Steelers' Cam Heyward Excited For Changes Arthur Smith Brings Including A New Relentless Work Ethic

While many Pittsburgh Steelers fans may not be happy about the hiring of Arthur Smith as the team's new offensive coordinator, the same cannot be said of the players. Steelers defensive end and captain, Cameron Heyward, has been vocal throughout the process about his support of Smith. Now that the hiring is truly official, Heyward spoke about it again and voiced his pleasure at the positive attributes that he believes Smith brings to the Steelers' offense. 

Heyward co-hosts a podcast called Not Just Football With Cam Heyward with his longtime friend Hayden Walsh. Since the Steelers were eliminated from the postseason by the Buffalo Bills, the offensive coordinator search has been the biggest news in the Steel City. On a prior episode, Heyward shared that he is not looking at Smith's time with the Atlanta Falcons. Instead, he is choosing to focus on an apples-to-apples comparison of when Smith was the offensive coordinator of the Tennessee Titans. 

During Smith's time with the Titans, Heyward pointed out, he helped running back Derrick Henry win the NFL Offensive Player of the Year for 2020. That same year that Henry won MVP, he had the best season of his career, rushing for 2,027 yards on 378 carries and 17 touchdowns. But Henry wasn't the only player to have tremendous success under Smith. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill saw his career come back to life. After struggling with the Miami Dolphins, Tannehill was traded to the Titans, where Smith helped guide him to win NFL Comeback Player of the Year for 2019.

The Steelers Might Get Something In Arthur Smith We Didn't Know They Needed

On a recent episode of his show, Heyward talked about the recent comments made by former Steelers running back, Le'Veon Bell. Bell has shared several times recently that he would love to return to the NFL and that there is only one team he wants to play for (hint, hint, they wear black and gold). 

Heyward said that he would of course welcome him back with open arms and it led Walsh to speculate that perhaps Bell is excited about the hiring of Smith. Perhaps he has seen what Smith has done with the run game in other teams and thinks he might have a shot in Pittsburgh under that same style play-calling. He added that he has seen all of the media coverage of the positive comments he has made about the hire. 

"I didn't make the decision, but shoot, I'm happy about it. It's great to have an OC who has some experience. I think the main thing I loved about what he said was it's all about relationships. You can have all the x's and o's, but if you don't have an OC who the players trust, it's not going to work," said Heyward.

Walsh said that he didn't realize before just how many ties Smith has to Pittsburgh. During his recent interview with the Steelers' Missi Matthews, Smith talked about them. Those connections also came up from some of those former Pittsburgh coordinators who endorsed the selection of Smith. The NFL world can be a small one and the talk of "coaching tree" often comes up. In this case, Smith can be linked to Bill Cowher, Mike Munchak, Dick LeBeau, Ken Whisenhunt, Mike Mularkey and Mike Vrabel. 

Those connections, knowing the kinds of coaches that found success in Pittsburgh, and being able to hear from them about how unique this franchise and the city are, should help Smith better understand what he is coming into. This is a franchise that has a storied history of excellence, so even though the success may not have been there at the level fans wanted for the past several years, it doesn't minimize the expectations. 

The expectations for Smith might actually be higher than it was for his predecessors. He is following on the heels of two offensive coordinators who did not have great success in Pittsburgh: Matt Canada and Randy Fichtner. Heyward said that on top of the relationships and trust that he expects Smith to build, he sees something else as a major positive with this new hire: work ethic. Those positive attributes, as well as a return to him focusing on what he does best, will be a major boost for the team.

"I think he can do a lot [with the offense]. I think sometimes it's a scale issue. If you become too wide and focus on too much, things can slip through the cracks. As an OC, you get to narrow your vision a little bit, run the offense how you see, you don't have to worry about defense, you don't have to worry about special teams, you can be very locked in about what you want, how you want it done. From what I've heard, he's a hard worker and he's the first guy there, and the last guy gone. Having that in the room is going to be really special," added Heyward.

Heyward reiterated something he had said before, that he is going to have faith in the front office and their decisions. He sees Smith as young and successful with the run game and play-action, which is exactly what the Steelers need. He added that he doesn't like the fans condemning Smith before he has even started the job. Heyward encourages everyone to calm down, pump the breaks, and be optimistic. 

Now that you have had some time to digest the Smith news and hear some other perspectives, how are you feeling about it? Does the team still need to bring in a passing game specialist as reports have indicated they are considering? Comment below!

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