DT Cameron Heyward supports Steelers' controversial hire

The Steelers hired former Falcons head coach Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator last week. After Smith's underwhelming run in Atlanta, many fans and media criticized the decision. 

DT Cameron Heyward thinks everyone should give him a chance.

"I just don't like condemning a guy before he gets the job," Heyward said on his "Not Just Football" podcast. "I understand he's had success one and didn't have success in his last job. Let's calm down. Let's pump the brakes. You can have urgency and be positive about it and be optimistic about it."

Heyward has a point. Smith had a lot of success with one team and not so much with another. And history has shown that sometimes a coach can be a great coordinator and not a good head coach.

During Smith's three-year stint as head coach of the Falcons, he went 21-30 and failed to ever make the playoffs. From 2019-21 as offensive coordinator with the Titans, he led one of the more dominant offenses in the league and even made an AFC Championship Game appearance.

Heyward is hopeful Pittsburgh is getting Smith from Tennessee and wants fans to feel the same before writing him off.

"Arthur Smith balling out with Tennessee all those years ago," Heyward added. "I know he didn't have a lot of that success in Atlanta. Shoot, I'm happy about it. It's great to have an OC with 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 players trust, it's not going to work."

The Steelers clearly had a lack of trust in former offensive coordinator Matt Canada this past season.

Of course, Pittsburgh is still hoping it doesn't get Smith from Atlanta, which had the 26th-ranked scoring offense (18.9) in 2023. However, it still has to be better than what the team witnessed the past couple of years under Canada.

Steelers fans will still likely need to see it to believe it, but Heyward's positive outlook wouldn't be a bad thing to adopt with a long offseason ahead.