Merril Hoge Rips Bears’ Handling Of Justin Fields: ‘One Of The Worst Things You Can Do To Any Player’

If there’s one word that could be used to describe the Pittsburgh Steelers, it’s stability. In all facets, whether it’s ownership, coaching, or players themselves, the Steelers do not tend to make waves or change just for the sake of change. If they make a move, it’s with the mindset of making the football team better, but they also don’t give up on anything unless they absolutely have to. For that reason, they have often been able to properly develop many young players, and now, they’re hopeful they can work that magic with Justin Fields.

Fields was a highly touted quarterback prospect coming out of Ohio State, possessing a skill set that, while flawed in some aspects, screamed potential. However, he needed proper coaching in order to play at a high level in the NFL, and since he entered the league with the Chicago Bears, he’s known everything but stability. Merril Hoge, a former running back for both the Bears and the Steelers, spoke about this issue recently during a radio interview on The Bill Michaels Show.

”What they did to Justin Fields is probably one of the worst things you can do to any player. What I mean by that is every year he had a different coordinator. He had different learning, he had a different system, and there’s no way, I don’t care what your profession is, if you keep starting over and over, and you change things every single year, I don’t care what your skill set is, you can never get good,” Hoge said. “You can never get better. You can never evolve. You can never develop. That was unfortunate for him. Now, I actually believe he’s in a really awesome spot in Pittsburgh for that development, if they can hold on to those two years and develop him.”

During Fields’ rookie season, both head coach Matt Nagy and offensive coordinator Bill Lazor were involved with play calling, which could have caused some confusion and distinction for both Fields and the offense. During both the 2022 and 2023 seasons, Luke Getsy was the offensive coordinator and play caller for the Bears, which created some measure of continuity, but not enough, as the offense still floundered, and Getsy was fired at the end of last season.

However, the 2023 season did see Fields play some of his best football, and while there were still loads of issues, perhaps Hoge’s assessment is correct in that Fields couldn’t really get better until the organization had a solid foundation. This probably also explains why Hoge likes Fields’ fit with the Steelers because unless new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith somehow makes the offense even worse than it has been the past few years — or he gets hired as a head coach elsewhere after the season — he’ll likely stick around in Pittsburgh for more than just this year.

Hopefully, the stability that the Steelers are known for helps Fields develop into the quarterback many envisioned him being when he was first drafted. Flashes of talent existed last year when the Bears didn’t completely change their coaching staff, and while he’ll have to learn another new offense this year, there’s zero pressure for him to come in and start immediately. He can sit behind Russell Wilson to begin the season and work along at his own pace. If the Steelers like what they see, maybe they’ll retain him and solve their quarterback question. If not, there’s always next year’s draft.