Ohio State's Ryan Day Makes First Statement About Newly-Hired OC Arthur Smith

The Ohio State Buckeyes made their offensive coordinator change official Saturday afternoon, as former Pittsburgh Steelers coordinator and ex-Atlanta Falcons coach, Arthur Smith, succeeded Brian Hartline.

In a school-issued press release, coach Ryan Day discussed how excited he is to closely work with him.

"We are happy to welcome Arthur, his wife Allison and their family to Ohio State," Day said. "He will bring immediate value to our program and was exactly what we were looking for as we set out to find our next offensive coordinator. His track record in the NFL, experience as coordinator, player caller and a head coach checked every box during the search. He'll do a great job in helping our players reach their potential on the field while also connecting with them as people."

The Buckeyes, in particular, noted how experienced Smith is at developing some of the best quarterbacks in football. Therefore, they likely assume he can do the same with quarterback Julian Sayin.

"Quarterbacks coached by Smith – which includes Ryan Tannehill, Matt Ryan, Marcus Mariotta, Desmond Ritter, Justin Fields, Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers – won nearly 20 percent more of their respective starts while coached by Smith than before his respective tenure," the release stated. "Since 2019, Smith-coached quarterbacks have won nearly 60 percent of their starts.

Even more intriguing is his direct correlation with the running back position.

"Smith is the only offensive coordinator/head coach in modern NFL history to have seven different running backs finish with 1,000 or more yards from scrimmage in a seven-year span," the statement read. "They are: Derek Henry (2019 and 2020), Cordarrelle Patterson (2021), Tyler Allgier (2020), Bijan Robinson (2023), Najee Harris (2024), Jaylen Warren (2025) and Kenneth Gainwell (2025)."

Therefore, running backs Bo Jackson and Isaiah West seem in good hands given Smith's track-record.

Overall, the hire seems like a smash hit given the amount of experience Smith brings. While the college level is a different game, the objective remains the same: get the ball out in space, score efficiently and fine-tune elite, NFL-caliber talent.

It's clear Smith is ready for the task at hand. It's more so a matter of when than if he will become everything Ohio State hopes he can be. By September, we're going to find out whether Smith was the right hire and one that could help lead the Ohio State offense to ridiculous heights and propel it towards greatness, both in conference and come postseason play.

Only time will tell.