New Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s says no matter what level he coaches the logistics of the operation makes a difference between winning and losing. (Press Pros Feature Photos)
Arthur Smith could bring some lessons from his father’s business to the job of fixing the Ohio State offense for Ryan Day.
Columbus, OH — Arthur Smith did not drop any nuggets of wisdom Wednesday afternoon when he met with the Ohio State beat, but the offensive coordinator did drop one Easter egg into his first interview session since preseason practice began at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
That’s the term for a writer dropping a subtle surprise into a book or movie that refers to something else they have written or produced. Usually barely perceptible, an Easter egg is meant to entertain the hard-core fan, a reward to those perceptive followers familiar with the artist’s body of work or background. Just something to add a little more context.
If you miss it, usually that’s not big deal, but catch it and you might enjoy a little extra enjoyment.
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On Wednesday, the hidden reference came about when Smith, the son of FedEx founder Fred Smith, casually dropped a word his father no doubt knows well.
Logistics.
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For the elder Smith, that means setting up shipping lines to get millions of packages across the country efficiently, generating millions of dollars for his business and making customers.
For his son, that means calling the play quickly and efficiently so quarterback Julian Sayin and the offense have time to adjust to what the defense is doing, be in the best position to succeed and bring smiles to the face of fans of the Scarlet and Gray.
“That’s always the thing — operation is key,” said Arthur Smith, who most recently was the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. “I don’t care, any level: It’s all logistics.
“When you’re subbing guys in or out, you’ve gotta be clean because once they put that ball down, they wind that play clock quick and we want to be clean operating.”
That’s not the sexiest way to describe trying to score points, but Ohio State football had a complicated relationship with boring last season.
After a dramatic national championship 2024 campaign marked by dizzying highs and lows, the ’25 Buckeyes were not that exciting. They just won — until they didn’t.
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The defense suffocated opponents every week, but not with splash plays like turnovers. They were predominantly just an immovable object: Have a yard or two on first down, maybe another on second, then flail helplessly on third down before punting the ball away. That was the script for Matt Patricia’s first season coordinating the Silver Bullets.
The Ohio State offense was effective in much the same way: More efficient than anyone, but less explosive than most despite having 2025 first-round NFL Draft pick Carnell Tate at flanker, likely 2026 first-round NFL Draft pick Jeremiah Smith at split end and Sayin, a former five-star prospect at quarterback.
Big plays were few and far between for Ohio State, something that caught up to the Buckeyes at the end of the season when they lost to Indiana and Miami (Fla.).
(If you’re tired of reading references to those games, rest assured we are also tired of dredging them back up, but the calendar still reads August, and this is the life we’ve chosen. The new season and new games to dissect will be here soon enough …)
Arthur Smith is in his first year as offensive coordinator at Ohio State after working for three NFL teams as a coordinator and a head coach.
Brian Hartline, who expertly assembled the receiving room but poorly put together the offensive game plans, was not fired for the ineffective way the Buckeyes tried to attack the Hoosiers and Hurricanes. He was already planning to leave (and perhaps partly had left already) for the University of South Florida when those games were played, so whatever he might have learned during his on-the-job training as a play-caller won’t benefit Ohio State.
Enter Arthur Smith, who could hardly be much more different from his predecessor at offensive coordinator.
After spending four seasons as an NFL offensive coordinator and three seasons as an NFL head coach, he is inarguably overqualified to be a college offensive coordinator.
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Yet aside from those three letters — NFL — on his resume, Smith’s hiring was not that flashy, either. His Steelers offenses were middle-of-the-pack in scoring and below average throwing the ball, but they were efficient running it.
Ohio State has been searching for that last thing for much of the past five seasons, so being able to couple Smith’s knowledge of the running game and head coach Ryan Day’s passing acumen made their union, well, logical.
Does that mean the attack will look significantly different when the Buckeyes take the field against Ball State on Sept. 5?
Maybe, maybe not.
Coming of a Heisman finalist season as a freshman, Julian Sayin is learning what kind of quarterback play Arthur Smith expects. “You’ve got to study yourself. Those are the games within the games and when you have a quarterback like Julian, he can handle that stuff,” Smith said.
Smith did not give away much this week.
He mentioned changing the tempo and the cadence but was coy about the possibility of more plays being run from under center (even though that’s what reporters and fans in attendance the first three days of practice were able to see).
“We can get into anything — pistol, shotgun, under center,” Smith said with a hint of knowing in his eye. “We’ll let the opponents figure that stuff out. You know, I always laugh there’s things I see now that are trends in a game at both levels — what’s old is new again. Certainly in the NFL there’s a lot more under center again. You don’t really see it on third-and-10 like Troy Aikman or Joe Montana — you know, split backs under center. We’re not doing that.”
Of course, no one expects the Buckeyes to be Aikman’s Cowboys or Montana’s 49ers of the halcyon pre-spread 1990s days of football, but Smith was obviously using some rhetorical sleight of hand to throw people off the scent.
That’s at least for now anyway until we find out in 3 1/2 weeks when the Cardinals come to town anyway.
Smith may have revealed something else in the continuation of the answer above, though.
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“You want to be able to change up the pace,” Smith continued. “And sometimes tempo is getting on the ball, and cadence is a weapon.
“Everybody’s got the same analytics and can use AI now or whatever it is. They’ve got the same numbers, but no matter what you’re doing, if you’re consistently snapping the ball with two seconds [on the play clock], these guys are pinning their ears back if you’re late in the shot clock every time.
“So that’s the game. You’ve got to study yourself. Those are the games within the games and when you have a quarterback like Julian, he can handle that stuff.”
The cadence had not come up yet in the interview, but it has been a sore subject since Miami’s talented defensive ends teed off on Ohio State in the Cotton Bowl, making a mockery of the offensive line and hurrying Sayin into his worst college game.
Cadence will be different at the line of scrimmage under Arthur Smith. And if the early days of practice mean anything, more plays could start with Julian Sayin under center.
Do you think Smith noticed the static snap count when he was evaluating what went wrong? That’s a safe bet, but again he wouldn’t confirm when the natural follow-up was asked about the cadence and the ‘Canes.
“I’m not a rookie,” he said with a hint of levity rather than annoyance. “I’m not perfect. I make my mistakes, but I’m not going to answer that question, respectfully, because I wasn’t here, and the guys have been awesome, and we’re just trying to get better.”
Lining up more like teams did in the ’90s and changing the snap count aren’t exactly revolutionary ideas, but that’s not why Smith was hired.
It’s the logistics.
His experience should work wonders as a contrast to Hartline (and many of the players should be better with more experience themselves).
Smith has been there, done that at the highest level with the Steelers and before that the Atlanta Falcons as head coach and the Tennessee Titans as offensive coordinator.
If his Ohio State offense produces fireworks, that’s nice, but just being better is what really matters.
Arthur Smith might sound a little boring when he talks about offense, but he’s at Ohio State to make sure the Buckeyes score more points than they did last year.
The new OC mentioned being able to reach into his archive — all 20 years’ worth — to try to figure out ways to get the ball to All-American receiver Jeremiah Smith, who is nether related to the offensive coordinator nor put together quite like anyone else the coach has worked with.
That alone should be valuable, but even in explaining the possibilities, Arthur Smith was, well, a little boring.
“Seeing how they’ve done things here and move the football, they put up a lot of points,” he said. “And the evolutions, the defenses, the trends they have, and then skill sets of your players and things that I’ve studied over the years that may not have fit the team I was on or whatever we were doing,” he said. “You pull some of that and kind of evolve from things that they’re comfortable with, and that’s the fun part about it.”
Yadda yadda yadda, how many yards per carry will Bo Jackson end up with?
But you know what is not boring?
Hearing the band play “The Buckeye Battlecry” after touchdowns.
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