The Pittsburgh Steelers made many changes from last season, but arguably the biggest was replacing Matt Canada as offensive coordinator with Arthur Smith. And even though the offseason program has just gotten underway, the players are already seeing the impact of the change.
“I’d say his biggest difference is he’s very interactive in the meetings”, RB Jaylen Warren told Cameron Heyward on his Not Just Football podcast, contrasting Canada and Smith. “You want to pay attention because he’s gonna call you out if you’re not paying attention. It’s happened a couple times. I think his approach to being the OC is really good”.
Arthur Smith has a documented history of running the football with regularity and success. He did that as offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans, then rebuilt the Atlanta Falcons’ run game as head coach. The Steelers brought him here to take their own ground unit to the next level as a primary motivation.
“I’ve seen how he runs the run game, especially after learning the playbook”, Warren said of Smith. “He wants speed off the ball. Breaking the huddle, he wants to run to the ball instead of lollygagging and getting to it. He wants intensity, and I really like that. I love that, actually. I’m on that train with him”.
The Steelers ranked 13th in rushing offense last season with 2,010 yards. That’s actually a better ranking on fewer yards than the previous season. In both years, they had a strong second-half push that took them from near the bottom to near the top. Under Smith, they want to have a consistent running game from the start of the season through the end.
Pittsburgh rushed for over 100 yards in 9 of its final 11 games, the only exceptions the Mitch Trubisky games. They recorded over 200 yards rushing twice during that time and six games of 150 or more yards. The Steelers didn’t even score a rushing touchdown until Week 7 after the bye, but then scored 16 from there.
The Steelers made the incredibly rare move of firing Canada in-season last year, the first time they ever fired a coordinator in that fashion. Many expected them to fire him before the season started, though; the only surprise was that it didn’t come sooner.
Arthur Smith struggled as head coach with the Falcons, but he managed to build that running game. The Steelers have built up the offensive line this offseason via the draft, adding Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier. Their top two picks are likely immediate starters, and Mason McCormick adds valuable depth.
But it goes beyond the run game with Smith, as Warren talked about. There’s a big culture change from how Canada ran things from the sounds of it. Warren also notices a change from the completely new quarterback room—again, not a surprise. Say what you will about Russell Wilson, but he’s the first been-there-done-that guy in the room since Ben Roethlisberger.
