Pittsburgh Steelers first-year offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was in the news this week as UNC, which recently informed its head coach he would not be returning for 2025, reached out to Arthur Smith to gauge interest in being its head coach. According to Ian Rapoport on X, Smith informed UNC that he is not a candidate and wants to stay with the Steelers for now.
“The Steelers offensive coordinator, who had been under consideration for the position of new head football coach at the University of North Carolina, is staying with Pittsburgh and will be there for the foreseeable future,” Rapoport wrote via NFL.com. “Smith recently informed UNC that he should not be considered a candidate, sources say.”
Smith said as much on Thursday during his coordinator media availability when he confirmed there were preliminary talks. Still, he said he wasn’t interested and that he and his family love Pittsburgh.
“I have one of the best jobs in football right now,” Smith said.
He said that he would have jumped at any head coach opportunity a few years ago, but he is not at that place in his career right now. He has already climbed to the top of the coaching world as an NFL head coach. It would make sense for him to wait for the right opportunity. Keep in mind that he is the son of a billionaire—money isn’t exactly the motivator.
Smith played college football at UNC from 2001 to 2005 and was a grad assistant there for his first coaching gig. He told the media on Thursday that he still loves that place, but that doesn’t mean he is interested in a change in his career right now.
While it hasn’t been perfect in Pittsburgh so far with the on-field results, the offense is considerably better than the Matt Canada years. They are 14th in scoring right now with 22.9 points per game.
NFL insider Dianna Russini also suggested he will draw interest around the league in the head coach hiring cycle this year, and Rapoport reiterated that.
“The former Falcons head coach is likely to get consideration for NFL head coaching jobs this cycle,” Rapoport wrote.
Never say never, but it sounds like he wants to remain with the Steelers for a while longer.
