When it comes to Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith, nobody knows him as well as former Tennessee Titans quarterback, Ryan Tannehill.
Tannehill and Smith were together in Nashville for two seasons while Smith was the offensive coordinator. And Tannehill's career saw a resurgence under Smith, who was at the helm of one of the league's better offenses from 2019-20.
Recently, Tannehill sat down with Chase Daniel and Dianna Russini on the "Scoop City" podcast and went into detail about why he enjoyed playing under Smith so much.
"I really enjoyed my time with (Arthur Smith) as a coordinator," Tannehill said. "We really had a close relationship and I felt like he pushed me in a way that a lot of, you know... not that other coaches didn't push me, right, but he pushed me in a great way."
"He had just the right touch of push without being over the top where it became a negative thing," he added. "He pushed me to try unconventional things, with the play actions and things that I hadn't really done before. A lot of the stuff that we were doing, he pushed me to just jump in and give it a try, you know? So I did, and it was working. And so I just kept kept trusting him and kept, you know, leaning into it. And, together we were able to make a lot of positive strides for the offense those years."
Under Smith, the Titans had a quarterback-friendly offense, as it was centered around Derrick Henry and the play-action. Tannehill was a perfect fit for the system, and was able to take full advantage of defenses stacking the box.
But clearly it was more than just about the system for Tannehill. Smith did a great job handling the veteran quarterback, which is particularly important to note as he enters a campaign in which he'll have Russell Wilson and Justin Fields, both of whom are looking to revive their respective careers.
