Cam Heyward defends Steelers’ hiring of Arthur Smith against ‘mob’ criticism
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Pittsburgh Steelers defensive lineman Cam Heyward used his podcast platform to praise the hire of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith.
“Arthur Smith (was) balling out with Tennessee all those years ago,” Heyward said on his “Not just Football”
“It’s great to have an OC with some experience. The main thing I loved about what he said was it’s all about relationships. You can have all the Xs and Os, but if you don’t have an OC who the players trust, it’s not going to work.”
Heyward also blasted those who have been critical of the move.
“I just don’t like condemning a guy before he gets the job,” Heyward said. “I understand he’s had success (in) one place and (Tennessee as OC) and didn’t have success in his last job (Atlanta as head coach). Let’s just calm down. Let’s pump the brakes. You can have urgency and be positive about it and be optimistic about it.”
“Urgency” certainly seems to be the buzzword over at the Steelers’ facility. I am still waiting to see how that urgency is going to manifest, though. The organization is going to keep the head coach, extend the defensive coordinator, give the benched QB his job back, and has now hired an offensive coordinator with the same philosophical approach as the current head coach.
That doesn’t strike me as acting with urgency.
But I digress. Heyward also suggested some fans and media who are unhappy with this decision need to let things develop.
“You’ve got to give him time,” Heyward said. “I just don’t get already throwing the guy under the bus and saying, ‘Oh man, I can’t believe we did this.’ What makes you think you know better than the guys in the front office? You don’t think they’ve been doing their homework, studying this guy? And if they do have success, that’s great. If they don’t, OK, they missed. But I can’t get behind the mob saying, ‘Oh, man. I can’t believe we did this.’ It’s ridiculous.”
Well, I’m not wild about the hire. I guess that makes me part of the “mob.” However, I’m not condemning Smith or automatically assuming this choice will fail. In fact, as I’ve previously written, I could see where — conceptually — Smith can make things work.
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Lean into the run game. Strengthen the offensive line at left tackle and center. Make the Najee Harris-Jaylen Warren combo into a reasonable facsimile of what the Titans did with Derrick Henry in 2019-20. Use a play-action-based, short passing game that will allow Kenny Pickett to boot and get on the edges in hopes of moving the ball safely. Then, after the defense is loosened up, hit shots down the field.
I get it.
But Pickett is still Pickett, and it’s not like Smith worked wonders with Desmond Ridder in Atlanta. Nor did he get the most out of young talents such as Kyle Pitts (TE), Drake London (WR) or Bijan Robinson (RB).
Don’t forget, he was the play caller there too, as the head coach, not just in Tennessee as offensive coordinator. We can’t gloss over that.
Contrary to Heyward’s statement, I’m not suggesting I “know better than the guys in the front office.” I am suggesting, however, that some of the guys making decisions — namely Mike Tomlin and Art Rooney II — were also around when Randy Fichtner was promoted and Matt Canada was hired as quarterbacks coach, promoted to offensive coordinator in 2021, and retained through the middle of 2023.
So maybe Heyward should allow for a little margin of doubt instead of suggesting we rubber stamp every decision this franchise makes, seeing as how it has fallen short of a playoff win seven years in a row and 11 times in the past 13 campaigns.
I’d also argue with Heyward that criticism of the Smith hire is about implying that the team didn’t “do their homework” on him. That’s not accurate. I’m sure the club looked deeply into Smith. The complaints are coming from the idea that they didn’t do their homework on enough other guys.
Smith was one of only three candidates to get an official interview. The other two (Thomas Brown and Jerrod Johnson) didn’t land OC gigs in other places. The Steelers didn’t even wait to interview the likes of Klint Kubiak from San Francisco’s coaching staff. He eventually took the offensive coordinator job in New Orleans.
I respect where Heyward is coming from on this. As a veteran leader, he’s using his voice to support the team and advance a positive posture from the locker room. That’s what a good captain does, and Heyward has always embraced that role well.
Frankly, I hope he’s right.
Unfortunately, at least from my position in “the mob,” it’s my job to read and hear all that PR from the franchise and point out where some of that thinking may be flawed, as well as to point out where it might be accurate.