The Pittsburgh Steelers did not waste any time hiring their new offensive coordinator.  The team announced that former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith will be their new OC for 2024.  Smith had three straight seasons finishing 7-10 in Atlanta.  It’s not very impressive on the surface, but he was not hired for what he did as a head coach.  Arthur Smith was hired for what he did as offensive coordinator with the Tennessee Titans.

The 2020 season in particular made Smith one of the hottest head coaching candidates in the league.  That season, the Titans averaged 29.6 points per game.  That was good for fourth overall in the NFL that year.  Their 386 yards per game was good for 5th overall, and the 3.7 touchdowns per game was third that season.  The Titans offense that year was extremely affective, but what’s more important is his they got there.

The Titans were well known as a power running team with the likes of Derrick Henry leading the way.  Tennessee’s overall philosophy of running the ball, with a conservative play action pass offense is exactly what Mike Tomlin is trying to build in Pittsburgh.  One could characterize it as Tomlin’s dream scenario.

Just look at the way the Steelers have drafted over the past four seasons.  They drafted their version of Derrick Henry by selecting Najee Harris in the 2021 draft. They also added a tight end in Pat Freiermuth, and a physical tackle in Dan Moore.  The next year, the Steelers got their serviceable, but unspectacular version of Ryan Tannehill in Kenny Pickett.  They capped off the transformation in 2023 by adding a hulking tackle in Broderick Jones, and possibly the best run blocking tackle in years with Darnell Washington.  The only thing missing was the right play caller to pull it all together.

As luck would have it, the architect of that Titans offense was fired from his head coaching duties just a few weeks ago.  Unbeknownst to the rest of us, the Steelers had their man.  Sure, the team went through a few candidates.  They fulfilled their obligation for the Rooney rule.  Interviewed a Sean McVay disciple just to show they were being progressive in their search.  But that was all just window dressing.  Arthur Smith was the guy the minute he became unemployed.  The proof lies in the fact he was one of only three candidates interviewed.  Surely if this was an open process there would have been closer to ten interviews with a wider range of experiences.  Steelers offensive coordinator candidates: Part II

So the big question now is will this work? Does this get the Steelers to where they want to be in terms of playoff success.  The short answer is yes…sort of.  Arthur Smith is undoubtedly the best candidate to run the style of offense Mike Tomlin wants to run.  The real question is can that offense work in the 2024 NFL landscape?  Can a run first offense compete with the pass attacks of Kansas City, Cincinnati, and Buffalo?  We have serious doubts if it can, but at least now the team has a competent offensive coordinator.  We will see the best version of this offense in 2024.  How far it gets them remains to be seen.

Check out our latest podcast to get our reactions to the Arthur Smith hire here:https://www.buzzsprout.com/1981237/14410659-episode-75-emergency-pod-steelers-name-new-oc-arthur-smith