Arthur Smith has been getting to know the players and their skills since the first day of spring practice. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Arthur Smith’s reputation as a coach is one focused on establishing the run game and great offensive line play, but he won’t limit his running of the offense to a narrow set of preferences.
Columbus, OH – Arthur Smith didn’t reveal much about his personality Tuesday in his first meeting with the media since being hired as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator.
Does he crack jokes? Does he smile much? Is he always this serious?
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He answered questions politely, sometimes with a bit of depth, with his new “OHIO STATE BUCKEYES” ballcap pulled down tight over his eyes. He emphasized points at times with his hands. His demeanor is probably who he is in player meetings, too.
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But senior Carson Hinzman, the Buckeyes’ starting center, let us see a little bit of the intensity Smith hides under the brim that casts a dark shadow on his face. Smith, we learned, isn’t just a talker, espousing wisdom of how to play the offensive line, boring players with long speeches.
Smith likes visual aids beyond the everyday ritual of whiteboard diagramming and film review. His show-don’t-tell pedagogy the first time he met with the offensive line? A highlight video.
“A bunch of film of guys laying out dudes on the field,” Hinzman said.
And what did Smith say after his 15-minute presentation: “That’s how we’re gonna play.”
That’s like telling the linemen there’s a buffet in the next room.
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“I love that mentality to come in and be physical and establish dominance of the offensive line,” Hinzman said. “What he really wants to put in is the mentality like, ‘Hey, we’re gonna run the football, try to make those teeth click when we’re first coming off.’ For him to pound the nail again on violence, I think is important for us.”
Fans and media observers have pounded the nail on one shortcoming more than any other in recent seasons: blocking the old-fashioned way and running the football effectively when they want to.
If Arthur Smith gets the kind of offensive line play he demands, Bo Jackson will have plenty of running room in the fall.
In the championship season of 2024, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins made up for some blocking issues. To the line’s credit, they played their best football in the playoffs. But last year? Everyone saw the deficiencies against Indiana and Miami, ones hidden for three months against a soft schedule.
Brian Hartline left after his inaugural year of play calling to be the head coach at South Florida. So Ryan Day pivoted the same direction he did a year ago when he needed a defensive coordinator. He hired an NFL guy. Smith ran the Tennessee Titans offense for Buckeye great Mike Vrabel. That lead to his shot to be a head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. Last year he ran the Pittsburgh Steelers offense.
Two years ago former NFL head coach Chip Kelly, whose greatest success was as head coach at Oregon, called plays for Day and torched defenses in the playoffs. Last year Hartline called plays for the first time to mixed reviews, finishing with 10 points against Indiana in the Big Ten title game and 14 against Miami in the Cotton Bowl. The run game was inconsistent and quarterback Julian Sayin felt more pressure in those two games than the 12 regular-season games combined.
Now it’s Smith time. And if the way Hinzman and senior guard Luke Montgomery talked Tuesday means what it sounds like it means, Smith will be an offensive coordinator and play caller with an attitude the Buckeyes need to resurrect: nasty, nasty, nasty in the trenches. Smith didn’t speak that forcefully, but it was clear from the more easy and confident way Hinzman and Montgomery spoke, compared to any lineman’s take last year, that confidence is high.
This year’s offensive line has a lot of familiar faces, but they want to introduce themselves to the nation as the best in 2026.
“We want to be the Joe Moore Award winners,” Montgomery said confidently of the prize given to the nation’s best offensive line. “That’s the top of the line for us. There’s no excuse not to. That’s our standard, and that’s what we want to be.”
Said Hinzman: “This season is gonna be a great opportunity to show what we have, maybe rewrite some of our wrongs we had last year.”
Smith was asked what it will take for him and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen to have their veteran line ready to dictate the line of scrimmage. He didn’t delve into specifics, he didn’t turn fiery, but he talked like someone who thinks he has a good foundation to work with.
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“We’ve got great depth in the O line room,” Smith said. “You just want to be fundamentally sound, and that’s across the board. We got a lot of work ahead of us before we kick off the season. Whether you win or lose you really need to objectively look at yourself. That’s the nature of the job if you want to do it right.”
Smith started those thoughts with the line, the position he played for the North Carolina Tar Heels. But he shifted the focus to the entire offense. There wasn’t time to hear much from him about every position group. There were no answers to two or three tight end sets, what he thinks about three wide receiver sets, does he prefer a primary ballcarrier or does he like two backs sharing the load.
Arthur Smith met with the media Tuesday for the first time since being hired as Ohio State’s offensive coordinator and play caller.
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Smith didn’t drop any hints. But if his NFL style of offense is what you expect and it makes you nervous, he didn’t sound like a man married to any particular alignments. Make no mistake, he wants a dominant run game – and what scarlet-blooded Buckeye doesn’t – and he will game plan for one every Saturday.
But it might not always look the same.
“Things that we did well in Tennessee may not fit this group,” Smith said. “Other places I’ve been you want to have packages going in where you don’t become obvious. You got to have counter punches. And that’s the week to week. Your game plan may change week to week. You might like this personnel or formation in this package, and you need to have counter punches.”
With higher turnover than ever before – the roster contains 51 new names – yearly adjustments, some more noticeable than others, are part of the game. Smith’s experience in the ever-evolving NFL, it would seem, will be an advantage for the Buckeyes.
Julian Sayin took too many sacks in postseason games. Expect him to be a more willing runner this season when the defense closes in.
Some strategies are a given. Jeremiah Smith will be Julian Sayin’s No. 1 target. Bo Jackson and Isaiah West will get the first crack at being the primary ballcarriers.
Others, not so much. Wide receiver depth and who will be the No. 2 will be interesting viewing this spring. Will as many tight ends be ready for the field as last year? And what will Sayin add to his plate.
After the Miami loss, Sayin admitted he should have been a more willing runner and avoided so many sacks. On the first day of spring practice, Day mentioned Sayin taking off at the right times could be an X factor. If the line has their way, Sayin shouldn’t have to run much. But you can expect him to be less of a statue this season.
On the first day of practice, Sayin worked on changing calls at the line of scrimmage. As a returning Heisman Trophy finalist, it seems a given that Sayin will be granted more freedom to adjust, a part of the NFL game Smith is used to.
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“It allows you a lot more flexibility,” Smith said. “You’re trying to take advantage of what the defense has given you.”
Formations, play calls, tendencies all revolve around five blockers you can trust, blockers who trust each other, communicate well and hold each other accountable. Four of the five are returning starters making them the most experienced line in the country. Whether or not they win the Joe Moore Award, this group can’t help but be improved.
Quarterback Julian Sayin is expected to be granted more control of the game.
“We can trust each other with our calls,” Hinzman said. “Even if Coach Patrica puts in some BS defense [in practice], like he always does, it’s good for us that we can trust that, one way or another, we’re going to get this done. Even if we’re all wrong, we’re all right because we know exactly where we’re going. Being able to handle that communication is strong as a group.”
Bowen is the line coach, but just like head coaches set tones for a program, the coordinator sets a tone for the entire offense. And Hinzman likes what he sees and hears so far from Smith.
“The best thing he does is be consistent,” Hinzman said. “For him to continue to come in with we got to get better, we gotta have more velocity off the football, play more violent, that kind of stuff … that has been really good for us.”
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