Is Arthur Smith the Answer?
It was all fun and games to poke fun at Arthur Smith while he was coaching the Atlanta Falcons and mismanaging Bijan Robinson’s workload, losing to the one-win Carolina Panthers, or running five-wide empty sets where his players made mind-boggling mistakes. Read is Arthur Smith the answer below.
These are just a few of the reasons Smith was fired after three seasons as the Falcon’s head coach. The main reason is the missed evaluation at the quarterback position when they drafted Desmond Ridder, who has shown zero evidence that he could be a legitimate starter in this league.
Smith has returned to the role of offensive coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers, a position he thrived at while with the Tennessee Titans. In 2020 he led an offense that saw Derrick Henry rush for over 2,000 yards and rank in the top 10 in every statistical category.
Coaching Tree?
The Steelers and specifically Mike Tomlin decided it was time to bring in a proven coach as the offensive coordinator. Smith’s hire is significant as the Tomlin detractors always point to his reluctance to bring in outside coaches, with some fans and media speculating this was to hide his own inadequacies.
Yes, this is the NFL stuff we talk about in July, the week training camp starts. Conspiracy theories about the hiring practice of the Steelers’ front office.
There is some merit to this argument as Todd Haley was the last coordinator hired outside of the organization. But this hardly falls on Tomlin as Haley’s hire in 2012 was the first offensive coordinator in 13 years to be hired from outside the organization. The “Steelers Way” is finding consistency with its coaches and promoting from within. A philosophy that has boded well for an organization with six Super Bowl titles. However, this team hasn’t won a playoff game in seven years with their last Super Bowl appearance coming after the 2010 season.
After the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers continued the tradition of promoting “home-grown” coaches with Matt Canada taking over the offense after two years as the quarterback coach. As we have well documented, this decision was an unmitigated disaster.
Run-First Approach
Last season, the Steelers with Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren at running back finished 13th in rushing for an average of 113 yards per game. Smith was hired to build on the team’s late season success (post Canada firing) which relied heavily on this run game and propelled them to the playoffs.
“I think we have two high-performing running backs in Najee (Harris) and Jaylen (Warren),” Steelers president Art Rooney II said earlier this week. “They, along with an improving offensive line, can be the foundation of success going forward.”
Smith will quickly need to evaluate and help Tomlin decide on the starting quarterback going into this season. Russell Wilson and Justin Fields will be battling for the starter position, with Wilson getting first team reps to start the training camp. Both quarterbacks are playing on one-year contracts and have something to prove. Smith was able to resurrect Ryan Tannehill’s career in 2020 when he threw 33 touchdowns and seven interceptions. Obviously, a key factor when the team was evaluating him as the next coordinator.
New-Look Offense
There will be noticeable differences to the Steelers offense right out of the gate. The system under Canada ran mostly 11-personell sets which is three wide receivers, one tight end and one running back. Smith with the Falcons last year ran mostly 12 personnel with two wide receivers, one tight end and two running backs. They were also in the top 10 in the NFL in terms of usage of two – and three-tight end packages. Which they may need to rely on if they don’t sign another wide receiver before the start of the season.
The question remains if the Steelers’ run-first approach will work in the heavily contested AFC North. It seemed to work last season with sub-par coaching and quarterback play. The moves this offseason were made to get this team back on track to win a championship. There is a sense that if they don’t win a playoff game in the next couple years that the Rooney’s will blow up the entire coaching staff. Let’s see what happens this year with a motivated head coach, offensive coordinator and veteran quarterbacks leading the way.
