On Wednesday, FootballScoop provided an in-depth update on the University of North Carolina’s search for their next head coach. In the update, multiple sources confirmed that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator Arthur Smith was indeed interested in the prospect of returning to college coaching. Smith graduated from UNC in 2006 and began his coaching career there as a graduate assistant.
Arthur Smith also might receive some interest during the NFL head-coach hiring cycle in January, according to Dianna Russini of The Athletic.
“Smith’s adaptability is another key strength. He’s shown he can tailor his offense to fit the personnel he has, which is exactly what the Steelers need as they continue to develop their young offensive core around Russell Wilson. I expect Smith’s name to come back up during the head-coach hiring cycle in January,” Russini wrote.
After three seasons of posting a 21-30 record, Smith was let go by the Atlanta Falcons following the 2023 season. He went 7-10 in each of his three seasons in Atlanta.
The Steelers currently rank 14th in points per game (22.9), which is a big improvement from last year’s 28th ranking (17.8). There’s no doubt about, Smith has been a huge upgrade compared to Matt Canada. The red zone woes need to be fixed, however, but the offense has been efficient.
Warren Sharp of Sharp Football thinks Smith has done a great job in Pittsburgh.
“I remember some people thought Art Smith wasn’t going to succeed in Pittsburgh because he couldn’t make a franchise QB out of *checks notes* Desmond Ridder… …or win with *adjusts glasses* Marcus Mariota. A massive improvement over Matt Canada & Randy Fichtner,” Sharp wrote on X.
At the NFL owner’s meetings in March, Tomlin explained what he saw in Smith that made him so favorable to what Pittsburgh has at quarterback and with their offensive personnel.
“First and foremost, man, I’ve competed against him over the years,” Tomlin said of Smith. “We’ve had some battles against Tennessee and then obviously we played him when he was in Atlanta. I respect his approach, the ball, his values are very evident in looking at his tape and they are aligned with things that we value controlling the game through our bigs and building from there and then I also got close relationships with some people who were really significant in his development and helped him establish some things that he strongly believes in, guys that I’ve had an opportunity to work with like much for example, and so it was really a great deal of comfort and beyond comfort. It was a great deal of excitement in terms of bringing him on board.”