Arthur Smith took over as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator position ahead of the 2024 season. His first year was an eventful one, to say the least. There were good moments, but his offense still lacked the fire it needed as the season came to a close, which has become a yearly tradition in Pittsburgh.
NFL analyst Gregg Rosenthal is starting to grow wary of Smith.
“I do feel like there’s, maybe, a dichotomy between how Arthur Smith gets talked about sometimes nationally,” Rosenthal said Monday on his NFL Daily show. “He’s still skating on some of those Titans offenses, which now are a little bit in the rearview mirror. What is Arthur Smith, really, in 2025? I’m getting more dubious by the year, I’ll say that.”
Those Titans offenses were impressive. Their success is a big reason for the opportunities Smith has been provided with since. His performance as the Titans’ OC helped him become the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons from 2021-2023, but things didn’t go too well there. When he left the Titans, Smith was held in high regard due to that high-powered offense and his work with Ryan Tannehill, who greatly improved under his coaching.
However, there were two other massive reasons as to why that offense was so successful in Derrick Henry and A.J. Brown. Arthur Smith tried to replicate that success in Atlanta, and it didn’t work. He tried to do the same in Pittsburgh in 2024. There were fun moments, but the offense couldn’t score more than 20 points a game during the final month of the season.
Granted, Smith didn’t have the easiest task. QB1 Russell Wilson dealt with a recurring calf injury, which kept sidelined him for the first six weeks of the season. Smith adjusted well on short notice and helped Justin Fields lead Pittsburgh to a 4-2 start. Once Wilson returned, Smith adjusted well again. The Steelers won six of their first seven games with Wilson under center.
We’re all well-aware of how things fell off a cliff after that, though. And there were also reported disagreements between Smith and Wilson.
Now, Smith is heading into an interesting time in his coaching career. He’s still riding the high from his time with the Titans. Since then, there isn’t a ton of success to his name. The Jets did interview him for their head coach opening this offseason, so the NFL world does seem to have a favorable view of Smith. However, if he can’t help turn the Steelers’ offense around in 2025, more questions will start to come his way. Smith needs to bring more to the table this year.
