We're two head coaches removed from Arthur Smith's time with the Atlanta Falcons, yet the wounds of one of the worst coaching jobs in franchise history has never faded. His mismanagement of three former top-10 picks on offense was so brutal it turned Arthur Blank off of hiring first-time coaches.
Smith had elite weapons such as Bijan Robinson, Drake London, and Kyle Pitts at his disposal, yet preferred to scheme up plays for Tyler Allgeier and Jonnu Smith. It's baffling that he continues to find work, yet as soon as the Falcons fired him, the Pittsburgh Steelers jumped at the opportunity to make him their offensive coordinator--where their offense was just as unwatchable as Atlanta's.
However, the Steelers let him go when they hired Mike McCarthy, and that's when the NFL opportunities dried up. You'd think that would be the end of a subpar play-caller, but you'd be wrong, as the Ohio State Buckeyes took a chance on him to be their new OC after Brian Hartline's departure.
It feels like Falcons fans are the only ones who see how awful this guy is, but the gig with Ohio State is putting into perspective. The 6-3 Buckeyes have lost back-to-back games to USC and Oregon and have their lowest AP poll ranking (No. 21) since 2014, and we know exactly who the problem is.
One of the main issues in Columbus has been a lack of execution on offense--which isn't something you see often from one of college football's best programs. This was supposed to be an easy place for him to get back on his feet and turn around his career, but instead, things have gotten worse.
Ex-Falcons head coach Arthur Smith is having a brutal season with Ohio State
How does one have the Ohio State offense looking like a shell of itself? This is one of the most talented units in college football, yet Arthur Smith again isn't getting the most out of his personnel--which is the exact same story we saw play out with the Dirty Birds and the Steelers.
Things weren't even that good before Julian Sayin got injured but every since Sayin went down, things have gone off the rails. Smith has done nothing to make life easier on Luke Fahey, and given he's considered this "run game technician" his offense has no semblance of a run game this year.
The 44-year-old is working with arguably the greatest wide receiver prospect since Calvin Johnson in Jeremiah Smith, yet he's turned him into a decoy. No. 4 is the only reason this offense hasn't completely imploded without Sayin, and even he was getting frustrated on the sidelines on Saturday.
His gameplan can work with NFL teams that don't have a lot of offensive firepower, but college is a vastly different game. There's much more scoring in college and you're meant to blow teams out, yet with this gameplan, he would rather keep games close against teams that OSU should be dominating.
Between Jeremiah Smith, Devin McCuin, Bo Jackson, and Chris Henry Jr. he has a lot of elite playmakers to work with, yet the offense is still so vanilla. Every time it's two short runs than an incomplete pass. It's crazy how predictable things have been, but it's not like no one saw this coming.
Say what you want about the 3-6 Falcons after another brutal loss, but Arthur Smith leading the Ohio State Buckeyes to their worst season in years is bound to make things sting a little less.
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