming again and the way you reply within the face of adversity.”

LIKE WILSON, FIELDS is difficult to learn.

Regardless of a drawn-out commerce saga, two head coaches and three roller-coaster seasons in Chicago, the quarterback hasn’t proven any indicators of feeling scalded.

There was, in fact, an acute sense of aid when he obtained the decision from his agent to shut that chapter of his profession. Fields was consuming dinner round 10 p.m. in Italy, on a fast break from a European tour of internet hosting soccer camps with Las Vegas Raiders defensive sort out Christian Wilkins.

“We have been in the identical state of affairs final 12 months with having the No. 1 decide, and it was just a bit bit totally different this 12 months,” Fields mentioned in Might of his exit assembly in Chicago. “I am not naive to that reality. I can learn physique language and stuff like that. It wasn’t actually only a shock to the place it is like, ‘Oh, I obtained traded.’ I knew what was going to occur beforehand. So I am simply glad I obtained traded to the spot that I needed to be at.

“It was positively a aid to type of be on a group and know the place I’ll be.”

Fields prefers to maintain a low profile. To those that know him greatest, he is even-keeled and introspective, strengths throughout a tumultuous tenure with the group that drafted him No. 11 general.

“His demeanor by no means adjustments,” personal quarterback coach Oliver Bozeman, who has labored with Fields since 2023, mentioned. “He involves work out pleased, prepared to coach, able to go it doesn’t matter what the state of affairs is. That is one factor I can say about him and that I love about him. … With youthful guys, they have an inclination to put on their feelings on their shoulders, and I can type of decide up on it, however he is very mature. I like the way in which he carries himself and handles his feelings.”

Fields has a lightness about him that appears to return from beginning over in Pittsburgh, a group and a head coach for which he desires to play.

5 months after he obtained the decision that ended the months-long limbo, Fields is acclimating to his new metropolis the identical means he discovered his previous one: by foot.

The 25-year-old takes frequent walks round his Mount Washington neighborhood along with his canine, traversing the sidewalks and backroads excessive above the town.

Generally he will get stopped by followers who acknowledge him, however he principally retains to himself.

“I really feel like if I used to be a bit of bit shorter then perhaps I might [go unnoticed], and particularly my hair out now, it causes a bunch of consideration.” Fields instructed ESPN. “I believe the distinction between right here and Chicago is simply folks, I believe they only respect house in your space.

“They may simply say, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ And preserve it pushing. ‘Good luck this 12 months’ and preserve it well mannered and respectful. So that is what I admire about folks.”

The fanbase is undeniably enthusiastic about Fields’ potential. The requires autographs from Steelers followers crowding the fence at coaching camp in Latrobe have been as loud for Fields as they have been for Wilson.

However with Wilson being formally named starter after the preseason, Fields will not be capable to actually check the reset’s effectiveness in Week 1. There’s an opportunity it won’t come in any respect this season. Nonetheless, Fields relishes the chance to begin over and develop.

“I am not the identical quarterback as I used to be final 12 months, and I am not the identical quarterback as I even was yesterday,” Fields mentioned in Might. “So I’ll proceed to get higher each day. … I am nowhere close to my ceiling, for certain.”

There, in fact, is the uncomfortable actuality that each one three won’t — and sure won’t — accomplish the identical reset. Smith’s success is essentially tied to his quarterbacks, and the quarterbacks have an inverse relationship with each other’s particular person success.

At 35, 4 years faraway from a playoff victory and three from a profitable season, Wilson could be out of time for a recent begin. And for Fields, a change of surroundings won’t do sufficient to unravel the problems — particularly his decision-making and the ensuing sacks and interceptions — that led to his ouster.

However in Pittsburgh, every newcomer begins with a pen hovering over a clean web page. Their subsequent chapter begins Sunday.