On January 30, 2024, it was known that former Falcons’ head coach, Arthur Smith, was signing with the Pittsburgh Steelers to be the team’s new offensive coordinator. Smith will fill the OC role after Matt Canada’s firing. Arthur spent his first 8 years as a coach in the NFL with the Titans as an offensive mind. Smith spent time coaching the offensive line and tight ends before being promoted to offensive coordinator in 2019. In his first year as the team’s coordinator, Smith had the 12 ranked offense as well as having the 3 best rushing offense in the league. The Titans would finish the season going 9-7 and making the playoffs. The Titans would go on to have great playoff success, upsetting the Tom Brady led Patriots and the #1 seeded Baltimore Ravens. Tennessee would later lose to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game. Nonetheless, hopes were high for the new OC. Players such as Ryan Tannehill and Derrick Henry looked better than ever under Smith’s coaching.
In 2020, the Titans would improve in both winning and statistics. The team went 11-5 and had the 3 ranked total offense. Derrick Henry led Tennessee to the league’s 2 best rushing offense. The pass game would also become stronger as Ryan Tannehill had a career-high 40 total touchdowns. The team would also make the playoffs but would lose in the wild card round to the Ravens. With 2 years of offensive coordinator experience and 2 top tier offenses in those years, Smith would go on to sign a 6-year contract with the Atlanta Falcons to become their new head coach. Smith would replace longtime head coach in Dan Quinn. And in his first year as head coach, the Falcons went 7-10 behind 36-year-old Matt Ryan and a return specialist as his number 1 rusher, in Cordarrelle Patterson. Smith’s offense was 16 in passing and 31 is rushing. The Falcons’ line-up was not ideal for a contending offense.
The following year, the Falcons would bring in talent such as Drake London, Rashaad Evans, Casey Heyward Jr, as well as many others. Both the defense and offense were heavily improved from the previous and showed some promise. Nonetheless, the team would go 7-10 once more. Smith went back to his normal fantastic rushing form as his offense finished 3 in rushing. But with underwhelming quarterback play, the team struggled to win games. 2023 was Arthur Smith’s prove it year. Which means Smith would need to show development and better production to be able to keep his job as the Falcons’ head coach. The Falcons had the most complete offense since Smith had been the head coach. Arthur Smith had 3 former top 10 picks in, Drake London, Kyle Pitts, and Bijan Robinson to better his offense. In addition, the Falcons had one the league’s best offensive-line in the league. Except for the question mark at quarterback, the offense looked finally complete.
The team would go 7-10 for the 3 straight year and both the fans of Atlanta and the owner, Arthur Blank, were upset with the constant failure of the team and all eyes were pointed at Arthur Smith. After the Falcons’ 17-48 loss, the team would announce that they would be parting ways with Smith. Smith was fired on January 8 and signed with the Steelers a little under 3 weeks later. The Steelers shared their own offensive struggles. The team’s former OC, Matt Canda, was downright terrible. From 2021 to his mid-season release, the offense was 28 in both yards per game and points per game. Canada’s offense was ridiculed by fans and analysts due to his poor offensive play calling. The Steelers were very hopeful and excited about who was going to be the next Steelers’ offensive coordinator.
Due to the Steelers’ offensive situation, it makes sense to why the Steelers would sign someone like Arthur Smith. The Steelers had one of the most effective running games in the league. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are a top tier running back duo in the league and with competent coaching. And who else is better than a coach who was been top 10 in rushing the past 4 of out 5 seasons. Smith turned players such as return specialist, Cordarrelle Patterson, and 5 round pick, Tyler Allgeier to become prominent players in the offense. Najee and Warren were both productive with one of the worst offensive play-callers ever and with the right coaching, they have the upside to become the best running back duo in the league.
As for the quarterback position, Russell Wilson is in a similar situation that Ryan Tannehill was in back in 2019. Both veteran guys, who look like they are declining and nearing the end of their careers. Arthur Smith was able to coach Ryan Tannehill to his very best and led Tannehill to have the 2 best years of his career under Smith as his OC. Smith could do the same thing with the Steelers’ new quarterback. Russ still has the production and leadership to continue being in the league. But Wilson still has some flaws which need to be corrected. Which is where Smith can help.
This signing can also help Pat Freiermuth and the rest of the young tight end corps. Jonnu Smith was a player under Arthur Smith’s coaching from 2017 to 2020 as well as 2023. Jonnu has played with Arthur Smith also for his whole career and when Jonnu was with the Patriots, his stats and production dropped. Arthur Started his career as the Titans’ offensive-line and tight end coach. There were complaints about the usage of former 4 overall pick, Kyle Pitts, as the highest tight end ever drafted did not seem to have the biggest impact in Arthur Smith’s offense. It could have been that Pitts is a different tight end than most. Pitts is a receiver in a tight end’s body. Standing 6’6 and 240 pounds, running a 4.49 40-yard-dash as well. Smith coached bigger tight ends, like Jonnu Smith, who played more traditionally to the tight end position. The Steelers’ tight end core is very young and full of development. Arthur Smith is expected to do great this with this corps.
This Steelers offense is full of potential from quarterback, to running back, to even tight end. Steelers fans and analysts both expect more scoring and more yards in the future with Smith as the offensive coordinator. Smith hopes to redeem himself as a top offensive coordinator. Overall, this signing is a huge win for all parties involved.