Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day hired Arthur Smith as the team's offensive coordinator this offseason with an eye on having him fill the same role Chip Kelly played two seasons ago during the program's CFP title run.
As Bucknuts' Patrick Murphy noted, Smith is being brought on to put his own spin on how the Ohio State University play-calls in the Day era. Like Kelly, Smith is being tasked with boosting the Buckeyes' run game.
"When Day hired Chip Kelly to be his offensive coordinator ahead of the 2024 season, the Scarlet and Gray still ran Ohio State's offense. However, Kelly made some notable adjustments, especially in the run game," Murphy prefaced before saying, "The expectation is that things will operate similarly this offseason. Day's offense will remain Day's offense, but Smith will bring his expertise, with nearly 15 years of NFL coaching experience. How that will look is uncertain, but spring will give the first glimpse of how much the Buckeyes' new offensive coordinator will contribute to the offense."
Brian Hartline didn't focus on the run game enough
It's probably not a coincidence that Brian Hartline's hiring isn't trying to be replicated on the Buckeyes' current roster. There was no rising star position coach who made sense to take over, but Day went hunting for a big fish with NFL head coaching experience. Just like the time he won it all and saved his job in 2024/2025.
Hartline's biggest weakness was not focusing more on the run. While Bo Jackson emerged late, Ohio State had the talent to do more with the running game, with CJ Donaldson particularly underperforming.
That the run couldn't set up the pass against capable pass-rushing defenses like the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes spoke volumes, though that was Day's offense at that point. Clearly, though, Day didn't have a good ideas guy to help him establish the run to prep him for those moments.
He seemingly has that again in Smith. Matching the expectations of the Kelly-coached offense will be difficult, but there's enough talent across the depth chart to expect it this fall.