Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Ryan Day couldn't come up with much to say about his program's hiring of offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. In a school-issued release, Day gave about as much of a nothing coach-speak statement as possible.
If that was even him sending the message. It reads like it could've been anyone, talking about anyone, with specific names slotted into the appropriate slots.
"We are happy to welcome Arthur, his wife Allison and their family to Ohio State. 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," Day said.
Arthur Smith brings in NFL track record of great players, but not great offenses
Smith has overseen several great players' ascensions in the NFL. Derrick Henry's dominance while Smith was with the Tennessee Titans set up the son of the founder of FedEx as an NFL head coach, for a little while, at least. The memory of King Henry's run probably got him hired at OSU. Besides the obvious.
Smith had a great player in his midst, but he lost his touch without a generational bulldozing running back in his backfield when he was the Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers' lead play-caller, the former franchise of which he was the head coach for three years.
Great coaches tend to coach players up. Who knows how many could've been in the same seat producing the same results with the ball in Henry's hands and the level of blocking he had in front of him in Nashville?
We'll see what Smith could do now with elite players and a smaller margin of error. Whereas he used to be able to have a bad afternoon, now, two or three of those could cost the Buckeyes a CFP appearance. Ohio State's schedule won't be easy in 2026, to say the least.