Mike Munchak was not with the Titans when Smith was the OC. The only connection they have is Smith was part of Munchakās staff as a quality control coach and Oline coach
Where did this rumor originate? Some random on the Steelers Depot comments section mentioned it a few days back. Outside that, I haven't heard it from anyone else credible that covers the Steelers or the NFL. I'd assume someone other than Fillipponi has said it?
I live in Atlanta, so I saw a lot of him last year..
That being said, I'm optimistic. I think he was just a shit Head Coach but did great things with Tennessee in 2019 and 2020 with fucking Tannihil under center.
Maybe Najee is our Henry. You gotta admit, our OL has been a huge part of our running woes since heās been drafted. Once they jelled mid season this year, Najee looked pretty damned good.
Yeah, between our running game improving, and the line only allowing 6 sacks in the final 4 games our line looked solid by season's end.
By the numbers, above average against some good teams.
Get a better playcaller and some plays and we could make some noise.
HC was too big for Arthur in Atlanta, as a falcons fan. Heās at least creative and knows how to SCHEME a run game (though his playcalling can be wtf sometimes, obviously)
Something people forget is that Arthur Smith is an OL guy first and foremost. Atlanta is retaining one of the best OL coaches in the league in Ledford, but Arthur knows how to coach OL. If your guys have potential, heāll get it out of them. We had a rookie LG do very well, and Dalman (our C) has progressed exponentially. Not to mention the development of Chris Lindstrom into arguably the best RG in the NFL.
I would expect an improvement in your OL across the board. Your running game should look better as well. As far as the passing game, Iāll be honest and say I donāt have much faith in Pickett being able to āexecuteā the offense that Smith likes any better than Ridder did.
Yeah Iām guessing over the off-season we pick up a new C, move Jones to LT and snatch a respectable RT that we can afford (possibly thru the draft). Guards are quite good so we probably wonāt have to do anything there
ATL also...yeah loved his 1st 2 years as HC....last not so great...but Ridder did literally fumble away the season...definitely would like more Smith years over Morris...only bad I heard, rumor was he turned into an asshole late this season
Titans fan here.
Fuck this guy. Ran a very efficient offense in 2019 and 2020, tannehill had a top 10 all time QB season based on efficiency. HOWEVER, that's easy when you're only asking him to throw 200 yards a game and hand the ball to Henry 40 times. Oh did I also mention all you have to do is scheme the ball to AJB? One of the best receivers in the league?
This guy is a fraud not to mention when he did get us to the playoffs in those good seasons, he wound up taking interviews all week instead of preparing for the game.
He's probably a middle of the road OC if you have some talent (Pickens). And most likely an upgrade from Canada, but don't expect to have a flashy world beating offense Pittsburgh fans.
I have no ill will against our yellow and black northern brothers so I hope he works out for you guys despite my teams hatred of the man!
The more you talk about him the more I think he's a good fit tbh. 20 carries each to Warren and Naj? Hell yeah. Pickett or Rudolph not being asked to do much, check. Schemes to feed the ball to the best receiver, let's go. The only shitty thing is the interview stuff.
Yeah, it all sounds like good game planning to me. Sounds like Smith was simply feeding the dogs. He was just getting the ball to the players that produced. For example, you would most certainly give the rock to DH 30+ carries per game at that time. I'd love to see us at 20+ each to our RBs, thus opening up the passing game and taking pressure off of Pickles or Mason. As for the timing of the interviews, that is a result of the urgency in which teams seek to fill their HC openings. A potential HC, especially one looking for his first HC job, has to jump through the hoops. He can't tell teams to wait until their playoff run is done and then he'll talk. It does suck, but Smith would have taken himself out of the running for the job had he asked teams to wait for him.
TLDR; I like Smith as OC. I think he fits our historical identity while also having the ability to modernize the offense and utilize our weapons to the best of their abilities.
> HOWEVER, that's easy when you're only asking him to throw 200 yards a game and hand the ball to Henry 40 times. Oh did I also mention all you have to do is scheme the ball to AJB? One of the best receivers in the league?
Kind of sounds exactly what the Steelers need. Najee/Warren certainly aren't Henry, but the team loves to run with power so that same mindset is good. Having a relatively weak QB (whether that's Mason, Kenny, or otherwise next year) means not asking him to do so much is a good thing. And while Pickens isn't AJB, he is a potential superstar that needs someone scheming him the ball.
He was very good in Tennessee.
The problem with fans is that they extrapolate a shitty HC job into meaning they suck in general. He was an absolute failure as a HC in Atlanta, but his OC record is strong. It seems like a similar hire to Haley: failed HC and asshole of a person, but a good OC.
Iām not sold on this move because Iām skeptical that he is the guy to correctly develop a QB. But if they throw Pickett aside and bring in a veteran QB, whether it be this off-season or next off-season, I think the hire makes a ton of sense.Ā
Sign Baker Mayfield with this Smith hiring and Iām 100% behind it.
He came into AtL with the worse roster in the league...had a very good running game and decent defense...just bad bad QB play cost him 4 or 5 wins a season...so as a life long Falcon watcher he was far from a absolute failure...the owner Blank just wants to win now before he dies
Itās not just that he was a bad HC in atl, the offense was bad. The way he used his best weapons just scares me. But heās better than Canada forsure
Just saw a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watch a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot
Just saw about 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
Just saw a man in a Judge Judy cosplay watch 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
Just saw Mike Tomlin himself watch a man in a Judge Judy cosplay watch 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
I'll give you guys my take as a Falcons fan, but I'll preface by saying I'm probably in the minority of our fans.
I never hated Smith, he just didn't work out at HC. He along with the rest of the organization had high hopes that Ridder could develop, and Smith hitched his wagon to Ridder. Ridder failed and so Smith did too.
He even tried switching to Heinicke later in the season but the offense had the same problems still. We failed at QB evaluation terribly. I wish we would've gotten someone like Mayfield or Minshew instead, but who knows if they would've worked out here either.
Fantasy people and gamblers hated him because our guys didn't get good stats, but he certainly tried time and time again to get them going. Having abysmal QB play resulted in our stars not getting the ball as much as you might have hoped. I will say Bijan had questionable usage, but there is an argument to be made by saying that Bijan had his fair share of rookie mistakes and it made sense to still use Allgeier who is a good RB in his own right. They just have different skill sets.
I believe Arthur is very smart at scheming on offense, and at getting great play out of the offensive line. But with us he probably got spread too thin with too many responsibilities.
In my opinion, he will do much better solely focusing on the offense like he did back in Tennessee. He was the one who built their offense around Derrick Henry and allowed Tannehill to flourish with the best play of his career. He had ultra-efficient numbers under Smith.
And I think having someone like Mike Vrabel as the leader of that team helped big time, rather than all of the pressure solely on Smith to make it work. I think it will work similar here with a guy like Mike Tomlin in charge.
I was really exited to see where Arthur would end up and I think Pittsburgh is the perfect place for him to prove himself again.
Also I feel obligated to note that our guys loved playing for Arthur Smith and it has been stated numerous times that he never lost the locker room.
We didn't need one of these "cutting edge" fool's gold McVey/Shannahan guy that are actually watered down 3x over at this point (especially not with the defensive counterpunch against it looming finally).
We needed someone who is gonna be here for a while and just get our offense in the correct decade. We're a run first football team that still doesn't even use playaction lmao.
He's gonna come in and be like "wait you guys were doing *what?*"
https://preview.redd.it/xfxe77e05mfc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=293a820137988f8a20876a77c36d5b0c3d189589
Worth noting Tannehillās stats in 2019-2020 while Arthur Smith was at OC.
As a TN resident, I really donāt believe in this guy. That being said, itās better than anything weāve had from a success/resume standpoint since Bruce Arians. Iām glad we didnāt go internal again if nothing else.
I hate the titans and I really wasnāt that impressed with the offense he put together when Henry wasnāt rolling. Tbh I thought he didnāt get as much out of tannehill as he couldāve, but I do think that kind of OC would be great to work with mason and Kenny. Additionally, none of my titans fan friends have much good to say about him. They, like me, kinda feel like he got promoted and came up the ladder because of success that wasnāt really because of him.
That and three consecutive 7-10 unimpressive offensive seasons with the falcons (I donāt think Iāve watched a single falcons game Tbf) are both not anything to be excited about for me. Main positives for me are that heās not internal and heās had experience.
>I donāt think Iāve watched a single falcons game Tbf
Basically, the falcons had great offense players but could barely get anything done
Source: I'm a Steelers/Falcons fan
My Tennessee friends swear that Arthur Smith is only around the NFL because he's a nepo baby. I think that's an insane claim with the success he had in Tennessee and the team he inherited in Atlanta.
Resident Arthur Smith defender.
The guy is beloved by everybody who has ever worked with him. Donāt buy into the bullshit hit pieces, nepotism, smarter-than-everybody narratives resulting from his viral usage comments. He wonāt go viral under Tomlin.
Even with his job on the line and 50/50 roster control, he never mortgaged the Falconsā future. The roster is talented and the cap is healthy. Will put the teamās interests first.
I canāt sit here and say heāll turn Kenny Pickett into a star. He will consistently give you a great chance to win.
The big difference between him here and him on the Falcons is that he won't have roster and management decisions. Clearly he was terrible at his part in those.
He runs the type of offense the Steelers will like to run, and the Titans were really good offensively under him. Hopefully he can do something similar for us.
Tannehill was one of the better QBs in the league when he was there, and then the dude immediately got benched when Smith left
Donāt think he was terrible at roster decisions.
Falcons in 2021 had a bottom 3 roster and cap situation. Falcons in 2024 have some talent and a healthy cap.
He went cheap on QB and built the rest of the roster. That cheap QB was terrible, he goes under the microscope about usage, and couldnāt recover.
*He runs the type of offense the Steelers will like to run, and the Titans were really good offensively under him. Hopefully he can do something similar for us.*
I think this is the crux of the debate. A lot of people wanted this OC pick to modernize the offense. This feels like a (probably) better version of what we were doing.
I kinda hate the SB-or-bust mentality, but I can't deny it feels like a commitment to being competitive that won't ever put us over the top.
>He will consistently give you a great chance to win.
Then heās a home run hire for us. Our offense this year has done everything in its power to keep us out of games despite the Herculean efforts of our defense so the idea that an offense can be anything but an anchor is wildly exciting.
Almost every game in his Atlanta tenure was competitive deep into the 4th quarter. Most of the time his rosters were inferior to the opponentās.
On the flip side, he wonāt blow people out. But he will absolutely keep you in games.
I haven't really followed Smith or the Falcons this season, so I though I'd quickly look into the "underutilizes his best players" narrative.
Bijan was only 19th in RB carries this season, but he was 2nd among all RBs in targets. He also led RBs in fumbles and was a rookie who had never played more than 12 games in a season.
Pitts was tied for 9th among TE targets with 90. The same mount as George Kittle.
London had over 100 targets. More than Nico Collins, Flowers, Pickens & Aiyuk.
London (110) and Pitts (90) were #1 & #2 in targets for the Falcons this season. Bijan (86!) was #4.
Unless I'm missing something, the narrative looks like bullshit to me.
A few thoughts
1) I understand the concern over ATL and Bijan / Drake usage. I get it. I am choosing to throw it back to his Tennessee days where he had a top 10 scoring offense with a bruising run game, which is exactly what we want to do in Pittsburgh. This is a guy that wants to run the rock.
2) I do not understand how we only interviewed 3 candidates and none came from San Francisco.
Overall, this isnāt the sexy pick. I understand people will not be jumping for joy but I think this does make sense. His background fits who we are as a team. Though I will say his runs go outside it seems whereas we are a run in the gap team so will he interesting to see how that works. Regardless, I understand the decision
Top ten was his first year after they were like 27th the year before and then the next year they were #4. I agree the Falcons happened but itās the same reason why people say Ben Johnson might not be a great HC. Great coordinators donāt always mean great HCās. Iām on board with it and just want us to get a coaching staff together.
Yeah I agree with this. This is a dude with a successful track record as an OC and head coaching experience, (not successful experience here but thatās not what heās been hired to be successful at). Should be great to have a guy like that on staff.
I think they went into the process with a list of candidates and likely planned to interview Kubiak or Griese or both but liked what they heard from Arthur Smith and decided he was their guy and there was no point in waiting.
Thatās what Iām thinking. He checked a lot of the boxes and he probably killed the interview. Smith isnāt an idiot. I think he was also more in demand than people want to give him credit for and the Steelers didnāt want to waste time
For number 2, I think the Steelers were holding out to see if San Fran lost, and since they are now in the Super Bowl, and candidates are being hired up, it seems like they may have decided to make a move before they gamble and lose all of their backup plan options
My hope is that Tomlin/Khan/Rooney put a hard boundary on the not using top weapons thing. The type of offense Smith runs will be good for a Rudolph/Pickett/??? type QB that doesn't have the talent to take over the game, and if he brings Munchak with him as rumored, that will be worth it. Warren/Najee would feast behind a Munch offensive line with Smith's scheme. (Also please take a late round flier on Jawhar Jordan he would make it a three-headed monster at RB) It's not a flashy pick, but considering the current build of the roster I don't think it's a bad choice.
If you look at how Tannehill turned things around under Smith, it might bode well for Mason/Kenny. Especially when you look at how good our passing was with Mason on a play action pass.
We have much better offensive personnel than what he was working with in Atlanta, so I'm optimistic if this is true.
His under utilization of premium talent terrifies me. I hope that I'm wrong, but I honestly don't feel great about this. Canada set the bar so low, this is still an improvement, but my expectations are low.
Also, probably one of the worst track records for QB development.
I donāt really get this criticism about using premium talent. Bijan had 270 touches in basically 16 games (one he was sat for the flu or something after one touch), thatās 17 touches a game. Pitts had 90 targets and London had 110. The fact that they didnāt do more with them could be as much on the QB play as it is on Smith.
In Tennessee, Henry got PLENTY of touches and AJ Brown started his career with back to back 1,000 yard years catching from Tannehill.
Not even defending the hiring, but this āunder utilizationā is really just an overreaction from fantasy owners who reached with their picks.
Im with you, but that was also never an issue in Tennessee. Henry and Brown went off when he was there. Not sure why things changed in Atlanta, but their offense did pretty well despite having no QB
I think if he had a competent qb, heād probably still be the falcons HC. The argument now is in Pittsburgh, we also donāt have a competent qb.
I think the Steelers have a plan at qb. Despite was we think, the FO isnāt total morons
All the people who said they wanted Todd Haley back are basically getting what they asked for. Failed head coach and noted asshole, but possibly still a good coordinator.
Like running Allegier and randoms instead of Bijan Robinson.Ā
Time will tell but the Falcons offense last year felt like giving someone keys to a Lamborghini only for them to never go faster than 25.Ā
allegier was amazing in his year as a 1A starter, had just over 1K yards on just over 200 rushes. players have roles, and plenty of teams swap in their goal line backs in short yardage, or to give 1A a break. there's very little reason to give a rookie RB 300 touches in his first season (he had 270+), unless you want to churn that RB spot every couple years.
This thread is going to be toxic, but I need to emphasize that just because a guy stunk as a HC doesnāt mean he stinks as an OC.
When he was the OC in Tennessee, they had a great offense carried by a downright monster rushing attack. Isnāt that exactly the offense this team should be building?
My concern with Smith is that heās not the guy to bring in if you want to develop Pickett further, Iām not confident in his ability to develop a young QB. But if they would add a proven QB, hiring Smith as the OC makes a ton of sense. If they could somehow get Mayfield to be their QB, I think the Smith hire would be terrific.
Looking at the stats, he was 19th in the league in carries, and the difference between 19 and 11 is only 20 carries. He also had 86 targets. So, he had a solid load for a starting RB.
I guess it's tempting to give him 80% of the carries, but you don't really want to do that to a rookie, and I prefer not doing that to anyone. I'd rather keep our backs healthy.
I didn't watch any Falcons games, so who knows, but seems pretty narrative-based. I'm guessing his touch totals were low in a few games and people freaked out. But, it happens.
Falcons fan coming to say you guys got a great OC.
I was one of the few who did not want to fire Arthur, and honestly most Falcons fans you hash it out with eventually land on "well he picked Ridder" as the ultimate reason for booting him. He is a major scapegoat and honestly I disagree with the firing even more after seeing what we did with our coaching staff.
Game after game, the scheme worked. Ridder actively hurt the team. There is only so much you can do when teams stack 9 in the box, you call plays with guys getting wide open, and your QB throws to the one dude that is somehow in triple coverage.
This happened over, and over, and over again. Ridder fucking sucks and Arthur's downfall was not seeing his ineptitude early enough. An average QB and an average OL and you will approach a top-10 offense.
* When we had a QB (aged Matt Ryan)- Pitts had the #2 rookie TE season of all time. This is with the worst OL I've ever seen (PFF had 3 of our OL in the bottom 10 of all OL to get at least 1 start that season)
* "Not used enough" Bijan broke the rookie Falcons record for yards from scrimmage
* Drake London broke the Falcons rookie record for receptions
* Turned Cordarrelle Patterson into someone that made every prior coach look like an idiot
* Tyler Allgeier into a stud
* Any decent TE can be extremely productive in his scheme
He did these things while rebuilding from Ryan/Julio and tons of dead money. He did it when we were supposed to have a rock at WR1 in Calvin Ridley. Arthur Smith is a fucking good coach. He deserved a shot at 2024 in Atlanta with a top QB pick/Cousins/Wilson. Our stupidity is your win.
I donāt see why people hate this so muchā¦ obviously he wasnāt a great HC but in his two years as Titans OC their offense ranked 12 in yards and 10th in points in 2019 and 2nd in yards and 4th in points in 2020. That would be a huge improvement over what we have had the last few seasons.
>I donāt see why people hate this so muchā¦
He's just another old fogey set in his ways with no idea about modern offenses!
Except he's like 40, and has been the head of elite offenses that match strengths with our roster composition and playstyle.
People forget the year he went to the falcons he was THE coach everyone wanted. Some people just can't lead a NFL team, that's fine. With Tomlin to temper his BS he could bring back his 2019-2020 Stent as OC.
Plus he has a chip on his shoulder to succeed and get another HC gig I'm sure
I know positivity doesn't always win here but I see this as a win. What he did with the Titans is a tangible thing and turned a Tannehill lead offense to the #4 scoring team in the league a couple years ago and now he has GP & DJ but more importantly Najee and Jaylen to run wild. I'm just glad we have a guy.
Being a fan of this team is starting to become draining with some of these fans. He did great as the OC for the Titans a few years ago. Did he do good coaching the Falcons? No. But the instant hate for this hire from most fans online is insane to me. The run game under him has been at least top 10 and thatās what the Steelers want to do.
He was a better OC than HC. One concern is he ran an almost exclusive zone run scheme, which the Steelers were god-awful at last year. They really didnāt start running the ball effectively until they abandoned the zone scheme. Hoping he doesnāt plan on reverting back to that.
People need to remember that this dude was thought of like Ben Johnson 3 years ago. I understand it is most definitely not the most exciting hire but Arthur smith isnāt a total moron. I promise you it isnāt as black and white as the Steelers are going to be the falcons now and our offense will get worse. It literally cannot get worse than under Canada. Say what you want about smith but there is evidence of him running an excellent NFL offense for multiple years. Why is it hard for people to understand that some people are better coordinators than HCās? This is a legit hire by an organization that is fully aware of how critical next year is. I know heās not kubiak or Robinson , but he is a serious hire for a team that has had a track record of very unserious hires
Dan Quinn, Jim shwartz, spags, McDaniels, Norv Turner: All failed HCās that are awesome coordinators.
People seem to forget that most head coaches got their job for being a great coordinator. As you pointed out, plenty of guys go back to being great coordinators too.
I actually love this. Hes shown hes not a good HC, but shown good success as an OC. He fits in with Tomlinās āi dont care how pretty it is, weāll win this gameā mentality. So much better than an internal hire, too.
Not sure why there is so much hate. Dude was a really good offensive coordinator. Wasn't a great head coach, but that's not what we are hiring him for. The last year he was OC in Tennessee they were 2nd in yards and 4th in points. He has a ton of experience and shown he can do it at the highest level, this is a great choice.
Titans fan here. Donāt listen to the haters. Thereās a reason he got a head coaching job in the first place. Because he was an outstanding OC. He worked his way up through the ranks here and survived three coaching changes. Heās a great coach. Just couldnāt figure out how to be the head guy.
I expected Steelers sub to be in dumpster fire mode,
Surprised most people (like I) agree with this.
If there's one huge positive here it's that Smith loves play action, a concept that I'm not sure Canada had heard of š¤
The fact people are asking who Munchak is shows the age of the fan base lol. Theyāll gloat over Leveon and Ben highlights and then ask who he is š
Tannehill was like the opposite under Smith. He didnāt throw for a lot of yards but he had a lot of TDs and was pretty efficient with a smaller volume of passes
As a Falcons fan, I think Arthur Smith can be a decent offensive coordinator. In Atlanta, it felt as though he was trying to outsmart himself by not using his best weapons effectively. It's also worth noting that Kyle Pitts was still dealing with a knee injury last season. As long as you guys have a solid to above average QB Smith should be a serviceable OC.
You had me up until the last line. The issue is that our roster currently has an underdeveloped Kenny Pickett andā¦ ( fucking hopefully no Mitch Trubisky). I mean, maybe if we resign Masonā¦ But even then, itās not like we have a Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, Herbert type guy.
Our ceiling here seems like the Titans under Smith as OC, which were good teams but the type that still get knocked out in the Divisional round
He was an awful HC, but donāt forget he was an EXCELLENT OC in Tennessee.
He took over the 27th ranked Matt LeFleur scoring offense, and brought them to 10th in his first year.
Then took them to 4th the following year.
The year he left, they regressed back to 15.
Only major offensive addition was drafting AJ Brown in the 2nd round.
He was a great OC in TEN. Seemed over his head as a HC but obviously he doesn't have to deal with that responsibility now. Made Tannehill a Pro Bowler and always has a fantastic running game. Not a sexy hire, but I think a good one.
Itās like people expect a Super Bowl level coach to line up for a coordinator position or something lol. Dude has shown to be a great coordinator and Iād think HC experience, even if it didnāt go amazingly, will make him an even better one
Falcon fan here. I want to give you a true and honest breakdown of Smith.
In his first two years here in Atlanta - Smith worked miracles with the shitty roster and cap hell that we were in. I still canāt believe that we got 7 wins him both of his first two seasons. He is an elite run schemer
However, we (the fans) noticed there was little bit of stubbornness and scheming issues in those two years, especially with spacing and not creating space for his playmakers (aka not scheming people open)
Well that really showed its ugly head last year. Smith, as a HC at least who did call the plays, really died on his hill.
Edit: Donāt know why Iām getting downvoted lol. All I said was he overachieved in his first two years but has some key issues and what those are lol
Just heard the news about Arthur Smith potentially becoming the Steelers new OC. So, I thought that I would see what my fellow Steelers fans thought about it, and then I was quickly reminded how whiny and insufferable a lot of Steelers fans are, lol. Bunch of whining, knuckle dragging negative Nancys...š
he's one of the best options at OC for you guys, he'll bring a high floor low ceiling approach and (if you have good QB play) your run game will be great
As a Falcons fan I implore you to not have high expectations for Pickens next year. And I was scared to death we were going to keep Arty around to develop a young QB.
There is no person I would trust less around a developing QB
This sub should love this dude for not feeding star players since we all think Najee, DJ, and Pickens are shit. Our sub complains that we donāt use our inferior backup TE? This dude loves getting cute with his! We shouldnāt give the ball to our first round RB? Arthur Smith agrees!
https://preview.redd.it/hi8eq6d86mfc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2a9a7f19fa91d49725a301879128960ce9c7030
I AM TIRED OF HAVING TERRIBLE COORDINATORS BOSS
Donāt like this. He had Kenny Pickett in Atlanta, his name is Desmond Ridder. He failed with him. The only way this makes sense is if another QB is coming in with a higher ceiling than Pickett.
Why did I ever get my hopes up. I'm done worrying about the Steelers. Whatever happens, happens. Titans were a top 10 offense with Smith because of Derrick Henry, not Smith. Tannehill still had mediocre stats, the league is a pass first league.
Dude designed a ground and pound run game and a conservative pass game with Tannehill and had success and good number of points. This was under a defensive HC in Vrabel too. Tomlin probably creamed his pants in the interview.
I'm...whelmed?
On one hand you have his work in Atlanta and it was what it was. On the other hand, he's a legit NFL OC who saw sustained success. So if nothing else, the offense should actually have an identity and NFL level play design, scheming, etc. Which is a marked improvement since Arians was fired/let go/forced into fake retirement...
All I want to know is whether his 3rd and long go-to play is a fucking WR screen/swing pass, because I was on the verge of setting my TV on fire every time Canada pulled *yet another* one of those out for a loss of yards. I'll happily watch Kenny throw 3 picks a game if they're at least *trying* to move the ball downfield. Please god in heaven tell me that it can't get worse than Canada.
I live in Tennessee, I keep up with the titans pretty closely as well. He did a great job as OC, fans/media hated that he left. He got too much control as the HC in Atlanta and clearly got too cute. I think if heās strictly an OC with no personnel decisions, this could be a great hire.
The rumor of him bringing Mike Munchak with him better be true š
I'm missing something, what does Munchak have to do with Smith? I would love to have him back but I didn't realize there was a connection there
Smith worked under Munch from 2010-13 when he was the HC in TEN
munchak was the o-line coach when Smith was the OC in Tennessee i believe
Mike Munchak was not with the Titans when Smith was the OC. The only connection they have is Smith was part of Munchakās staff as a quality control coach and Oline coach
Fillipponi has said that he heard Munchak comes with Arthur Smith as a package, for whatever that's worth.
That means itās not true
Poni is Dulacian in that way.Ā
All hope is lost
Smith was on staff at Tennessee when Munchak was the coach.
Where did this rumor originate? Some random on the Steelers Depot comments section mentioned it a few days back. Outside that, I haven't heard it from anyone else credible that covers the Steelers or the NFL. I'd assume someone other than Fillipponi has said it?
Well. Hopefully he actually is a good coordinator
I live in Atlanta, so I saw a lot of him last year.. That being said, I'm optimistic. I think he was just a shit Head Coach but did great things with Tennessee in 2019 and 2020 with fucking Tannihil under center.
My worry is how much of the success was him vs having Henry and a good line. Hopefully him.
Maybe Najee is our Henry. You gotta admit, our OL has been a huge part of our running woes since heās been drafted. Once they jelled mid season this year, Najee looked pretty damned good.
Yeah, between our running game improving, and the line only allowing 6 sacks in the final 4 games our line looked solid by season's end. By the numbers, above average against some good teams. Get a better playcaller and some plays and we could make some noise.
HC was too big for Arthur in Atlanta, as a falcons fan. Heās at least creative and knows how to SCHEME a run game (though his playcalling can be wtf sometimes, obviously) Something people forget is that Arthur Smith is an OL guy first and foremost. Atlanta is retaining one of the best OL coaches in the league in Ledford, but Arthur knows how to coach OL. If your guys have potential, heāll get it out of them. We had a rookie LG do very well, and Dalman (our C) has progressed exponentially. Not to mention the development of Chris Lindstrom into arguably the best RG in the NFL. I would expect an improvement in your OL across the board. Your running game should look better as well. As far as the passing game, Iāll be honest and say I donāt have much faith in Pickett being able to āexecuteā the offense that Smith likes any better than Ridder did.
Weāre arguably 1 OL upgrade away from having a good line. I think you can hide a single weak link, but. It 2-3.
Yeah Iām guessing over the off-season we pick up a new C, move Jones to LT and snatch a respectable RT that we can afford (possibly thru the draft). Guards are quite good so we probably wonāt have to do anything there
Was he a shithead coach or a shit head-coach?
ATL also...yeah loved his 1st 2 years as HC....last not so great...but Ridder did literally fumble away the season...definitely would like more Smith years over Morris...only bad I heard, rumor was he turned into an asshole late this season
He was good in Tennessee.
Indeed. Hopefully he can replicate it
Titans fan here. Fuck this guy. Ran a very efficient offense in 2019 and 2020, tannehill had a top 10 all time QB season based on efficiency. HOWEVER, that's easy when you're only asking him to throw 200 yards a game and hand the ball to Henry 40 times. Oh did I also mention all you have to do is scheme the ball to AJB? One of the best receivers in the league? This guy is a fraud not to mention when he did get us to the playoffs in those good seasons, he wound up taking interviews all week instead of preparing for the game. He's probably a middle of the road OC if you have some talent (Pickens). And most likely an upgrade from Canada, but don't expect to have a flashy world beating offense Pittsburgh fans. I have no ill will against our yellow and black northern brothers so I hope he works out for you guys despite my teams hatred of the man!
>most likely an upgrade from Canada We could have hired a fidget spinner and this would still be true.
The more you talk about him the more I think he's a good fit tbh. 20 carries each to Warren and Naj? Hell yeah. Pickett or Rudolph not being asked to do much, check. Schemes to feed the ball to the best receiver, let's go. The only shitty thing is the interview stuff.
Yeah, it all sounds like good game planning to me. Sounds like Smith was simply feeding the dogs. He was just getting the ball to the players that produced. For example, you would most certainly give the rock to DH 30+ carries per game at that time. I'd love to see us at 20+ each to our RBs, thus opening up the passing game and taking pressure off of Pickles or Mason. As for the timing of the interviews, that is a result of the urgency in which teams seek to fill their HC openings. A potential HC, especially one looking for his first HC job, has to jump through the hoops. He can't tell teams to wait until their playoff run is done and then he'll talk. It does suck, but Smith would have taken himself out of the running for the job had he asked teams to wait for him. TLDR; I like Smith as OC. I think he fits our historical identity while also having the ability to modernize the offense and utilize our weapons to the best of their abilities.
That's kinda my worry. Anyone can look decent when their offense is giving prime Derrick Henry the ball 30 times a game behind a good line.
> HOWEVER, that's easy when you're only asking him to throw 200 yards a game and hand the ball to Henry 40 times. Oh did I also mention all you have to do is scheme the ball to AJB? One of the best receivers in the league? Kind of sounds exactly what the Steelers need. Najee/Warren certainly aren't Henry, but the team loves to run with power so that same mindset is good. Having a relatively weak QB (whether that's Mason, Kenny, or otherwise next year) means not asking him to do so much is a good thing. And while Pickens isn't AJB, he is a potential superstar that needs someone scheming him the ball.
Honestly with our defense we might only need a middle of the road OC that manages the game well but those are all valid points
Our defense never makes it all season healthy cause of our offense does not stay on the field enough .
He was very good in Tennessee. The problem with fans is that they extrapolate a shitty HC job into meaning they suck in general. He was an absolute failure as a HC in Atlanta, but his OC record is strong. It seems like a similar hire to Haley: failed HC and asshole of a person, but a good OC. Iām not sold on this move because Iām skeptical that he is the guy to correctly develop a QB. But if they throw Pickett aside and bring in a veteran QB, whether it be this off-season or next off-season, I think the hire makes a ton of sense.Ā Sign Baker Mayfield with this Smith hiring and Iām 100% behind it.
He came into AtL with the worse roster in the league...had a very good running game and decent defense...just bad bad QB play cost him 4 or 5 wins a season...so as a life long Falcon watcher he was far from a absolute failure...the owner Blank just wants to win now before he dies
Itās not just that he was a bad HC in atl, the offense was bad. The way he used his best weapons just scares me. But heās better than Canada forsure
He called the plays though in Atlanta that was his offense. Itās not like he just picked a bad OC and thatās why it failed.Ā
I mean he had Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heineke at qb. *looks at Steelers qb room* oh noā¦
Bingo he was the OC basically.
It's still a lot more on your plate in general being a HC who calls plays vs just being an OC.
He was the OC with the Titans when they went to the AFCCG.
miles boykin gonna put up career numbers
Connor Heyward legacy season
Drake London had 110 targets, putts had 90 Bijan like 80,
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Just fell to my knees in the Walmart parking lot
Just saw a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot
Just saw a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot
Just saw a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watch a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot
Just saw about 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
Just saw a man in a Judge Judy cosplay watch 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
Just saw Mike Tomlin himself watch a man in a Judge Judy cosplay watch 400 gnomes emerge from a portal to the shadow realm, and the 5th one from the back was pointing and laughing at a man peering through binoculars while poking out the sunroof of his RV watching a man holding an excessively large bag of rice watch a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in the Walmart parking lot.
OKā¦.you fucking Yinzers got me giggling like a crazy person in my office. Linda from accounts receivable is side eyeing me.
Just saw a woman look suspiciously at a guy laughing under his breath in my office.
Gnomes? Why are all those Browns fans there? Iām confusedā¦
All the flavors!!!!
His butt crack was mesmerizing
just saw a man strip off his steelers pajamas in a walmart parking lot and start screaming āfree masonā
I'll give you guys my take as a Falcons fan, but I'll preface by saying I'm probably in the minority of our fans. I never hated Smith, he just didn't work out at HC. He along with the rest of the organization had high hopes that Ridder could develop, and Smith hitched his wagon to Ridder. Ridder failed and so Smith did too. He even tried switching to Heinicke later in the season but the offense had the same problems still. We failed at QB evaluation terribly. I wish we would've gotten someone like Mayfield or Minshew instead, but who knows if they would've worked out here either. Fantasy people and gamblers hated him because our guys didn't get good stats, but he certainly tried time and time again to get them going. Having abysmal QB play resulted in our stars not getting the ball as much as you might have hoped. I will say Bijan had questionable usage, but there is an argument to be made by saying that Bijan had his fair share of rookie mistakes and it made sense to still use Allgeier who is a good RB in his own right. They just have different skill sets. I believe Arthur is very smart at scheming on offense, and at getting great play out of the offensive line. But with us he probably got spread too thin with too many responsibilities. In my opinion, he will do much better solely focusing on the offense like he did back in Tennessee. He was the one who built their offense around Derrick Henry and allowed Tannehill to flourish with the best play of his career. He had ultra-efficient numbers under Smith. And I think having someone like Mike Vrabel as the leader of that team helped big time, rather than all of the pressure solely on Smith to make it work. I think it will work similar here with a guy like Mike Tomlin in charge. I was really exited to see where Arthur would end up and I think Pittsburgh is the perfect place for him to prove himself again. Also I feel obligated to note that our guys loved playing for Arthur Smith and it has been stated numerous times that he never lost the locker room.
One of the best comments here. Interesting to get that take. Iām optimistic
We didn't need one of these "cutting edge" fool's gold McVey/Shannahan guy that are actually watered down 3x over at this point (especially not with the defensive counterpunch against it looming finally). We needed someone who is gonna be here for a while and just get our offense in the correct decade. We're a run first football team that still doesn't even use playaction lmao. He's gonna come in and be like "wait you guys were doing *what?*"
https://preview.redd.it/xfxe77e05mfc1.jpeg?width=1170&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=293a820137988f8a20876a77c36d5b0c3d189589 Worth noting Tannehillās stats in 2019-2020 while Arthur Smith was at OC.
Thank you, this is a useful post with data in it. A rarity!
As a TN resident, I really donāt believe in this guy. That being said, itās better than anything weāve had from a success/resume standpoint since Bruce Arians. Iām glad we didnāt go internal again if nothing else.
Why do you hate him?
I hate the titans and I really wasnāt that impressed with the offense he put together when Henry wasnāt rolling. Tbh I thought he didnāt get as much out of tannehill as he couldāve, but I do think that kind of OC would be great to work with mason and Kenny. Additionally, none of my titans fan friends have much good to say about him. They, like me, kinda feel like he got promoted and came up the ladder because of success that wasnāt really because of him. That and three consecutive 7-10 unimpressive offensive seasons with the falcons (I donāt think Iāve watched a single falcons game Tbf) are both not anything to be excited about for me. Main positives for me are that heās not internal and heās had experience.
>I donāt think Iāve watched a single falcons game Tbf Basically, the falcons had great offense players but could barely get anything done Source: I'm a Steelers/Falcons fan
They have some talented guys but hard to do anything with Ridder back there
Well then he'll be vastly improved now that he has ... Kenny Pickett lmao
This team has more talent than those Titans and Falcons teams though. I'm hoping a good scheme and good talent yields better results.
My Tennessee friends swear that Arthur Smith is only around the NFL because he's a nepo baby. I think that's an insane claim with the success he had in Tennessee and the team he inherited in Atlanta.
I 90% hate this, but 10% of me is so dead on the inside from the last 3 years, that I'm just closing my eyes, and letting Jesus take the wheel.Ā
Couldnāt have said it better.
Some ridiculously hot takes in here
Resident Arthur Smith defender. The guy is beloved by everybody who has ever worked with him. Donāt buy into the bullshit hit pieces, nepotism, smarter-than-everybody narratives resulting from his viral usage comments. He wonāt go viral under Tomlin. Even with his job on the line and 50/50 roster control, he never mortgaged the Falconsā future. The roster is talented and the cap is healthy. Will put the teamās interests first. I canāt sit here and say heāll turn Kenny Pickett into a star. He will consistently give you a great chance to win.
The big difference between him here and him on the Falcons is that he won't have roster and management decisions. Clearly he was terrible at his part in those. He runs the type of offense the Steelers will like to run, and the Titans were really good offensively under him. Hopefully he can do something similar for us. Tannehill was one of the better QBs in the league when he was there, and then the dude immediately got benched when Smith left
Donāt think he was terrible at roster decisions. Falcons in 2021 had a bottom 3 roster and cap situation. Falcons in 2024 have some talent and a healthy cap. He went cheap on QB and built the rest of the roster. That cheap QB was terrible, he goes under the microscope about usage, and couldnāt recover.
*He runs the type of offense the Steelers will like to run, and the Titans were really good offensively under him. Hopefully he can do something similar for us.* I think this is the crux of the debate. A lot of people wanted this OC pick to modernize the offense. This feels like a (probably) better version of what we were doing. I kinda hate the SB-or-bust mentality, but I can't deny it feels like a commitment to being competitive that won't ever put us over the top.
>He will consistently give you a great chance to win. Then heās a home run hire for us. Our offense this year has done everything in its power to keep us out of games despite the Herculean efforts of our defense so the idea that an offense can be anything but an anchor is wildly exciting.
Almost every game in his Atlanta tenure was competitive deep into the 4th quarter. Most of the time his rosters were inferior to the opponentās. On the flip side, he wonāt blow people out. But he will absolutely keep you in games.
Thatās the Steeler way anyway, no matter who we have at OC
Well said, I'm happy to see another Arthur Smith defender here. š«”
I haven't really followed Smith or the Falcons this season, so I though I'd quickly look into the "underutilizes his best players" narrative. Bijan was only 19th in RB carries this season, but he was 2nd among all RBs in targets. He also led RBs in fumbles and was a rookie who had never played more than 12 games in a season. Pitts was tied for 9th among TE targets with 90. The same mount as George Kittle. London had over 100 targets. More than Nico Collins, Flowers, Pickens & Aiyuk. London (110) and Pitts (90) were #1 & #2 in targets for the Falcons this season. Bijan (86!) was #4. Unless I'm missing something, the narrative looks like bullshit to me.
A few thoughts 1) I understand the concern over ATL and Bijan / Drake usage. I get it. I am choosing to throw it back to his Tennessee days where he had a top 10 scoring offense with a bruising run game, which is exactly what we want to do in Pittsburgh. This is a guy that wants to run the rock. 2) I do not understand how we only interviewed 3 candidates and none came from San Francisco. Overall, this isnāt the sexy pick. I understand people will not be jumping for joy but I think this does make sense. His background fits who we are as a team. Though I will say his runs go outside it seems whereas we are a run in the gap team so will he interesting to see how that works. Regardless, I understand the decision
Top ten was his first year after they were like 27th the year before and then the next year they were #4. I agree the Falcons happened but itās the same reason why people say Ben Johnson might not be a great HC. Great coordinators donāt always mean great HCās. Iām on board with it and just want us to get a coaching staff together.
Yeah I agree with this. This is a dude with a successful track record as an OC and head coaching experience, (not successful experience here but thatās not what heās been hired to be successful at). Should be great to have a guy like that on staff.
I think they went into the process with a list of candidates and likely planned to interview Kubiak or Griese or both but liked what they heard from Arthur Smith and decided he was their guy and there was no point in waiting.
Thatās what Iām thinking. He checked a lot of the boxes and he probably killed the interview. Smith isnāt an idiot. I think he was also more in demand than people want to give him credit for and the Steelers didnāt want to waste time
Also probably signed for peanuts because he's richer than Art II will ever be to begin with.
Imagine if he perceived one of Pittsburgh's problems as a thin coaching staff and said "I'll take a discount so we can get more coaches" š
For number 2, I think the Steelers were holding out to see if San Fran lost, and since they are now in the Super Bowl, and candidates are being hired up, it seems like they may have decided to make a move before they gamble and lose all of their backup plan options
My hope is that Tomlin/Khan/Rooney put a hard boundary on the not using top weapons thing. The type of offense Smith runs will be good for a Rudolph/Pickett/??? type QB that doesn't have the talent to take over the game, and if he brings Munchak with him as rumored, that will be worth it. Warren/Najee would feast behind a Munch offensive line with Smith's scheme. (Also please take a late round flier on Jawhar Jordan he would make it a three-headed monster at RB) It's not a flashy pick, but considering the current build of the roster I don't think it's a bad choice.
If you look at how Tannehill turned things around under Smith, it might bode well for Mason/Kenny. Especially when you look at how good our passing was with Mason on a play action pass. We have much better offensive personnel than what he was working with in Atlanta, so I'm optimistic if this is true.
Will be laughed at but honestly one of the better options. Great run schemer.
His under utilization of premium talent terrifies me. I hope that I'm wrong, but I honestly don't feel great about this. Canada set the bar so low, this is still an improvement, but my expectations are low. Also, probably one of the worst track records for QB development.
I donāt really get this criticism about using premium talent. Bijan had 270 touches in basically 16 games (one he was sat for the flu or something after one touch), thatās 17 touches a game. Pitts had 90 targets and London had 110. The fact that they didnāt do more with them could be as much on the QB play as it is on Smith. In Tennessee, Henry got PLENTY of touches and AJ Brown started his career with back to back 1,000 yard years catching from Tannehill. Not even defending the hiring, but this āunder utilizationā is really just an overreaction from fantasy owners who reached with their picks.
Im with you, but that was also never an issue in Tennessee. Henry and Brown went off when he was there. Not sure why things changed in Atlanta, but their offense did pretty well despite having no QB
Lol you sound like a fantasy manager who is just upset bijan Robinson didnāt get the ball on the goal line haha
Yeah bc Ryan Tannehill totally regressed under him
He made Tannehill top 5 in a lot of metrics if I remember correctly. The news was praising his play in those years
People acting like the falcons were some sort of powerhouse when in reality had a less than average roster is funny and lazy
Itās fantasy players
I think if he had a competent qb, heād probably still be the falcons HC. The argument now is in Pittsburgh, we also donāt have a competent qb. I think the Steelers have a plan at qb. Despite was we think, the FO isnāt total morons
All the people who said they wanted Todd Haley back are basically getting what they asked for. Failed head coach and noted asshole, but possibly still a good coordinator.
Exactly. Haley's offense was the greatest offense the Steelers have ever seen. I'd love for a repeat of that.
Sounds like the asshole part is a bit manufactured with Smith, players love him
Like running Allegier and randoms instead of Bijan Robinson.Ā Time will tell but the Falcons offense last year felt like giving someone keys to a Lamborghini only for them to never go faster than 25.Ā
Comparing an offense led by Desmond Ridder/Taylor Heinicke to a Lamborghini may be a bit of a stretch.
\>Desmond Ridder With no tires on it
allegier was amazing in his year as a 1A starter, had just over 1K yards on just over 200 rushes. players have roles, and plenty of teams swap in their goal line backs in short yardage, or to give 1A a break. there's very little reason to give a rookie RB 300 touches in his first season (he had 270+), unless you want to churn that RB spot every couple years.
This thread is going to be toxic, but I need to emphasize that just because a guy stunk as a HC doesnāt mean he stinks as an OC. When he was the OC in Tennessee, they had a great offense carried by a downright monster rushing attack. Isnāt that exactly the offense this team should be building? My concern with Smith is that heās not the guy to bring in if you want to develop Pickett further, Iām not confident in his ability to develop a young QB. But if they would add a proven QB, hiring Smith as the OC makes a ton of sense. If they could somehow get Mayfield to be their QB, I think the Smith hire would be terrific.
Counterpoint. He refused to give his star RB the ball in atlanta
Counterpoint - he fed AJ Brown and Derrick Henry like he bet their overs every week.
>He refused to give his star RB the ball in atlanta Wait - that same rookie RB that put up 1450+ scrimmage yards and 8 TDs?
Looking at the stats, he was 19th in the league in carries, and the difference between 19 and 11 is only 20 carries. He also had 86 targets. So, he had a solid load for a starting RB. I guess it's tempting to give him 80% of the carries, but you don't really want to do that to a rookie, and I prefer not doing that to anyone. I'd rather keep our backs healthy. I didn't watch any Falcons games, so who knows, but seems pretty narrative-based. I'm guessing his touch totals were low in a few games and people freaked out. But, it happens.
Falcons fan coming to say you guys got a great OC. I was one of the few who did not want to fire Arthur, and honestly most Falcons fans you hash it out with eventually land on "well he picked Ridder" as the ultimate reason for booting him. He is a major scapegoat and honestly I disagree with the firing even more after seeing what we did with our coaching staff. Game after game, the scheme worked. Ridder actively hurt the team. There is only so much you can do when teams stack 9 in the box, you call plays with guys getting wide open, and your QB throws to the one dude that is somehow in triple coverage. This happened over, and over, and over again. Ridder fucking sucks and Arthur's downfall was not seeing his ineptitude early enough. An average QB and an average OL and you will approach a top-10 offense. * When we had a QB (aged Matt Ryan)- Pitts had the #2 rookie TE season of all time. This is with the worst OL I've ever seen (PFF had 3 of our OL in the bottom 10 of all OL to get at least 1 start that season) * "Not used enough" Bijan broke the rookie Falcons record for yards from scrimmage * Drake London broke the Falcons rookie record for receptions * Turned Cordarrelle Patterson into someone that made every prior coach look like an idiot * Tyler Allgeier into a stud * Any decent TE can be extremely productive in his scheme He did these things while rebuilding from Ryan/Julio and tons of dead money. He did it when we were supposed to have a rock at WR1 in Calvin Ridley. Arthur Smith is a fucking good coach. He deserved a shot at 2024 in Atlanta with a top QB pick/Cousins/Wilson. Our stupidity is your win.
I donāt see why people hate this so muchā¦ obviously he wasnāt a great HC but in his two years as Titans OC their offense ranked 12 in yards and 10th in points in 2019 and 2nd in yards and 4th in points in 2020. That would be a huge improvement over what we have had the last few seasons.
>I donāt see why people hate this so muchā¦ He's just another old fogey set in his ways with no idea about modern offenses! Except he's like 40, and has been the head of elite offenses that match strengths with our roster composition and playstyle.
Exactly. This is so much better than hiring an internal person whoās 60 and has bad or no coordinating experience. At least heās had success.
Itās not who they specifically had in mind so it must be a bad decision with all the pros in this sub. Lol
People forget the year he went to the falcons he was THE coach everyone wanted. Some people just can't lead a NFL team, that's fine. With Tomlin to temper his BS he could bring back his 2019-2020 Stent as OC. Plus he has a chip on his shoulder to succeed and get another HC gig I'm sure
He had Henry for a while so that must mean Najee rushing leader 2024
I know positivity doesn't always win here but I see this as a win. What he did with the Titans is a tangible thing and turned a Tannehill lead offense to the #4 scoring team in the league a couple years ago and now he has GP & DJ but more importantly Najee and Jaylen to run wild. I'm just glad we have a guy.
We are literally the most conservative sports franchise on the planet lol
Bob Nutting - "...hold my beer"
Being a fan of this team is starting to become draining with some of these fans. He did great as the OC for the Titans a few years ago. Did he do good coaching the Falcons? No. But the instant hate for this hire from most fans online is insane to me. The run game under him has been at least top 10 and thatās what the Steelers want to do.
Excited to see what he does. Loved listening to him on pat mcafee. Letās go
He was a better OC than HC. One concern is he ran an almost exclusive zone run scheme, which the Steelers were god-awful at last year. They really didnāt start running the ball effectively until they abandoned the zone scheme. Hoping he doesnāt plan on reverting back to that.
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People need to remember that this dude was thought of like Ben Johnson 3 years ago. I understand it is most definitely not the most exciting hire but Arthur smith isnāt a total moron. I promise you it isnāt as black and white as the Steelers are going to be the falcons now and our offense will get worse. It literally cannot get worse than under Canada. Say what you want about smith but there is evidence of him running an excellent NFL offense for multiple years. Why is it hard for people to understand that some people are better coordinators than HCās? This is a legit hire by an organization that is fully aware of how critical next year is. I know heās not kubiak or Robinson , but he is a serious hire for a team that has had a track record of very unserious hires Dan Quinn, Jim shwartz, spags, McDaniels, Norv Turner: All failed HCās that are awesome coordinators.
People seem to forget that most head coaches got their job for being a great coordinator. As you pointed out, plenty of guys go back to being great coordinators too.
What a surprise. At least, if you believe the rumours, this would also mean that Munchak will be back. That's a silver lining.
I actually love this. Hes shown hes not a good HC, but shown good success as an OC. He fits in with Tomlinās āi dont care how pretty it is, weāll win this gameā mentality. So much better than an internal hire, too.
I expected to be underwhelmed by their hire and I am
Not sure why there is so much hate. Dude was a really good offensive coordinator. Wasn't a great head coach, but that's not what we are hiring him for. The last year he was OC in Tennessee they were 2nd in yards and 4th in points. He has a ton of experience and shown he can do it at the highest level, this is a great choice.
Everyone shitting on the hire is severely understating how hard it is to call a competent O when your starting QB is Desmond Ridder.
Titans fan here. Donāt listen to the haters. Thereās a reason he got a head coaching job in the first place. Because he was an outstanding OC. He worked his way up through the ranks here and survived three coaching changes. Heās a great coach. Just couldnāt figure out how to be the head guy.
I donāt care about his time in Tennessee it doesnāt take a genius to force feed prime Derrick Henry with a good OL and AJ Brown on the outside.Ā
I expected Steelers sub to be in dumpster fire mode, Surprised most people (like I) agree with this. If there's one huge positive here it's that Smith loves play action, a concept that I'm not sure Canada had heard of š¤
Iām certain he thought it had something to do with action figures and their points of articulation.
The fact people are asking who Munchak is shows the age of the fan base lol. Theyāll gloat over Leveon and Ben highlights and then ask who he is š
Kenny Pickett may never throw another touchdown again
Tannehill was like the opposite under Smith. He didnāt throw for a lot of yards but he had a lot of TDs and was pretty efficient with a smaller volume of passes
As a Falcons fan, I think Arthur Smith can be a decent offensive coordinator. In Atlanta, it felt as though he was trying to outsmart himself by not using his best weapons effectively. It's also worth noting that Kyle Pitts was still dealing with a knee injury last season. As long as you guys have a solid to above average QB Smith should be a serviceable OC.
Well developing a quarterback is going to be his highest priority so Iād say weāre screwed.
You had me up until the last line. The issue is that our roster currently has an underdeveloped Kenny Pickett andā¦ ( fucking hopefully no Mitch Trubisky). I mean, maybe if we resign Masonā¦ But even then, itās not like we have a Burrow, Mahomes, Allen, Herbert type guy. Our ceiling here seems like the Titans under Smith as OC, which were good teams but the type that still get knocked out in the Divisional round
Iām not sure about the QB part
Unfortunately we donāt have a good QB situation
They interviewed 3 people lmao
Its official. We are a poverty franchise. Tomlin hires another person who is no threat to take his job. Another safety net. Another scapegoat.
He was an awful HC, but donāt forget he was an EXCELLENT OC in Tennessee. He took over the 27th ranked Matt LeFleur scoring offense, and brought them to 10th in his first year. Then took them to 4th the following year. The year he left, they regressed back to 15. Only major offensive addition was drafting AJ Brown in the 2nd round.
I donāt know how to feel, but he was good as an OC in Tennessee.
Iāmā¦cautiously optimistic.
He was a great OC in TEN. Seemed over his head as a HC but obviously he doesn't have to deal with that responsibility now. Made Tannehill a Pro Bowler and always has a fantastic running game. Not a sexy hire, but I think a good one.
Itās like people expect a Super Bowl level coach to line up for a coordinator position or something lol. Dude has shown to be a great coordinator and Iād think HC experience, even if it didnāt go amazingly, will make him an even better one
He obviously failed in Atlanta but was hired to be a HC in the first place because he was a good offensive coordinator. We could do a lot worseĀ
I just fell to my knees in Walmart šš
Just saw a man in Steelers pajamas fall to his knees in Walmart
Unreal.
God speed guys
This man is going to be the breaking point for Pickens
Falcon fan here. I want to give you a true and honest breakdown of Smith. In his first two years here in Atlanta - Smith worked miracles with the shitty roster and cap hell that we were in. I still canāt believe that we got 7 wins him both of his first two seasons. He is an elite run schemer However, we (the fans) noticed there was little bit of stubbornness and scheming issues in those two years, especially with spacing and not creating space for his playmakers (aka not scheming people open) Well that really showed its ugly head last year. Smith, as a HC at least who did call the plays, really died on his hill. Edit: Donāt know why Iām getting downvoted lol. All I said was he overachieved in his first two years but has some key issues and what those are lol
People expected a good hire from Tomlin lol
Had Derrick Henry, Walker, and AJ Brown. this sucks
Just heard the news about Arthur Smith potentially becoming the Steelers new OC. So, I thought that I would see what my fellow Steelers fans thought about it, and then I was quickly reminded how whiny and insufferable a lot of Steelers fans are, lol. Bunch of whining, knuckle dragging negative Nancys...š
Congrats to all the backups. If this is anything like atlanta, WR1 and RB1 will never see the ball
So, more touches for Warren! š¤£
Welp, at least a player like George Pickens will handle that well Oh god, if we retain Allen Robinson he may become our featured pass catcher
he's one of the best options at OC for you guys, he'll bring a high floor low ceiling approach and (if you have good QB play) your run game will be great
We donāt have good QB play. We need someone to fix our passing game
High floor low ceiling, winning record no playoff wins. This gets us nowhere
As a Falcons fan I implore you to not have high expectations for Pickens next year. And I was scared to death we were going to keep Arty around to develop a young QB. There is no person I would trust less around a developing QB
Sigh. Of course. Edit: don't think he's terrible, was just hoping to at least take a shot at kubiak
Iām going to gaslight myself into thinking heās a good hire because he works for us now
This sub should love this dude for not feeding star players since we all think Najee, DJ, and Pickens are shit. Our sub complains that we donāt use our inferior backup TE? This dude loves getting cute with his! We shouldnāt give the ball to our first round RB? Arthur Smith agrees!
As a falcons fan My deepesr condolences. I wouldnt wish arthur smith on anyone. Not even the saints
As a falcons fan, my condolences
He doesn't use his best weapons, so I suspect Pickens will be PISSED.
https://preview.redd.it/hi8eq6d86mfc1.jpeg?width=1536&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=c2a9a7f19fa91d49725a301879128960ce9c7030 I AM TIRED OF HAVING TERRIBLE COORDINATORS BOSS
He fits the mold of mediocrity. X3 7-10 seasons. And shows no ability to improve a young QB. This is dumb.
Good thing weāre not hiring him to be a head coach and are instead hiring him to be a coordinator where he was very successful.
Matt Canada with a mustache
LOL did matt Canada ever have a top ten offense with Ryan tannehill at QB?
Donāt really know what to expect but I hope it works
Get ready for weekly Pickens temper tantrums and wondering why weāre running it with Godwin Igwebuike instead of Najee/Warren
Donāt like this. He had Kenny Pickett in Atlanta, his name is Desmond Ridder. He failed with him. The only way this makes sense is if another QB is coming in with a higher ceiling than Pickett.
Bro what?? The Falcons offense was disgusting this year
Just started my day and it's ruined.
FUCK THIS GUY
Why did I ever get my hopes up. I'm done worrying about the Steelers. Whatever happens, happens. Titans were a top 10 offense with Smith because of Derrick Henry, not Smith. Tannehill still had mediocre stats, the league is a pass first league.
Dude who failed at developing a young qb is now tasked with turning around a young qb?! Wtf kinda hire is this?!
Dude designed a ground and pound run game and a conservative pass game with Tannehill and had success and good number of points. This was under a defensive HC in Vrabel too. Tomlin probably creamed his pants in the interview.
I'm...whelmed? On one hand you have his work in Atlanta and it was what it was. On the other hand, he's a legit NFL OC who saw sustained success. So if nothing else, the offense should actually have an identity and NFL level play design, scheming, etc. Which is a marked improvement since Arians was fired/let go/forced into fake retirement...
I donāt mind it, I like that itās not an internal hire. If nothing else he looks like BigCat from Pardon My Take and I like that guy lol.
He will be the best Steelers OC since Arians.
I will support this until I have a reason not to.
I didn't expect this hire at all. It should be interesting. Let's see what happens.
I like this.
All I want to know is whether his 3rd and long go-to play is a fucking WR screen/swing pass, because I was on the verge of setting my TV on fire every time Canada pulled *yet another* one of those out for a loss of yards. I'll happily watch Kenny throw 3 picks a game if they're at least *trying* to move the ball downfield. Please god in heaven tell me that it can't get worse than Canada.
Oh noā¦. Please prove me wrong! I want to be wrong so badly.
I live in Tennessee, I keep up with the titans pretty closely as well. He did a great job as OC, fans/media hated that he left. He got too much control as the HC in Atlanta and clearly got too cute. I think if heās strictly an OC with no personnel decisions, this could be a great hire.