Arthur Smith entered the room and took a seat, wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers baseball cap with a microphone in front of him.
After being let go in Atlanta four months ago, Smith is returning to his roots as a play-caller and aiming to start fresh with his career as the offensive coordinator for the Steelers.
Smith didn’t give much detail about how the Steelers will play in the upcoming season. But considering the moves made by Pittsburgh general manager Omar Khan in the first two rounds of the NFL draft, maybe Smith didn’t need to.
Khan picked offensive tackle Troy Fautanu with the 20th overall pick on Thursday. On Friday, he added center Zach Frazier from West Virginia. They will join a line that includes tackle Broderick Jones, the Steelers’ first-round pick last year, and experienced guards Isaac Seumalo and James Daniels.
For a team with big needs at wide receiver and cornerback, a team that’s very much focused on winning with Russell Wilson as their new quarterback, the strategy is clear. It seems tailored for Smith.
Five years after transforming Tennessee into a top-10 offense with Derrick Henry’s strong running and Ryan Tannehill’s smart plays, Smith now has the challenge of doing the same in Pittsburgh to end a playoff drought that has lasted seven years.
The similarities are striking. The Steelers boast one of the league’s best running back duos in Najee Harris and Jaylen Warren. They believe Wilson can still summon some of that “Let Russ Cook” magic from his prime in Seattle.
And they have given Smith a line that they hope one day will be as strong as the ones led by perennial Pro Bowlers Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro a decade ago. When asked about his philosophy, Smith, a soft-spoken individual, got right to the point.
“There’s a certain style of play and intent we want that fits this team and the history here and the Steelers and the brand of football, a shared vision,” Smith said.
It’s a vision that never fully materialized for Smith in Atlanta, where he coached the Falcons to three straight 7-10 seasons while overseeing an offense that never cracked the top 14 in yards or points.
It didn’t take Smith long to find his footing in Pittsburgh. The Steelers have made the playoffs three of the past four seasons, almost despite an offense that struggled to score touchdowns. President Art Rooney II emphasized that Pittsburgh needs to become more dynamic if it wants to compete with the top teams in the AFC.
Enter Smith, who may not be ready to discuss his departure from Atlanta or what brought him to the Steelers. A team media relations representative gently redirected the conversation on Friday away from anything related to Smith’s previous job stops and toward what Smith thinks of Fautanu and Frazier.
