In a move that caught many around the league by surprise, Arthur Smith is expected to head back to the college ranks, taking over as offensive coordinator at Ohio State. The Buckeyes are filling the vacancy left by Brian Hartline, who recently accepted the head coaching job at the University of South Florida.
Smith’s return to the college game marks a full-circle moment in his coaching career. He got his start as a graduate assistant at North Carolina back in 2006 before making the jump to the NFL the following year with Washington. Since then, he’s built a résumé that includes time as the offensive coordinator in Tennessee and, more recently, stints as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons and offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
There had been some buzz about Smith potentially returning to the NFL sidelines, including reported conversations with the Tennessee Titans about their OC opening. That door now appears closed, and so does any potential reunion with Robert Saleh, who’s in the process of filling the offensive coordinator role for the New York Jets. Smith becomes the second candidate linked to Saleh’s search to take another job elsewhere-Bobby Slowik was the first, heading to Miami to become the Dolphins’ new OC.
Smith’s time in Tennessee remains the high point of his NFL tenure. He helped engineer one of the league’s most physical and efficient offenses, built around Derrick Henry’s punishing ground game, Ryan Tannehill’s resurgence at quarterback, and the emergence of A.J.
Brown as a top-tier receiving threat. But since then, the success hasn’t followed.
His run as head coach in Atlanta never quite found its footing, and his recent season in Pittsburgh was marked by inconsistency and offensive struggles.
Still, the move to Ohio State offers a fresh start-and an intriguing one. The Buckeyes have long been a powerhouse, and adding an experienced NFL mind like Smith’s could bring a new dimension to their offensive approach. For Smith, it’s a chance to reset, retool, and perhaps rebuild the kind of success he once had in Tennessee.
As for Saleh and the Jets, the search continues. With Smith and Slowik off the board, the pool of available candidates just got a little thinner.