The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to hire new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to a three-year contract, the PPG’s Gerry Dulac tweeted Tuesday afternoon.
Generally, Steelers coordinators sign three-year deals, so this news isn’t out of the ordinary, although DC Teryl Austin reportedly only signed a two-year deal to remain with the team. Austin, however, is older than Smith, turning 59 in early March.
Smith will be just the second outside offensive coordinator hire the team has made since 2001, joining Todd Haley, who was hired in 2012. He officially replaces Matt Canada, who was fired after Week 11, and the interim hat RBs Coach Eddie Faulkner wore replacing him along with QBs Coach and play caller Mike Sullivan.
Smith, 41, was the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach for the past three years. He struggled to find success, going 7-10 each season while failing to make the playoffs. Twice, Atlanta had the 26th-ranked scoring offense, including in 2023, with a “high” of finishing 15th in 2022. Smith’s offenses were known for running the ball and throwing to tight ends out of heavy personnel, a tendency that Pittsburgh showed late in 2023. He was criticized for an overall lack of production, revolving door at quarterback, and not always consistently getting the ball to his top weapons.
Given Pittsburgh’s preference not to fire coordinators midseason or mid-contract, odds are good Smith will be with the Steelers for the duration of his deal, which would run through the 2026 season. The best chance for him to exit would be succeeding to the point of getting head coaching opportunities again. For Pittsburgh and an offense that has struggled for years, that would be a good problem to have.
The Steelers figure to make the contract and hire official later this week.
Under Smith, the Steelers will look to improve their passing game in a critical year for QB Kenny Pickett. They’ll also look to build on their run-game success, hopefully starting more quickly than they have the last two seasons. Pittsburgh hasn’t had a top-10 offense since the 2018 season.
