Multiple outlets reported Saturday that Ohio State is poised to hire Arthur Smith as its next offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n
Smith, who most recently spent two seasons as an executive with the Pittsburgh Steelers and had been the Atlanta Falcons\u2019 head coach three years earlier, is expected to take over for Brian Hartline on a Buckeyes offense that includes Heisman finalist Julian Sane at quarterback and Biletnikov Trophy winner Jeremiah Smith at wide receiver.<\/p>\n
Mike Tomlin brought Smith into Pittsburgh before the 2024 NFL campaign after Smith\u2019s 2021\u20132023 stretch as Atlanta\u2019s head coach.<\/p>\n
Tomlin reportedly stepped down from that role earlier this month, bringing his 19-season run as the Steelers\u2019 head coach to an end and ushering in a new chapter for the franchise.<\/p>\n
When Smith took charge of Pittsburgh\u2019s offense in 2024 the expectations weren\u2019t high, but amid ongoing turnover at quarterback he has managed to lift the unit\u2019s performance.<\/p>\n
Through much of his tenure \u2014 at least until Darnell Washington\u2019s late-season injury \u2014 the Steelers relied heavily on 13-man groupings, frequently deploying three-tight-end packages.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh averaged 127.4 rushing yards per game a season ago, good for 11th in the league; this year the team slipped to 26th, down to 103.3 yards per game on the ground. Still, a late-season surge led by Jalen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell produced a 149 rushing yards-per-game average over the final four regular-season contests as the Steelers secured the AFC North title and a playoff berth.<\/p>\n
Smith has also faced criticism for how he distributes touches to key playmakers. There were notable instances \u2014 such as a Falcons game when Bijan Robinson was oddly underused \u2014 and Pat Freiermuth\u2019s scarce targets became a recurring talking point during Pittsburgh\u2019s season.<\/p>\n
This article is being updated.<\/p>\n
Fan Take: This hire matters because it highlights the growing interchange between NFL and college coaching staffs, and fans should watch how Smith\u2019s pro-style approaches translate to the college game. If successful, his move could influence offensive trends and recruiting, while also shaping how NFL teams evaluate coordinators returning to the college ranks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Multiple outlets reported Saturday that Ohio State is poised to hire Arthur Smith as its next offensive coordinator. Smith, who most recently spent two seasons as an executive with the Pittsburgh Steelers and had been the Atlanta Falcons\u2019 head coach three years earlier, is expected to take over for Brian Hartline on a Buckeyes offense […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38782,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[859],"tags":[860],"class_list":{"0":"post-38781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-nfl"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}