The Falcons are beginning a new era under Raheem Morris with Kirk Cousins at signal caller, and it seems brighter days are coming for Atlanta following three consecutive 7-10 seasons under Arthur Smith.
The club’s owner, Arthur Blank, decided to move on from Smith, in part, because of his underwhelming results. Some of that can be attributed to Smith’s own doing, but I still believe the driving factor in Atlanta’s shortcomings was poor quarterback play, namely Desmond Ridder.
Nevertheless, Arthur Smith stuck with Ridder, and it cost him his job, but he did land on his feet, taking a job under Mike Tomlin as the Steelers offensive coordinator.
Pittsburgh is a blue-collar city that wants to play football in a way that ironically represents the fans, and it pairs nicely with Smith’s system. The Steelers are going to run the piss out of the ball this year, which is exactly what Tomlin wants to do.
Though a poor head coach by most accounts, Arthur Smith is a damn fine offensive coordinator. Part of why he wasn’t beloved in Atlanta, outside of his losing record, was his approach with the media.
Smith constantly gave snarky comments in almost Bill Belichick fashion, which doesn’t really resonate when you’re losing football games and your best players are underperforming. The former Falcons head coach would constantly dance around questions, giving answers to questions that weren’t asked, and over-answering some.
He’s back to his old tricks too. Steelers fans, this is just the tip of the iceberg. When asked about the status of the team’s WR2 (a very valid question), Smith proceeded to give the Pittsburgh media his classic word salad of saying a lot without saying anything.
finally, an answer on who the #Steelers WR2 is, courtesy of OC Arthur Smith pic.twitter.com/Uq0zpDko29
— The Coachspeak Index (@CoachspeakIndex) June 12, 2024
Falcons fans know this all too well.
Whether it’s the “Bijan can actually impact the game as a decoy” or “Kyle is doing a lot of good things away from the ball” comments, Arthur Smith rubbed fans in Atlanta the wrong way.
Steelers fans will quickly turn on him as well if the results aren’t positive.
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Photographer: Jeff Robinson/Icon Sportswire
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