Arthur Smith has a run-game reputation. He’s a man who loves the ground game, tight ends and Alexander the Great (a figure he references almost weekly in his press conferences). But Smith deserves credit for his ability to develop and work with quarterbacks – ones with a variety of skillsets and backgrounds. On Tuesday, Mike Tomlin made sure to recognize that.
“I think that’s one of the things that was attractive to me about him,” Tomlin said via the team’s YouTube channel during his Tuesday press conference when asked about Smith’s work with quarterbacks.” The same could be said for his time spent in Tennessee and Atlanta. Quarterbacks of varying skill sets. Matt Ryan was a pocket passer. [Marcus] Mariota was a mover. [Ryan] Tannehill could move and was a grizzly veteran. He’s been around a variety of guys, but he’s always been adaptable and that adaptability is a major component of coaching, and he’s very good at it.”
Right now, Smith is working with one of the most veteran players in NFL history. The offseason was spent with plenty of media consternation over his ability to coexist with Aaron Rodgers. Instead, that narrative has gone up in smoke. Smith and Rodgers have worked well together without any hint of animosity. In fact, players like OT Troy Fautanu have noted how close the two are with each other. Not just in age, Smith is only two years older than Rodgers, but in personality.
The results are all that matters, and they have been excellent. Pittsburgh sits just outside the top 10 in points per game. Rodgers is on pace to shatter Ben Roethlisberger’s record for touchdown passes in a season, tracking to finish with nearly 40 that would break Roethlisberger’s career-high of 34.
Smith’s success comes from experience. He has a history of working with quarterbacks of all kinds. As Tomlin mentioned, young quarterbacks in need of reviving in Ryan Tannehill and Justin Fields. Veterans like Marcus Mariota and Russell Wilson. Mobile quarterbacks and those who played from the pocket. Putting players in position to succeed and adapting to their strengths is the mark of a good coach. Smith is showing it.
“He certainly has a mode of operation, things that he values,” Tomlin said of Smith. “But he’s pliable enough to bring the ball, not only to his quarterback and their skillset, but to the talent within the collective as well.”
The downside to that success is the league-wide attention that it could garner. The NFL loves a coach who can work with and build up quarterbacks. With Smith’s work with Fields highlighted even more given Fields’ severe struggles in New York, teams with coaching vacancies could come calling this upcoming offseason.
Smith already makes sense as a lead candidate for the Tennessee Titans opening. Could the Miami Dolphins show the same interest, a franchise in need of course-correcting Tua Tagovailoa and create culture in a city where it’s difficult to do so? What about pairing Smith with Jaxson Dart with the New York Giants should Brian Daboll not last? And what if Aaron Glenn is one-and-done. Would Smith go to the Jets to reunite with Fields, a player and person he had plenty of love for?
All questions to be answered come January, and ones being asked because of Smith’s track record.
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