Steelers fans should be careful what they wish for after coach linked to new job

Arthur Smith has been criticized this season and that came to a head after the Cleveland Browns pulled off the upset win in a snowy Thursday night football game last week. It’s been unfair criticism as the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has looked lightyears better than it did with Matt Canada. 

And now that Smith is linked to take over for Mac Brown at North Carolina per a story from The Athletic, the Steelers might regret indirectly pushing Smith out. Especially when the offense has been one of the bright spots this season. 

What Smith has done with both Justin Fields and Russell Wilson this season shouldn’t be overlooked. Compared to how bad the Steelers offense was a year ago, what is happening this year is a product of how good Smith has been. 

Both quarterbacks not only have a winning record this year, but have been strong aerial threats. Fields has thrown for over 1,100 yards, five touchdowns and one interception. Wilson has over 1,200 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. 

The biggest thing over the last few years is the touchdown-to-turnover ratio. Both quarterbacks have more than doubled their touchdown passes compared to interceptions thrown. Two seasons ago the Steelers had more interceptions than touchdowns. Last year, they had just four more touchdown passes to interceptions. 

In 2024, Fields and Wilson combined have 12 touchdown passes to just three interceptions. That’s a product of a system built around the quarterbacks not taking crazy risks. 

While Fields didn't necessarily look as consistent as Wilson through the air, considering he was playing a backup role, Smith was able to get more out of Fields than Matt Eberflus ever could. And with Wilson able to come into the Steelers starting quarterback role seamlessly shouldn’t go unnoticed either. 

This is an offense that has had multiple quarterbacks play and has seen little to no dropoff. And while there were some things that didn’t go right for the Steelers in their loss to the Cleveland Browns, this offense wouldn’t be where it is without Smith. 

And if he leaves to take the head coaching job at UNC, Steelers fans will soon find out it wasn’t all that bad with Smith. Things weren’t perfect by any means, but wanting Smith out would have a whole lot of fans not realizing how good they had it with him. Remember Canada? Yikes.