The Atlanta Falcons moved on from head coach Arthur Smith this offseason, firing him after three years on the job. He returns to Atlanta on Sunday as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he is all business. Or, well, perhaps mostly business, according to the Steelers player who may know him best, MyCole Pruitt.
“If I know [Arthur Smith], he’s definitely thought about that one”, Pruitt said, via Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “He wants to get back at ‘em. He wants to win every game, but when you’re playing your former team, you definitely circle that one”.
Smith has coached Pruitt for a long time, though not 100 percent continuously. The two are now on their third team together. They initiated their partnership in 2018 when the Tennessee Titans signed Pruitt, Smith then the tight ends coach. They have spent every season together since then minus 2021, when Smtih took the Falcons job. He brought Pruitt along a year later in 2022, carrying him over to his third team in 2024 in Pittsburgh.
The son of a billionaire, Arthur Smith had a leg up in life, but he worked his way up the coaching ranks, starting as a graduate assistant way back when. The Falcons job is the first one he ever lost, ending a string of promotions in Tennessee. Now back to offensive coordinator, Smith is looking to prove himself all over again. And Pruitt is there to help.
Arthur Smith began his coaching career at North Carolina in 2006 as a graduate assistant. Prior to that, he played collegiately along the offensive line, but often dealt with injuries. No doubt his father aided in his becoming a defensive quality control coach for the Washington Commanders one year later, a job he held for two years. He returned to the NFL in 2011 with the Titans as a defensive quality control coach, working his way all the way up to offensive coordinator.
Interestingly, the year in which MyCole Pruitt earned his most playing time was in 2021. Arthur Smith had already left for the Atlanta Falcons job by then. In his two seasons with Smith in Atlanta, Pruitt did play over 700 snaps.
In Pittsburgh, however, Pruitt is the third or fourth tight end. As much as Smith might like him, he now has Pat Freiermuth and Darnell Washington as well as Connor Heyward. But Smith loves using tight ends, so he’ll surely find a use for his old standby, Pruitt. His former players, by the way, still like him.
Smith also has three other players from his Atlanta offense on the roster in Cordarrelle Patterson, Scotty Miller, and Van Jefferson. Mackey quotes Jefferson as saying with a laugh, “I’m pretty sure it’s in the back of his mind”, referring to his giving extra consideration to playing his former employer.
As professional as you try to be, there is always a personal element. If MyCole Pruitt is saying it about Arthur Smith, you can probably believe it. All of his former Falcons players now with the Steelers are saying or insinuating the same thing. He wants this win in Atlanta on a personal level.
