To hear it from NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Arthur Smith was going to be an offensive coordinator in 2023. The question was simply where. In the end, Smith lands in Pittsburgh, reportedly hired as the team’s offensive coordinator and permanent replacement for Matt Canada, who was fired midway through the year.
As Rapoport noted during a Tuesday report from the Senior Bowl, the Steelers’ culture and chance to work with Mike Tomlin convinced Smith to come to Pittsburgh.
“Contract is being finalized as we speak,” Rapoport said. “For Arthur Smith, he had a lot of opportunity. He was going to be an OC somewhere. Culturally, this makes a lot of sense. The fact the Steelers are who they are as an organization. An organization who really does it right. One of the model franchises in the NFL.
“The fact Arthur Smith could go there and be part of it was big. But learning from Mike Tomlin. Understanding that culture. What he does inside the locker room.”
Smith was fired after three years as the Atlanta Falcons’ head coach, going 7-10 each season and never making the playoffs. Their offenses struggled but Smith had far more success as an offensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020 with the Tennessee Titans, leading a pair of top-10 offenses and some of the best rushing units in football. His philosophy meshes with Pittsburgh’s ground-based attack, an offense that flows through RBs Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren.
Stylistic differences exist between how Smith and the Steelers have operated, Smith is more under center and zone-based, but Pittsburgh needs something new to get its offense to take a step (or two or three) forward.
While Pittsburgh had a seemingly narrow search for the position, officially interviewing only three candidates, the fact Smith took the job over other opportunities is notable. It’s not clear what those were — Smith hadn’t formally interviewed with any team until Pittsburgh on Sunday — but he would’ve been coordinating some offense this year, according to Rapoport.
While the report didn’t mention these aspects, the fact that Smith could have large control over the offense in addition to strong job security were also likely attractive parts of the job. Tomlin is a defensive coach, and while he provides offensive input in situational moments, Smith will run the show. He isn’t coming to a place with an offensive-minded head coach who calls the plays or puts his thumb on the scale as most head coaches do and as Tomlin does for the defense. And aside from Canada being fired, the Steelers never move on from coordinators midseason and rarely do it until their contract ends, “parting ways” as opposed to a true dismissal.
For better or worse, the Steelers are a patient bunch in a sports world of quick decisions and early hooks. That lands Arthur Smith in Pittsburgh for what will be a crucial 2024.
