The resume of Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith sends some mixed signals. His time as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons left a lot to be desired, but he engineered one of the top offenses in the league as the coordinator for the Tennessee Titans. One of the big parts of his success in Tennessee was the revival of QB Ryan Tannehill’s career.
Tannehill joined the new Scoop City podcast hosted by Dianna Russini and Chase Daniel of The Athletic and was asked about his relationship with Smith.
“Arthur’s great, man. I really enjoyed my time with him as a coordinator,” Tannehill said. “We really had a close relationship…He pushed me in a great way. He had just the right touch of push without being over the top where it became a negative thing. Pushed me to try unconventional things with the play-actions and things that I hadn’t really done before. It was kind of new to me, a lot of the stuff we were doing and pushed me to just jump it in and give it a try. So I did and it was working, and so I just kept trusting him and kept leaning into it.”
The way that Tannehill’s career turned around under Smith, it is no surprise that there was a high level of trust and a good relationship between the two. With the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill finished his final season in 2018 with a 5.29 adjusted net yards per passing attempt. For comparison, that is the same number that Kenny Pickett was able to muster in 2023 with the Steelers. He made a giant leap in 2019 under Smith to an 8.52 ANY/A. Coincidentally, Justin Fields also posted that same 5.29 ANY/A in his last season with the Chicago Bears.
Tannehill only started 10 games that season, but still had 201 completions for 2,742 yards and 22 touchdowns to just six interceptions. His completion percentage was an impressive 70.3.
That propelled him to his first and only Pro Bowl selection and the AP Comeback Player of the Year award. They made it all the way to the AFC Championship game against the Kansas City Chiefs, knocking off the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens along the way.
When Smith was hired, we started to examine his past offenses and what schemes and plays they would like to run. If the first day of training camp practice is any indication, his offense appears to be as advertised. A lot of 12 and 13 personnel, full back usage, and tight ends being featured in the passing game. The play-action passing should be another welcomed addition to the offense in Pittsburgh.
Regardless of the scheme he brings, it sounds like Smith did a good job of getting Tannehill and the rest of the Titans offense to buy into his philosophy and scheme. Multiple Steelers players praised how detail-oriented Smith was throughout the spring practices and that he would explain the “why” behind his concepts. Matt Canada, who was usually in the press box during games, did not appear to have that same gift as a communicator and leader of the offense.
Smith now has two mobile quarterbacks he can work with and a lot of pieces in place to run a similar offense to the successful ones he had in Tennessee. There might be a learning curve with a lot of new concepts, but if Tannehill was able to quickly pick it up, then surely Wilson will be able to do the same.
