After taking a day to let my frustration with the hire subside, I started looking into Smith's personnel when he was with the Titans, Falcons and Steelers. I'm also a Steelers fan(Here we Go), so I didn't exactly get the warm and fuzzies when Smith was announced as the HC. But then, after doing a little bit of research, you can easily see that he has had some of the worst collection of talent any coach can have.
Feel free to bash for being a "homer" or wearing "scarlet colored glasses", but I went from not liking the hire, to being very intrigued. Smith has been the OC to the following QBs: Ryan Tannehill, Desmond Ridder and (WELL past his prime)Aaron Rodgers. Not exactly a talented bunch, so then he had to lean on the run game, when he had Derrick Henry. Then had Corradelle Patterson, Tyler Algiers, Bijan Robinson, Najee Harris, Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell at RB. He gets knocked for not utilizing a rookie Bijan Robinson enough. That is a fair assessment, but when your RB is a rookie and your starting QB is a 2nd year below average player, you kind of need to rely on more than 1 RB to see any type of success. Which he split carries between Robinson and Algiers. He utilized the same gameplan in Pittsburgh this last season, when it was apparent that Rodgers was limited in his mobility and arm strength(similar to Ridder). As well as having a suspect OL in Ten and Pitt, using a RBBC approach was going to be the best option.
He prefers to use 1 primary WR, and then the #2 WR and TE then become the next receiving weapons, but depending on the personnel, a RB could move into a top 3 role. I don't see that happening at OSU with all of the WR and TE talent, but Smith likes using his RBs in the passing game, A LOT! So get used to see screens, wheel routes and slants to Bo, Ja'Kobi, Isaiah and company.
And the funny thing is, if you look at the offenses of the top 4 teams this weekend in the championship games, ALL of their offenses mimic this. But difference is, they all have better talent than anything Smith ever had. The 2nd leading receiver for NE is TE, Hunter Henry. Treveyon was eased into a starting role at RB, similar what Smith did with Bijan, but the OL were quite different, which led to more success for Henderson. McDaniel was also a failed HC who came back to being an OC, and now has Vrabel in the SB in only his 2nd year as HC. The Broncos didn't have a 1000yd rusher due to JK getting injured, but Harvey filled in and has almost 900yds from scrimmage after seeing JK start the first 10gms.
So to sum it up, expect more of a pro style/NFL offense. There will be a dominant WR1(Smith), a reliable WR2(tbd), a versatile TE(tbd) and a RB who can run and catch(Jackson). Gone are the days of 5 wide, air raid, pass happy offenses that were once so popular in college. Day wants to run an NFL style team, not just on defense, but on offense. And some of the ways that Hartline ran the heavy looks, didn't show the same type of creativity that he's hoping Smith does. Smith has studied under Shanahan, McVey and LeFleur, but has never had the talent that they have had. Well now he will, and similar to Patricia who didn't really have a defense/team with talent for what he wanted to run in Detroit or Philly, along with not getting the serious NFL looks like he wanted, it could be good for both parties.
And if I'm wrong on all of this, PLEASE quote this and laugh in my proverbial face
