With Brian Hartline headed to the University of South Florida as the head coach, there’s a new offensive coordinator in town, and he comes to Columbus with the play-calling experience Ryan Day needs in his O.C.
Most recently, Smith served as the offensive coordinator for the Pittsburgh Steelers, but the veteran coach also served as the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons and the offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans.
As we saw last year with the addition of Matt Patricia at defensive coordinator,
Day seems to be structuring his team to look more like an NFL team than a collegiate one. Only time will tell if Smith was the right hire or whether he will have as much success as Patricia did defensively last season, but here are three way too early predictions for the Buckeye offense under Smith:
The run game will see a resurgence
Smith’s bread and butter is his ability to develop strong rushing offenses, something the Buckeyes were desperately missing in 2025. Heading into 2026, this is a critical area of improvement for the team, something Smith is well-equipped to deliver.
This bodes well for running back Bo Jackson, who enters 2026 with a year of experience under his belt. Pairing his talent with Smith’s ability to develop a creative rush scheme could be what it takes to get Ohio State’s run game back to where it needs to be, balancing out a lopsided offense heading into next year.
The offensive line issues will get worked out
When Ohio State’s offensive line was on in 2025, like they were in the Michigan game, the effects rippled throughout the offense, with the run game having enough room to establish itself and with Julian Sayin having enough time to throw. When they were off, it was costly.
If Smith is the answer to OSU’s running woes, then fixing the offensive line issues is a means to an end. Luckily, Smith has experience here. As a player, Smith was a guard for the University of North Carolina, and prior to becoming the Titans’ offensive coordinator, Smith was the assistant offensive line and the assistant tight ends coach.
As he works to boost the Buckeyes’ run game and works with offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, I’m expecting more synchronicity between the offensive line and the run game than we had in 2025.
Ohio State will have a Top 10 offense
In 2025, despite having a Heisman finalist at quarterback and two of the best wide receivers in the country in Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate, the offense fell outside the top 20 in passing, scoring and total offense, and ranked 72nd in rushing offense. Offensive line issues and a subpar running game made it a rarity to see them firing on all offensive cylinders.
Look to Arthur Smith to fill some of those gaps. His strengths as a coach align with the areas the Buckeyes need the most help, and with a smorgasbord of offensive talent, Arthur Smith should bring exactly what the Buckeyes need to their rushing attack, allowing for more creativity and explosiveness here.
I know some fans have concerns about Arthur Smith’s less exciting history with passing games, especially when that has been the Buckeyes’ main offensive strength all season. I don’t mean to downplay those concerns—the best Smith has done with a passing offense in the NFL was 16th. But the way I see it, Ohio State’s passing game is already explosive by nature due to the caliber of talent on that front, and Day will step in as needed to balance things out.
In his second year as starter, Sayin will have more experience under his belt, and with Jeremiah Smith returning, the passing game shouldn’t see much dropoff, especially with Day still ultimately in charge. I don’t anticipate Arthur Smith completely overhauling what was already working so much as using his skill set to cover some blind spots in other areas.
If Arthur Smith can improve the team where it needs to improve without getting in his own way where the passing game is concerned, the Buckeyes have the on-field talent to be a top-10 offense in 2026.
