The Chicago Bears have two interviews lined up for Wednesday as they continue their search for the franchise’s next head coach. There may be more planned for the day, but two – Mike McCarthy and Arthur Smith – are the two that have been confirmed.
Like McCarthy and Pete Carroll, Smith is one of eight candidates (or potential ones) with previous head coaching experience.
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Record: 21-30
Playoff Record: N/A
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Smith just finished his first season as offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers. The Steelers ranked 23rd in total offense and 16th in points during the regular season. They fell to their division rival Baltimore Ravens 28-14 in the Wild Card Round.
Smith worked with two quarterbacks during the season – Russell Wilson and former Bears first-round pick and starter Justin Fields – which surely impacted how the offense ran.
However, those rankings are in line with the rest of his career as head coach or coordinator.
Smith spent three seasons as the Atlanta Falcons head coach from 2021 through 2023. Those teams finished 7-10 all three seasons, with average rankings of 22nd in points and 23rd in total offense.
Those teams ranked no better than 18th in scoring defense, which was in 2023. They were 11th in total yards allowed that same season, though.
Before the Falcons, Smith spent two seasons with the Tennesee Titans as offensive coordinator.
He worked his way up through the organization’s coaching ranks, including the ever-important tight ends coach position. Notably, the Titans are where Smith switched sides from defense to offense.
Smith sandwiched two years as a defensive quality assistant with the Washinton Redskins between stints at Ole Miss (defensive intern) and North Carolina (graduate assistant).
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Smith has coached one top-10 offense and nother just outside that, and both of them came with the Titans, where he went 4-4 against former Bears head coach Matt Eberflus, then the defensive coordinator for the Indianapolis Colts. Tennessee ranked No. 10 in scoring and No. 12 in total defense in Smith’s first season as OC in 2019 when he took over for now-Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur.
The Titans ranked second in scoring and fourth in points in 2020.
Even then, though, those offenses were bolstered by the running game (i.e. Derrick Henry), which ranked third in yards gained at worst.
The Titans’ passing game ranked 21st and 23rd. It was a similar story for Smith’s Falcons teams and this past season with the Steelers. Steelers critics also echoed sentiments from Smith’s Falcons tenure of unimaginative and predictable plays and play-calling.
The Bears’ running game crumbled in 2024, and their efforts at unpredictability often backfired.
However, Smith does not have a track record of developing young quarterbacks, which should be one of the Bears’ top priorities with Caleb Williams.
The lack of consistent success or even progress from the passing game as a whole even with veteran quarterbacks is a red flag. But Smith’s experience, not only as a coach but in the head chair, could put him above several more dynamic but less proven candidates.