Arthur Smith is the new Ohio State offensive coordinator with an NFL resume. Like it or not – and some fans don’t – Ryan Day chose more than just the best available coach for the job.
Trigger warning: Some views expressed here might contradict conventional wisdom, cause you to question quick conclusions of experts, and, finally, give you permission to do the unthinkable in these dogmatic days.
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Change your mind.
No matter what you’ve heard, Ryan Day chose wisely when he hired Arthur Smith to be his fourth different offensive coordinator since 2019 and third in three seasons.
Let me explain.
Veteran columnist Jeff Gilbert writes the OHSAA and Ohio State sports for Press Pros Magazine.com.
First, Smith is far more qualified than Brian Hartline was. Smith is an experienced offensive coordinator by trade – in the NFL. Hartline was an apprentice who might be better suited to be a head coach than a coordinator. University of South Florida will find out.
Second – and a natural byproduct of the first point – Day will return to being CEO, the position required in today’s business and the role he excelled in as 2024 national champion. If you wanted Day to be CEO and not call plays then, you should still want it. And you’re getting it.
Third, when Smith got the job, my first thought stuck like snow in sub-zero temperatures. Smith makes sense because he coaches the type of offense Day wants, the kind that can compete for championships. Day evolved into a coach who likes two and three tight-end formations to complement wide formations and empty backfields. All in the name of establishing the run.
For an offensive head coach to hire a like-minded coordinator – one he doesn’t have to monitor – makes sense. Whatever Day needs to learn about that style of offense, Smith already knows. That’s a far better match than a head coach and receivers coach learning by trial and error.
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Satisfied?
Even with that list, I didn’t want to jump to conclusions without data. All the data.
And nobody knows where the data is buried more than Press Pros colleague Marcus Hartman, a numbers guy, an X and O guy and someone who will talk football with you as long as your phone has power.
Soon after we spoke, he emailed a page full of numbers. I will summarize.
He hasn’t won a Super Bowl…but new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s list of accomplishments sseem to fit Ohio State’s needs perfectly…run or pass.
To start, Smith hasn’t won a Super Bowl, but he is the author of some high-performing offenses, ones with a running game and upright quarterbacks against the best opponents.
Ohio State was far from vintage Ohio State in both blocking specialties, especially against the best teams on its schedule: Indiana and Miami. Had the Buckeyes been vintage, well, they would have won both those games. Feel free to speculate on what else they might have won.
Because Day abandoned the run only when he had to, proves he believes the running game must be reliable. His championship team ranked No. 58 in rushing, but it got the job done when needed. Indiana this year at No. 12 had by far the highest ranked run game in recent championship history.
Smith believes in establishing the run, and he’s proven he knows how to when he has the line and backfield to do it. As the Tennessee Titans OC in 2019 and 2020, he coached the No. 3 and No. 2 rushing attacks in the NFL.
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As the Atlanta Falcons head coach, Smith’s first team was 31st in rushing. The next two years they were third and ninth. The 2024 Steelers were 11th. This year’s Steelers were 26th but 15th in points.
In Smith’s seven seasons calling plays, his offenses averaged fourth in rushing, second in rushing-play percentage and first in plays with two tight ends or more.
At Tennessee, Smith turned Ryan Tannehill into one of the most productive passers in the NFL. He led the league in yards per attempt, yards per completion and passer rating in 2019. Tannehill’s career rating was 91.2. His two seasons under Smith were 117.5 and 106.5.
Like any high-performing OC, Smith became a head coach. But the Atlanta Falcons were on the way down. Smith’s first season was Matt Ryan’s last. Then he was stuck with Marcus Mariota, Desmond Ridder and Taylor Heinicke. Bijan Robinson’s rookie rushing season of 1,463 yards couldn’t save an offense without a quarterback. So Smith was the fall guy.
Raise the specter of this season’s under-performing Steelers offense if you’d like. That, and Smith’s time in Atlanta, would be similar to the criticism Day received when he hired Matt Patricia a year ago to be defensive coordinator.
The Steelers were 25th in total offense but 15th in points. Smith must have made some clutch play calls that helped Aaron Rodgers overcome a mediocre arsenal of weapons.
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Smith will use two tight or three tight ends as much or more than anyone in the Big Ten just like he did in the NFL. But what about the receivers? Smith’s philosophy is be big up front and run the ball more than most will, then use play-action to get those receivers open. Establishing the run to set up the pass is as old-school as it gets.
He can be as old school as it comes…but will the Buckeyes offensive line be good enough to support ‘old school’ football?
And like every other style, this one is back. When defenses over corrected to stop power football, coaches like Urban Meyer beat it by spreading the defense out with four receivers. And it allowed teams that couldn’t recruit linemen like Ohio State did, to use speed to score and compete. Still, most spreads rely on running to set up the pass.
Now that defenses have over corrected to stop the wide-open ways, the spread – at least for the true national contenders – is dead. Defenses learned how to stop it.
Not convinced? Understandable.
Day and Smith must prove this will work with the players they have. And that raises more questions.
How will the comings and goings in the transfer portal play out? Will the offensive line be good enough? Maybe. Four starters and others with significant experience return. But that’s only a positive scenario if they play a lot better. Otherwise, they are doomed to repeat 2025.
That can’t happen if the Buckeyes are to contend for championships.
And did you see the schedule? I agree with Fox Sports’ Joel Klatt that the Buckeyes will face the most difficult schedule in the Big Ten as it exists now on paper.
At Texas, at Iowa, at Indiana, at USC. Home against Illinois, Oregon and Michigan.
Indiana and Texas could open the season ranked 1-2. Oregon could be in the top five, USC and Iowa in the top 15 and Michigan in the top 20.
I’m here for it. Much more entertaining than the 2025 stinker schedule that made the Buckeyes look better than they were.
Ohio State could be better this year, but they could also lose two regular season games like 2024. And armed with former NFL head coaches as coordinators, the Buckeyes will be far more tested for the playoffs than 2025.
Remember, Ryan Day won’t have to call plays or be his OC’s crutch. He can be the CEO, relying on a more solid game plan because the coach in charge of it will know much better what will work and what won’t.
Now, if those men up front can just block.
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