Arthur Smith Breakdown: What Ohio State's new OC can do for the Buckeye offense

A deep dive on what Ohio State's new offensive coordinator is about.

Ohio State made the hiring of Arthur Smith official last week. (Photo illustration courtesy of Ohio State football)

COLUMBUS — Ryan Day is establishing a blueprint.

When Ohio State’s head coach is hiring an outside offensive coordinator, he wants someone with a strong run background who can blend physicality with Day’s well-established downfield passing concepts.

Enter Arthur Smith.

The former offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans, who held those gigs as bookends to a three-year run as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, will join Day’s staff to call offensive plays, run that side of the staff and allow Day to “step back” in the same fashion that he did during the 2024 season upon the hiring of Chip Kelly. Kelly and Smith aren’t exactly the same, but they’re cut from similar cloth. Their offensive philosophy starts with the offensive line and running the ball. Ohio State could use some improvements in both areas.

“Any offense I’ve been a part of, it’s going to be a physical brand,” Smith told the Steelers team website in 2024. “You want to win the line of scrimmage.”

Ohio State isn’t morphing into a ground-and-pound team, but it needs to run the ball better than it did in 2025, when it ranked 51st in yards per carry and 47th in rushing success rate. Improving the rushing attack is one way Smith can help. There are others. We’ll explore a few here, dishing out some thoughts on Smith’s fit with the Buckeyes after watching three games he called in the NFL:

• A 2019 AFC Divisional Round playoff game between the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens

• A 2022 regular-season game between the Atlanta Falcons and the Carolina Panthers

• A 2025 regular-season game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens

Let’s dive in.