PATROBE, PA — As the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their second training camp practice, Mike Tomlin takes up a comfortable, dominant position at midfield.
With his arms folded, his head down, and his Ray-Bans covering his eyes, Tomlin watches as the offensive players and coaches run through a series of plays they will eventually try to run at full speed.
Entering his 18th season with the Steelers, Tomlin holds the record for the longest tenure of any head coach in the NFL. He embodies consistency. Even though they should have been doomed due to injury and player upheaval, his Pittsburgh teams have never experienced a losing season.
Even after accomplishing that incredible feat, Tomlin’s Steelers have not played at a truly elite level in a while. Pittsburgh’s last Super Bowl victory was fifteen years ago, and the team has made seven AFC Championship Game appearances in total. Following their run to the AFC championship game, which they lost to the New England Patriots, the Steelers have gone winless in the playoffs. That postseason failure is mostly due to an offense that finished in the worst third of the league for five straight seasons.
The struggles triggered dramatic changes this offseason, and those changes have something to do with the attentive eye of Tomlin — a defensive-minded head coach — at this early juncture of camp.
He has placed men in three of the most important offensive positions, and they stand in stark contrast to the tenacious and well-respected Tomlin.
Arthur Smith, who Tomlin hired as offensive coordinator less than a month after he was dismissed as head coach by the Atlanta Falcons, is in charge of the group. Under center: Justin Fields, the Chicago Bears’ first-round selection in 2021, who they declared a bust after only three seasons. Russell Wilson, the 35-year-old quarterback who was viewed as washed up by the Seattle Seahawks and Denver Broncos, is joining him. Wilson missed the first two weeks of training due to a calf strain, but he is penciled in as Pittsburgh’s new starter.
The 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk was granted permission to pursue a trade this week, and the Steelers found themselves in the running to sign him. Aiyuk, a 2020 first-round selection, has 25 touchdowns and 369 receptions for 3,931 yards over his last four seasons.
After just two seasons, Tomlin gave up on the Kenny Pickett quarterback experiment, and some outsiders were confused by his subsequent choice to attach the Steelers’ offensive hopes to Smith, Wilson, and Fields.
Yet Tomlin, who signed a three-year extension in June, loves the strong redemption theme with the trio.
“I’m attracted to that,” Tomlin said after the July 26 practice. “If we talk about doing anything at the highest level, it is highly competitive and there’s going to be some failure. In those failures is usually growth, and when you’re working with committed people and sharp people, I like to be a part of the bounce-back.”
It is safe to say that Tomlin has previously given coaches and players second opportunities.
Taking a chance on quarterback Dwayne Haskins, a first-round choice in 2019 who struggled for two seasons in Washington before passing away in 2022, he dismissed criticism. After the former head coach of the Miami Dolphins filed a federal lawsuit against the NFL and three of its franchises, claiming racial discrimination and retaliation, he hired Brian Flores to his coaching staff in March 2022. Flores is now the Minnesota Vikings’ defensive coordinator. Cameron Sutton, a defensive back who played for the Steelers from 2017 to 2022, was most recently re-signed by Tomlin and the team in June. After the NFL suspended Sutton for the first eight games of the season due to his suspected involvement in a domestic incident, the Detroit Lions terminated Sutton.
Thus, Tomlin added Fields, Wilson, and Smith without hesitation. Even though Wilson’s calf injury during a conditioning test caused the quarterback battle to get off to a rough start, he has stayed unwavering in his conviction in them. Wilson threw passes during team exercises on Tuesday, but Fields will get the start when the Steelers play the Houston Texans in their preseason opener on Friday night.
“I just respect competitors, and I respect how competitive our business is,” Tomlin said. “And just because somebody fails in a certain circumstance or within a certain opportunity, it doesn’t mean that they’re incapable.”
At first look, it appears odd that Tomlin chose Smith to revitalize an offense that has been stagnant for a while. Smith finished 7-10 in his three seasons in Atlanta, and the Falcons offense never finished higher than 17th in yards (2023) or 15th in points scored (2022).
Tomlin was drawn to Smith’s rugged, run-first approach, which defies the NFL’s prevalent pass-happy culture. Selling him on Smith’s offensive brilliance even further were the difficulties Tomlin’s defenses faced against Smith’s Falcons and Titans groups. In 2019 and 2020, Smith served as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.
Tomlin has always favored a run-heavy system, regardless of Smith’s qualifications as a quarterback, and Smith showed a dedication to running the ball as well as ingenuity in play-calling and design. In terms of rushing yards per game, the Titans placed second in 2020 and third in 2019; the Falcons came in third in 2022. Thus, despite his faults as a first-year head coach, Smith’s offense perfectly suits Tomlin’s inclinations.
Mike Tomlin’s respect for Arthur Smith’s rushing units helped Smith get the offensive coordinator job. (Gene J. Puskar / Associated Press)
Fields has demonstrated potential leading the first-team offense, but Tomlin made a special effort to ensure that reporters understood Wilson’s status atop the unofficial depth chart this week, as Wilson continues to hold “pole position” for the starting job.
Wilson may benefit from Smith’s utilization of a potent run game to relieve pressure on the seasoned quarterback and open up opportunities for airborne downfield passes if Wilson does decide to stay in the starting lineup. Wilson flourished in such an offense in Seattle during his prime years. He had trouble executing Sean Payton’s timing-based pass game in Denver the previous season, but he became better after the Broncos started depending more on their rush attack. Play-action passes were thus made possible, and Wilson excelled with a 67.6 completion percentage, 10 touchdowns, 1 interception, and a 117.2 passer rating on those plays.
How will Wilson fulfill Smith’s request then? Though the 5-foot-11 Wilson performs best when he can break out of the pocket and make throws on the perimeter, the offensive coordinator loves to pass over the middle. It would be intriguing to see how Smith might assist Wilson in making up for his shortcomings as a pocket passer and decreased elusiveness. Tomlin has complimented Smith for his versatility as a play caller and offensive architect.
Tomlin signed Wilson because he thinks the nine-time Pro Bowl selection and former Super Bowl champion is still a highly driven competitor with a tremendous work ethic, passion, and ability to make plays. Wilson responded by saying he feels more motivated by Tomlin’s leadership.
“I really enjoy being around Coach Tomlin,” he said on July 26. “His understanding of the game, of people, relationships — he’s honest, he’s thoughtful, and not just to me, but to everybody. It’s really remarkable. To be a part of and to watch and understand that, no wonder why we’ve won so much here.”
Tomlin acknowledges that signing Wilson, who signed a one-year contract worth $1.21 million with Pittsburgh (the Broncos still owing him roughly $37 million in 2024), had some risk. But the game involves taking calculated risks.
“Man, we have to make complex judgments every single day of our life. That is only one aspect of our work, Tomlin explained. It never immobilizes me. I never overthink things when it comes to things. Simply put, there is only so much exceptional talent in this industry. It does not matter if it is at an offensive coordinator or quarterback position. There is a small pool of qualified candidates. It is our responsibility to evaluate every person in the pool and render decisions appropriately.
Fields, who is in the last year of his deal, became a top target for Pittsburgh because they needed quarterback insurance in case Wilson struggled.
The former Ohio State standout provides the Steelers with a dual-threat quarterback, still in his developmental years but possessing all the physical attributes needed to be successful in the NFL at the age of 25. Fields just needs greater instruction and patience, as well as a stronger supporting group than he had with the Bears, according to the Steelers.
Pittsburgh merely forfeited a sixth-round draft pick—which, depending on Fields’ playing time, may have been a fourth-round pick—to acquire Fields. If Fields can convert his flashes from Chicago into a steady stream of plays that can change the course of the game, then that will be a steal.
If Wilson is injured, Fields provides the Steelers with a backup quarterback who can at least hold things together. At most, he provides them with a young, developing quarterback who can compete for the starting position and, if the Steelers are willing to extend him, maybe emerge as the team’s face.
Tomlin, who is confident in both his leadership skills and the organization’s culture, thinks he and the Steelers can set up Fields, Wilson, and Smith for career rebounds that they might not get elsewhere.
“We’re in a good, stable environment, I’ve been here for a long time, and oftentimes, those environments are good for people in those positions,” Tomlin said.
Should Tomlin’s prediction come to pass, the Steelers might be set up for a much-needed breakthrough, which would be the ultimate reward for the coach’s willingness to take a chance.
(Top photos of Mike Tomlin: Joe Sargent / Getty Images and Russell Wilson and Justin Fields: Phil Pavely / Associated Press)
