Nine games into his first season as offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, Arthur Smith is pushing all the right buttons and has the Steelers’ offense rolling.
He’s doing exactly what many expected when the Steelers hired him in February to fix the offense.
That fix might not last long as Smith could find himself back in the head-coaching market after the 2024 season.
For Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr, Smith is one of the top candidates for a head coaching job next season in the NFL.
In a piece highlighting the 27 top head coach candidates in the NFL, Smith was featured by Orr, which shouldn’t be a surprise considering Smith was a head coach for three years in Atlanta before being fired and landing in Pittsburgh.
“Arthur Smith, the former Atlanta head coach, was 21–30 in three years with the Falcons during a time of roster tumult. The team had to sit on massive dead-cap hits following the losses of program stalwarts such as Matt Ryan and Julio Jones. Smith’s quarterback for a majority of his time was former University of Cincinnati standout Desmond Ridder. Now in Pittsburgh, Smith is at the helm of a dramatically improved Steelers offense that has won games with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson,” Orr writes regarding Smith as a potential head coaching candidate once again.
Things didn’t end all that well in Atlanta for Smith as he was fired after a third-straight 7-10 season. What he couldn’t figure out in Atlanta was the quarterback situation. In Pittsburgh he’s navigated the Justin Fields and Russell Wilson dynamic perfectly, helping the Steelers’ offense play complementary football for a loaded defense, leading to an uptick in scoring, a better rushing attack and a big-play passing game.
Getting that chance to reset after being head coach was something that Smith stated he was embracing and enjoying during training camp, and not much has changed during the season, either. He’s having fun being one of the guys and is scheming up ways for the Steelers to attack opposing defenses in a big way.
Since Wilson was inserted into the starting lineup in Week 7, the Steelers are scoring more than 30 points per game, which has helped them get to 7-2 on the season. In the process, some great storylines have been generated for the Steelers, including the renaissance of Wilson, which could put some very positive attention on Smith once again.
It remains to be seen if he wants to jump right back head coaching after just one year off, but there are only 32 jobs available, and the work he’s doing in Pittsburgh is rather good.
Outside of Smith being a top head coaching candidate worth monitoring, Orr highlighted Steelers wide receivers coach Zach Azzanni as a “rising offensive coach” in the NFL.
To call him a rising coach now seems like a bit of a stretch, considering he’s been in the NFL for eight seasons as a wide receivers coach with four different teams. He’s had success at all four stops, including Chicago, Denver, the New York Jets and now Pittsburgh.
He’s getting the best out of a room with plenty of questions, too, and has helped George Pickens take off in Year 3. It’s good to see him get some national attention as the 48-year-old coach continues to quietly be one of the better coaches at his craft and is generating quite a bit of buzz locally.
