Prior to landing with the Pittsburgh Steelers on Feb. 2 as their new offensive coordinator, Arthur Smith nearly had another home in the AFC following his abrupt firing from the Atlanta Falcons following three seasons of 7-10 records as the head coach.
According to The Athletic’s Dianna Russini in the first episode of her new podcast with former NFL QB Chase Daniel, the New York Jets had targeted Smith as their new offensive coordinator. The Jets were kicking around the idea of bringing someone in to oversee the offense, above current coordinator Nathaniel Hackett after a disastrous 2023 season that went off the rails four plays into the season when quarterback Aaron Rodgers tore his Achilles.
“I think it was quite apparent that there weren’t a lot of answers. Once Aaron Rogers went down on offense, they really struggled, specifically in the red zone, last year. And there’s a lot of reasons. But Nathaniel Hackett appears to have lost his fastball,” Russini said, according to audio of “Scoop City” on Spotify. “So the Jets went out this offseason and just started to poke around, make some phone calls. Arthur Smith, the current Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator, was one of those coaches that the Jets were talking to about possibly bringing in to be part of the play calling process here with Aaron Rogers.
“And Aaron Rogers was informed of it. He was aware of it, and in the end, he [Smith] wound up going to Pittsburgh.”
In previous reporting from SNY’s Connor Hughes, the Jets were believed to have pursued a hire that would have overseen Hackett on the offensive side. According to Hughes, the hire would have been as an assistant head coach-type next to head coach Robert Saleh, keeping Hackett in his role as offensive coordinator, but with a guy overseeing the offense.
It marks the second straight offseason that Hackett has been in the news due to questions about his ability to coach. If you remember, Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton ripped into Hackett last year, stating that Hackett’s coaching job as head coach of the Broncos in 2022 was one of the worst coaching jobs ever, leading to Payton inheriting a mess.
Hackett handled it well, downplaying it through the media, but players stood up for him, including Rodgers, who ripped into Payton. The Jets went on to beat the Broncos last season on the road without Rodgers, giving Hackett the last word in the situation.
Now, with the start of training camp just a week away, it’s clear who the Jets were looking to bring in over Hackett for 2024. That is Smith, based on Russini’s reporting. Ironically, the Jets travel to take on the Steelers in 2024 in Week 7 on Sunday Night Football.
It’s interesting to think about what if when it comes to the situation based on Russini’s reporting. Would Smith have taken the Jets job and overseen an offense heavy on influence from Rodgers and his past relationship with Hackett? Would that have been a tenable situation?
Where would the Steelers have pivoted had Smith taken the Jets job? There are some interesting “what-ifs” there with the whole situation, which has had new light shed on it from Russini in an interesting nugget dropped from the longtime insider.
Ultimately, Smith chose the Steelers and takes over an offense in need of a major overhaul after three poor seasons under former offensive coordinator Matt Canada. Hackett remains the offensive coordinator in New York with nobody overseeing him, allowing him to work closely with Rodgers.
Week 7 on Sunday Night Football should be fun.
