Since the week before the Big Ten Championship, the Ohio football team has known they will need a new offensive coordinator. Brian Hartline got the head coaching job at USF and is now in Tampa. Without him, the Buckeyes still haven't figured out a coach to replace him.
There have been a few rumored names, including a few NFL coaches. At this point, all of the college coordinators have been taken. With those options gone, Ryan Day is now clearly focused on bringing in an NFL offensive coordinator to take over the job and possibly play-calling duties.
Brian Daboll was one of the first names brought up, although it doesn't look like he will be hired for the position. Without Daboll, the Ohio State Buckeyes are now rumored to be focusing on another NFL offensive coordinator, who was also an NFL head coach with the Falcons.
Arthur Smith rumored to be the new offneisve coordinator for the Ohio State football team
Arthur Smith is the new name that is rumored to become the offensive coordinator. According to Jeremy Birmingham of Lettermen Row, Smith is one of the new names that seems to be circling in the rumor mill. Of course, things can still change, but it's notable that someone on the beat believes that could be the case.
Smith spent the last couple of seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers as their offensive coordinator. Prior to that, Smith spent three seasons as the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. Smith ran a mostly run-first offense in both places, which would be a change for Ohio State.
If this is who Day feels is the best guy for the job, the fans have to trust it. He hired Matt Patricia, and that worked wonders for this season. Perhaps Smith would be the right guy to fix the offensive line and scheme up some plays to better the run game moving forward.
This is far from a done deal, as he is interviewing for other NFL jobs, but it's the first new name that has been floated around in a while.