Well, the offensive coordinator search ended a little early.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have hired former Atlanta Falcons head coach Arthur Smith to be their next offensive coordinator.

Smith is coming off a three year tenure as the head coach in Atlanta, where the Falcons went 7-10 in all three years. He was heavily coveted by several NFL teams, but he finds himself in Pittsburgh.

The fan reaction was, mixed, at best. Smith’s hiring was loathed by fans who wanted a more innovative hire at a key moment for this franchise. Instead, they got a somewhat predictable hire, one that isn’t all that inspiring.

Smith isn’t a new and exciting, up and coming coordinator. The hiring also feels kind of rushed; the Steelers picked him before even formally interviewing a lot of other candidates, such as Klint Kubiak, pass game coordinator for the Super Bowl bound San Francisco 49ers.

I get the distain, really, I do. But I have to be honest, I’m alright with this hire. Allow me to explain why.

Arthur Smith’s time in Atlanta overshadows the success he had prior to that. Before the Falcons snagged him to be their head coach, Smith spent many years in the Tennessee Titans organization. He broke into the league in 2011 as a Defensive Quality Control coach with the Titans.

He switched to Offensive Quality Control the following year, then worked in the tight ends department for six years. He was the full-time tight ends coach starting in 2016, where he remained until 2019 when he was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Titans.

Smith was the OC in Tennessee for two years, where the Titans actually had a rather lethal offense. Despite the Titans being a run heavy team on the back of future Hall of Famer Derrick Henry, quarterback Ryan Tannehill had the best years of his career under Smith as the coordinator, which is very important to note.

Smith’s offense relied on a strong running game, and how could it not if you had Derrick Henry on your team? Under both seasons where Smith was in charge of the offense, Henry led the NFL in rushing attempts, rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, and rushing yards per game.

The offense was built around the run game, which for better or worse, is what the Steelers are going to plan to do in 2024.

The Steelers do not have Derrick Henry, but they do have a great one-two punch at running back for the Steelers. Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren are one of the best running back duos in the league, and will be relied on even more under a Smith-led offense.

In terms of the quarterback, Smith’s track record suggests he will not be able to develop Kenny Pickett. The Falcons were a disaster with Desmond Ridder at the helm, who was taken in the same draft class as Pickett.

Smith, however, does have success in rehabilitating damaged quarterbacks. When Smith was promoted in 2019, the Titans brought in quarterback Ryan Tannehill for pennies on the dollar.

Tannehill had tumbled out of the job in Miami, but after Titans starter Marcus Mariota was benched in the early part of the season, Tannehill experienced a complete career revival. In 2019, Tannehill, despite playing only 12 games, led the NFL in yards per attempt, yards per completion, and most importantly, in quarterback rating, with 117.5, by far the highest of his career.

The following season, now entrenched as the starter, Tannehill threw a career high 33 touchdowns to only 7 interceptions, while earning a 106.5 quarterback rating, the only other season he had a 100+ rating.

Tannehill’s two best years, by far, came with Smith as his coordinator. While Tannehill was far more established as a pro by that point, his situation wasn’t all that unfamiliar than what Kenny Pickett’s is now.

A former high draft pick who has fallen out of favor, benched by his team, and how hoping to rekindle past success. Arthur Smith proved in Tennessee that he can work with that.

Right or wrong, Kenny Pickett will be treated as the starter heading into 2024. Pickett might not be the established veteran that Tannehill was at the time, but going into his third year in the NFL, he hopefully understands the weight of this season, and will benefit from having someone like Smith there.

Any Steelers fan would sign up in a heart beat for 55 touchdowns and 13 interceptions from Kenny Pickett over the next two years, which is what Tannehill achieved during Smith’s two year run as OC.

The Titans also made the playoffs both years that Smith was there. In 2019, Tannehill led a scrappy 9-7 Titans team all the way to the AFC Championship game, which included knocking off the New England Patriots and 14-2 Baltimore Ravens.

In 2020, they also made the postseason, though it came to an unceremonious end, losing in the wild card round.

It’s hard to move past how bad Smith’s time in Atlanta was. He called the plays for the Falcons, and the offense ranked 26th in points twice, and finished 24th or worse in yards twice.

But when he was only an offensive coordinator, things were an entirely different story. The Titans finished 10th in points and 12th in yards in 2019, and then 2nd in points and 4th in yards in 2020. He was more than capable of running an offense.

Those were the numbers that got him hired as a head coach, and in my own opinion, I think that was just too much for him. Some guys are excellent as coordinators, but bad as head coaches. I think Arthur Smith might be one of those guys.

Smith’s hiring would benefit greatly from a solid quarterbacks coach hiring. Ideally, the Steelers would knock it out of the park in that department, getting someone who can excel at continuing to help Pickett grow.

Depending on who that ends up being will factor into how well the Smith hiring could look.

But unlike a lot of people in this town, I don’t mind the Smith hire. Was he the best possible choice? Probably not. But solely as a coordinator, he has a very good résumé, and that’s what he will be in Pittsburgh.

But, before I accept him, he has to grow back the mustache. Non-negotiable.

(Featured image by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)