Though the Atlanta Falcons fired head coach Arthur Smith after three seasons, the organization still has plenty of great things to say about the man who is now the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. During his 2024 NFL Scouting Combine press conference Tuesday, Falcons GM Terry Fontenot discussed what the Steelers are getting in Smith.
“Love Arthur Smith,” he said via the Falcons’ YouTube channel. “We spent three years together. We’re like brothers and we had a really collaborative relationship. Love Arthur, love his family, and we’re rooting for him going to Pittsburgh. Arthur, if you spend any time with him, you can tell right away he’s a smart guy and all he’s worried about is making that football team better.”
After two successful years as the Tennessee Titans’ offensive coordinator, Smith was named the Falcons’ head coach for the 2021 season. His time in Atlanta didn’t produce results he or the organization desired, the Falcons going 7-10 all three years that Smith was at the helm and never making the playoffs. Similar to Pittsburgh, they had trouble finding their next franchise quarterback, a mixture between veteran (Marcus Mariota) and young (Desmond Ridder) options who didn’t pan out.
While Smith’s lack of success made his dismissal understandable, what Fontenot said rings true from everything we’ve learned about Smith since being hired by the team one month ago. Smith has the reputation of a hard-worker and football junkie who didn’t get consumed by his father’s wealth and chose to chart out the difficult course of being a football coach. Long days, longer nights, and slowly climbing the ladder from University of North Carolina graduate assistant in 2006 to NFL head coach 15 years later.
Fontenot revealed he’s also spoken with Smith’s new boss, Mike Tomlin.
“I’ve get gotten to talk to Coach Tomlin over the last few weeks, too, now being with Raheem and the relationship he has with Mike Tomlin,” Fontenot said. “I know they’re gonna have a really good relationship and they’re gonna do everything they can do to make that team as good as they can.”
Replacing Smith in Atlanta is Raheem Morris, formerly the Los Angeles Rams’ defensive coordinator. In the 2000s, Tomlin and Morris worked together in Tampa Bay and the two have remained close friends. In his interview on The Pivot during the summer of 2022, Tomlin called Morris the best football coach who currently didn’t have a head coaching job. Morris does now.
The Steelers will travel to play the Falcons during the 2024 season, a matchup that will have plenty of storylines beyond the actual game.
