Why Arthur Smith was one of the five best candidates for Ohio State's offensive coordinator job

If Ryan Day wanted an NFL play-caller, there were 24 possibilities but a few that stood above the pack.

Ryan Day got a guy who was calling plays in the NFL two weeks ago as his new offensive coordinator. (Photo by Doug Lesmerises)C

COLUMBUS — Ohio State hired Arthur Smith as its offensive coordinator on Saturday night, and he was on my list of candidates? Why? Because he had recently called plays in the NFL, and he wasn’t in a job calling plays right now.

I sat down Saturday morning to build that list, because my answer when asked about the next OSU play-caller had been to say someone with NFL experience who would be available when the NFL hiring cycle ended. I wanted to get specific about that vague answer, to make sure guys like that would be around. (College coaches could have made sense, but Day’s recent history of NFL hires had made it pretty clear he’d likely do it again.)

By my count, there were 24 play-callers from the NFL in 2023, 2024 and 2025 who weren’t calling plays at the moment. Of those, 15 were currently unemployed. Another nine had jobs that didn’t include play-calling duties, and I thought maybe an OSU offer could pull them away.

It seemed the math would work for Ohio State, because as of Saturday, there were a maximum of 13 NFL play-calling jobs open: four head coaching gigs and nine offensive coordinator spots. There wouldn’t be room for the pros to rehire everyone with recent experience.

Ohio State could get a guy.