U mad, bro?: Steelers fans mad about the hiring of Arthur Smith and media coverage of it

Mr. Smith isn’t going to Washington. Or Tampa Bay for that matter. He’s coming to Pittsburgh.

And I wonder if he’s going to regret that.

After all, the criticism of Mike Tomlin’s decision to hire Arthur Smith as Steelers offensive coordinator is getting awfully thick awfully fast.

Believe it or not, it’s not just coming from me! Here’s proof in this week’s “U mad, bro?”

Tony emailed after the hiring of Smith. Like me, he is a bit dubious. But he also offered a critique of the end of my column discussing the move.

“Like the Lions, you just whiffed on an opportunity to close out this article with a perfect musical reference. I.e. the last line in ‘Won’t Get Fooled Again.’”

Tony, “Meet the new offensive coordinator, same as the old coordinator” doesn’t exactly work rhythmically.

But, when it comes to hoping Kenny Pickett can morph into becoming a Super Bowl-worthy quarterback under Smith, might I suggest that you “get on your knees and pray.”

“1933 Black and Gold” isn’t a fan of the coverage of the Arthur Smith hire. He appears to think it’s been too critical.

I have no idea how this will go, but there are reasons to like this hire. His offenses in TN were ranked 10th and 4th and best two years of Tannehill's career were those seasons...55 TDs only 13 INTs. For some reason, nobody seems eager to talk about that.

— 1933 Black and Gold (@Steelers4evr) January 31, 2024

You responded to a column I posted that includes exactly those same stats. They are literally cited directly above your reply. So I’m not sure what you mean about “nobody seems eager to talk about that.”

Wasn't referring to you specifically, just in general lots of people are clowning the hire. And actually, you did mention some facts and positive things, but you also clowned it a bit. We'll see how it plays out

— 1933 Black and Gold (@Steelers4evr) January 31, 2024

I didn’t “clown it a little bit.” I beg to differ. I clowned it … a lot.

Our dear friend Sloss Boss checks in and appears to defend the hiring of Smith.

If they hired a McVay or Shanahan disciple you would say it won’t matter because Pickett is the QB. Can’t win either way!

— SlossBoss12 (@sloss_boss12) January 29, 2024

Not true. Because maybe such a hire would’ve been a good move for the next QB in 2025.

Rob has some thoughts on Smith’s hiring too.

“If the reports are accurate and Arthur Smith is the new OC then the 2024 offense is going to look like the 1992-1996 version under Ron Earnhardt. Emphasis on the run which is in the organization DNA. The hire is to protect their precious ‘QB1’ from reading defenses and throwing the ball downfield.”

You know, “precious” is supposed to be a word that has a positive connotation. I kinda don’t think this guy means it that way.

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Dave doesn’t like the hire.

“So the Steelers hire an OC whose track record is doing what the Steelers already do? They don’t want to change. They just want to be successful doing the same thing.”

I agree with your sentiment, Dave. I’ll add that they didn’t need to hire Smith to be successful at that. They could’ve hired Byron Leftwich to do that. Or Alex Van Pelt. Or Luke Getsy. Or kept Matt Canada in perpetuity. Or brought back Randy Fichtner. Or rehire Todd Ha—

Finally, this guy has a tremendous cinematic summation of the union between the offensive philosophies of Smith and Tomlin.

Smith knew the staff height, Tomlin knows the location of the Well of the Souls. Time to find the Ark.

— kurt (@kmiller15211) January 31, 2024

Sadly, Kurt, in order to make any of this work, I feel like it might be easier to find the Lost Ark than it will be for this franchise to find Ben Roethlisberger’s replacement at quarterback.

Listen: Tim Benz and Chris Adamski discuss the hiring of Arthur Smith as Steelers offensive coordinator