Exclusive interview with OC Arthur Smith | Pittsburgh Steelers

[Music] can you just start and explain why coming here to Pittsburgh to be the offensive coordinator just made sense for you yeah it's a such a unique opportunity uh to be able to work for an organization like the Pittsburgh Steelers with the history the culture here and the opportunity to work with Mike Tomlin it's a to me it's a perfect cultural fit in terms of your offensive philosophy how would you describe it to somebody who's never watched one of the games you've coached yeah certainly with our offenses we've clearly adapted to the strengths of our players but there's a certain identity we we want to have uh you know any offense I've been a part of you know it's it's going to be a physical brand you know you want to win the line of scrimmage but it's also talk about playing the strengths obviously trying to create explosives when I have a very smart unit because it's going to come down in the National Football League situational football which kind of incompasses third down two minute and a half in the games obviously Red Zone that's what we have to do we had to score points you got to have those four-point swings and and create touchdowns for the quarterback to be successful in your system what do you need to see from that person well there again I've been fortunate I've worked with a lot of different quarterbacks at different parts of his careers like with Ryan tanel who was at a different part of his career than Matt Ryan was when when I had the opportunity with Matt then worked with young quarterbacks as well and it's exciting to you know hear you know the way that this offense has built with a lot of young players and obviously what Kenny pickets had going to his third year playing with a young quarter back you know being efficient you know being able to get the ball out and and making the smart decisions getting the ball in the playmaker's hands and taking care of the football and a lot of things that come up and the responsibility of playing quarterback in the National Football League because there's pressure situations they happen happen all game MH and having command of those situations and ultimately you know putting the ball in the end zone you know whether it's through the air you know handoff or running it in uh but there's a lot on it and there's a Natural Evolution that happens with the quarterback you mentioned Kenny picket uh Ste ERS president Art Rooney II said that the OC he wants to see them help Kenny take that next step in his career how do you start that process and what do you think that's going to look like yeah well first off you know there's a relationship that's got to be built between me and Kenny and that's so Paramount between the play caller and the quarterback you the quarterback's obviously the one out there between the white lines and there's there's a trust that's got to be built daily and goes both ways you know I've got to earn Kenny's trust and and vice versa as we build this offense and and all the things we want to work on and we want him to work on and and take command of his offense as you start to look at this roster that's currently here now for agency and the draft will happen What excites you about this group there's a lot of exciting young football players here and guys that Pittsburgh has invested in guys I'm really excited to coach it's a young offense but there's a lot of exciting players during your time in Atlanta as the head coach what do you take away from that experience that can maybe help you as you come to Pittsburgh yeah I mean I you know obviously thankful to be here part of Pittsburgh but uh as all the different stops on on my coaching Journey you know very grateful for the opportunity I had in Atlanta you know it was a unique situation essentially rebuild a team and there were some good Lessons Learned and and and some tough lessons but uh it'll help me here especially with some of the young players that we have and how you fit the offense and try to play those guys strengths and we we had a lot of young guys we invested in and we had three straight years where rookie went over a th000 yards guys that were productive and and dealing with that and how they fit into this and what we're building here in so all those experiences add up uh but I'm really excited to be here you mentioned Ryan Tiana Hill but going back to Tennessee the last time you were in OC what made that group click where you guys had such great success as a unit but also individual players too there's a huge part of this that uh the chemistry and fit matters you know there's there's so many great players and coaches in this league but a lot of it is about chemistry and fit and how that those those guys able to come together and there was there was a a lot of shared values between a lot of those guys in Tennessee and that's a big part of of it and that that is real you know there's certain guys that fit together and what you're trying to do and there's a Evolution as guys improve there was a great chemistry among those guys and those offenses that I was able to to be a part of in Tennessee you crossed past with a lot of people with Steelers connections Mike Malarkey Mike Munk Mike Vel did you lean on those guys at all during this interview process as you you know decided you wanted to come to Pittsburgh a little bit but those are conversations I've uh had Through The Years there's so many people have Pittsburgh connections that it's kind of a dream come true to be able to work here you know I'm somebody that loves the history of this game and I can even take it back to when I um was able to work for five weeks with Tom Moore I've already walked by the I've seen a young Tom Moore I know Tom's looked like he's been the same age for the last 30 years going back I think for his 46 year coaching the National Football League but those five weeks developed with Tom and and the one thing that hit home to me he's like I don't know why people don't study Chuck NL more and Tony dunie like M was the same way you know Mike got to play here at the end of his career and then he coached here and he was adamant about learning about Chuck and and there was a lot there's not a lot of literature on Chuck null and I love his humility and off advice from Tom and Mike Malarkey and then obvious you mentioned Mike Rabel who was here as a player started his career here Bill Cower and then I've gotten to work with dick laau Ken wizen on Russ Grim Ray Horton I mean there's so many connection L spos I could go on and on like who's who players uh and everybody to a person talks about how special it is to work here in Pittsburgh and so I I don't know many places like this in all professional sports with the history and and there's a certain unique when people see that Steelers logo they know what it is and uh the fan base is real football fans here they they love it I'm excited to be a part of it when you get a chance to talk to your players meet your players what's the one thing you really want them to know about you the person yeah I mean I think everybody have ever tried to coach whether it's been one day or you know 5 years years is you know you try to build a relationship and and to get to know the person first and there's a certain way we want to operate there's an expectation but it's not lost of me this is a relationship business and everybody's different and that's the one thing I'll certainly go out of my way to make sure we have a relationship because there's a certain style and you know the way we want to coach and demands and the style of play is going to be big but it's that trust in the relationship that I I'm excited about trying to develop which I every player we have here on offense every feature I watched or read about you your work ethic is always brought up how was that instilled in you and does it go back to when you were really young is it a football thing certainly a love with football happened at early age um but you know I'd give a lot of credit to my parents you know I'm one of 10 kids my mom she somehow got us all through and then uh my father you know I was fortunate to be raised by an old Marine that served two tours in Vietnam and one of those humble people I know never been impressed with themselves and so you know I'm lucky I get to coach football and uh you know I just have a mentality I mean you know you got to earn your job every day and it's a privilege and honor being in the National Football League and certainly working for Pittsburgh so it's just it's the way it was in St to me when I was young you mentioned your dad and the salute to service nominee for the Falcons the past two years is that where you got so involved in supporting the military making sure you give back it is uh like I said he he was a marine that uh did two tours in Vietnam uh my great uncles and a lot of people that served in World War II uh I've got two nephews that went to the Naval Academy that are they're currently serving one's a naval a pilot the other one took a marine billets over in oklava so it's at least I can do to try to get back awesome well thanks for your time we appreciate it thanks for your time

Channel: Pittsburgh Steelers

Views: 125,442

Keywords: steelers, nfl, american football, afc north, steelers news, pittsburgh steelers news, pittsburgh, pittsburgh steelers, Pittsburgh Steelers, PIT, Steelers, Arthur Smith, Steelers coach, offensive coordinator, coach, NFL coach, news, breaking news, steelers coach, steelers coaches, coaching staff, NFL news, NFL breaking news, Arthur Smith Steelers, interview, 1 on 1, exclusive, 2024 Steelers, 2024 NFL, steelers 2024, 2024 steelers, 2024 pittsburgh steelers, pittsburgh steelers 2024

Id: 0iFW430rZpQ

Length: 7min 38sec (458 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 03 2024