There has been talk connecting Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to the head coaching job at his alma mater, North Carolina, over the last week after the Tar Heels fired Mack Jones, but according to a report by Diana Russini of The Athletic, Smith should be aiming higher if he’s looking to leave the Steelers this offseason.
Russini reported on Thursday that she expects Smith’s name to come up in NFL head coaching discussion this offseason.
The 42-year-old is in his first season in Pittsburgh and has been a big part of a turnaround of the Steelers offense. The team finished the 2023 season ranked 28th in scoring, 25th in yards and 28th in yards per play.
So far this season under Smith, the Steelers are 14th in scoring, 18th in yards and 23rd in yards per play. Their five points per game increase from 2023 to 2024 is the fifth-most in the NFL, behind only Washington, Tampa Bay, Detroit and Cincinnati.
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Smith is in his second stint as an NFL coordinator. He was the OC of the Tennessee Titans from 2019-20, and turned that time into a job as head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, where he had a three-year run from 2021-23. Smith was fired with a 21-30 record and returned to OC duties with the Steelers.
Smith is a North Carolina alum, having played there as a guard form 2001-05, and worked as a graduate assistant there in 2006. After a stretch as a defensive quality control coach with the Washington Redskins, he coached one year at Ole Miss before joining the Titans in 2011, and has been in the NFL ever since.
Two NFL head coaching jobs have already opened, as the New Orleans Saints have fired Dennis Allen and the New York Jets let go Robert Saleh. There will certainly be more in the coming weeks.