The Pittsburgh Steelers interviewing Arthur Smith for their vacant offensive coordinator position makes plenty of sense. In hindsight, we (especially myself) should’ve seen this coming. A logical stop, or perhaps end, to their search. While the Steelers may continue talking to other candidates around the league, Smith feels like a sudden favorite, at least from the Group of Three they’ve officially sat down with. Thomas Brown lacks Smith’s coordinator success while Jerrod Johnson lacks his experience and is one of the league’s hottest candidates. Pittsburgh may not offer what he’s looking for.
Which leaves hiring Arthur Smith. Potentially. He doesn’t perfectly align with what Mike Tomlin outlined during year-end presser. Smith isn’t known as a quarterback guru or have a true background there like Johnson and onetime candidate Zac Robinson possessed. Perhaps that’ll be filled if the Steelers hire a quarterbacks coach should Mike Sullivan go elsewhere. And if not, Sullivan is still a fine coach and it keeps some level of continuity with Kenny Pickett, a bridge for a crucial Year Three.
What’s there to know about Smith? His top goal is to run the ball. An offensive lineman at North Carolina and once teammates with Willie Parker (neither of them played much for the Tar Heels), Smith’s first NFL job came in 2007 with the Washington Redskins. At that time, he was on the other side of the ball, a Defensive Quality Control Coach, which essentially means doing any task the other coaches asked of him. Film cutups, advanced game planning, special projects, and probably getting someone a coffee every now and then. He dipped back into the college ranks in 2010 with Ole Miss before becoming the Titans’ Defensive Quality Control Coach in 2011. It wasn’t until 2012 that Smith flipped to the other side of the ball, holding the same quality control position for the offense.
In 2013, he became a positional coach for the first time, in charge of the Titans’ o-line. He switched roles and worked with the team’s tight ends for the next five years. Smith was promoted to offensive coordinator after Matt LeFleur was hired to become the Green Bay Packers’ head coach for the 2019 season.
In Smith’s two years as the Titans’ OC, they were a ground-and-pound team. Few ran it as often or as successfully as Tennessee. Across those two seasons, they ranked second in rushing attempts (966), second in rushing yards (4,913) second in yards per carry (5.1 per attempt), and first in rushing touchdowns (47). Only Baltimore with MVP Lamar Jackson bested them. And Tennessee wasn’t exactly calling QB Power with Ryan Tannehill.
Of course, Smith benefitted from Derrick Henry putting up two of the best years of his career. In 2020, he became the eighth running back in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards. A special talent in his prime, the Steelers don’t have a Henry but Najee Harris has a similar build and running style, only lacking his game-breaking explosiveness. Tennessee knew how to convert too, finishing 10th in points per game in 2019 and fourth in 2020.
The NFL took notice and Smith was hired as the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach in 2021. Life wasn’t as easy, the Falcons going 7-10 in three-straight years. They finished with negative point differentials all three seasons and collapsed in a winnable NFC South in 2023, losing four of their last five games. Blown out by the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints their last two games, capped with Smith angry at the Saints for their victory formation touchdown, the Falcons fired him.
His final results? No playoffs, no winning records, and an offense that struggled to score. Twice, the Falcons ranked 26th in scoring offense, including in 2023. Their best showing was finishing 15th in 2022. Meh.
The Falcons and Steelers have similar offensive stories. This year, Atlanta finished third in rushing attempts, Pittsburgh ninth, despite neither team playing with consistent fourth-quarter leads. Both struggled to find the answer at quarterback, rotating different players. Pittsburgh tried three, Atlanta two, with Smith seemingly never sure if Desmond Ridder or Taylor Heinicke should be the guy.
And there was criticism in both cities for not getting their playmakers the ball enough. Pittsburgh didn’t throw to TE Pat Freiermuth when healthy and WR George Pickens too often went dark in games. Atlanta has underutilized TE Kyle Pitts the last two seasons, despite not playing with a deep group of wide receivers, and first-round rookie RB Bijan Robinson only averaged 12.5 carries per game.
In style, Smith’s vision aligns with what the Steelers have been building. Per Sports Information Solutions, here’s how the Falcons ranked by personnel group in 2023:
12 Personnel (1 RB, 2 TEs): 1st in NFL (42 percent)
22 Personnel (2 RBs, 2 TEs): 2nd in NFL (10 percent)
13 Personnel (1 RB, 3 TEs): 3rd in NFL (9 percent)
21 Personnel (2 RBs, 1 TE): 5th in NFL (20 percent)
11 Personnel (1 RB, 1 TE): 32nd in NFL (17 percent)
Most NFL offenses’ base personnel is 11. Three receivers on the field, open up the passing game. Atlanta was the opposite. The Falcons employed their big people the vast majority of the time. It’s how the Steelers found their mark, especially late in the year, playing bully ball with their run game and three-tight end sets. Smith and the Falcons did it to a more extreme level than the Steelers, who used the eighth-most 11 personnel in 2023 (71 percent), though that figure dipped down to 58 percent across their final three wins.
If Pittsburgh wants to be more of the same, a rough-and-tumble downhill running team but hopefully on a better and quicker level, Smith makes sense. The Steelers found their run game the last two years, but it took far too long to do so. Week 10 in 2022, Week 9 in 2023. They must start faster. Hiring Smith could be that catalyst.
In other ways, and I need to do more research on Smith’s background, he reminds me of Mike Mularkey. Old-school tight ends coach. That’s good and bad. Mularkey fielded productive offenses that ran the snot out of the football. But that method ran dry in 2003, his third season, the offense regressing under an aging Jerome Bettis, and the Steelers faltered. In this day and age, modern passing offenses and ridiculous quarterback play, the approach might be bringing a knife to a gun fight.
On the other hand, the odds of Pittsburgh beating Patrick Mahomes or a similarly talented QB step for step with a passing game and quarterback play is an awfully tall task, no matter who the Steelers’ choice under center is. Josh Allen can’t even do it. Can Pittsburgh find someone better than Josh Allen? Maybe leaning in the opposite way is the path, going completely counter with the run game. There’s no easy answer.
Hiring Arthur Smith won’t get you out of your seat. There’s no “got our guy” celebration. He isn’t the up-and-coming exciting hire, though he’s still only 41. The hiring would feel bland and boring and basic. Hopefully it can be another “b” word – building. Building upon what the Steelers laid to close out 2023. His name makes as much sense as anyone they’ve talked to so far.
