It is being reported, that the Steelers have hired Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator. Smith was fired after 3 years as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. He led the Falcons to 3 seasons of 7 and 10 records. Prior to the Falcons, Smith had spent 10 seasons with the Tennessee Titans, the last 2 as offensive coordinator. During that time, he has been credited with rehabilitating the career of quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, and developing the Titans' running game, behind Derrick Henry.
At first glance, this appears to be a typical Mike Tomlin move. Many were discussing the many young, up and coming, offensive minded coaches who could be promoted to Steelers offensive coordinator. Smith seems to have peaked out during his time with the Titans. As a fan, my hope is that Smith is an example of the Peter Principle and will be able to thrive again as a coordinator. Head coach may have been a bridge too far for him. Dick LeBeau would be an example of a coach who was better as a coordinator than as a head coach. Mike Tomlin may be another.
I had not paid much attention to Smith as the head coach of the Falcons. I only saw parts of Falcons games on NFL Sunday Ticket Red Zone and he seemed to have the deer in the headlights look that we have seen on Tomlin's face, when the Stillers are losing late in games and he doesn't have an answer. They would make good book ends. During one game, the announcers seemed to be talking more about Smith's new mustache than his coaching abilities.
This morning I watched a YouTube video of Tomlin apologist, Rich Eisen. He is all in on the Smith hiring, but he really likes Tomlin also. One of the points in his argument in favor of Smith, is that he does not need to work. He is one of the 10 children of FedEx founder, Fred Smith. Fred has a very interesting story, which you can read by clicking on the hyper link on his name above. He is reported to be worth in excess of $5 Billion. Eisen's rationale was that since he is the son of Fred Smith, the billionaire, Arthur did not need to work and was coaching because he loves it, just like Tomlin.
Steelers owner, Art Rooney, is starting to indicate he is getting tired of just not having a losing season. For what it's worth, so is Snoop Dogg.
