Steelers have another potential Arthur Smith poacher to worry about beyond alma mater

Against all odds, the Arthur Smith era of running the Pittsburgh Steelers offense has worked out quite well. For as painfully frustrating as he was as the Atlanta Falcons head coach, Smith has gone back to his bread and butter as a savvy, run-first play-caller. He did this to great effect when he was serving under Mike Vrabel on the Tennessee Titans, and he is doing it now for Pittsburgh under Mike Tomlin.

To be quite frank, Smith may be best served to remain a high-end offensive coordinator in the NFL. He may get one more shot to be an NFL head coach, but he would be foolish to leave for anything other than a slam-dunk opportunity. Although Smith did turn down the chance to replace Mack Brown at his alma mater of North Carolina, he is at least being tied to one NFL job with the Chicago Bears.

Here is what NFL insider Jay Glazer had to say about Smith on FOX NFL Sunday this past weekend.

"I think the number one thing for them is they're gonna need an offensive coach I think that can really sit there and teach and mold Caleb Williams over the years that can develop. So you look at some of the guys out there like Arthur Smith, what he's doing in Pittsburgh right now."

Outside of maybe the New York Jets or the Carolina Panthers, I don't think there is a more toxic job in the NFL than being the head coach of the Bears. As long as The McCaskeys own the team, Ryan Poles is being tasked with roster construction and Kevin Warren is in the building thumb-screwing everything to oblivion, I would not wish working for the Bears on my worst enemy, even Arthur Smith.

One thing that may tie Smith to Chicago is the amount of overlap he endured while working in Atlanta.

Arthur Smith is one of many candidates to lead the Chicago Bears in 2025

Yes, the allure of getting to coach Caleb Williams could be too good to pass up for some offensive-minded coaches. However, his first season in Chicago does not lead me to believe that he is even the Patrick Mahomes you have at home. Dylan Raiola is in utter shambles over this. While Williams could be like Cam Newton was with the Carolina Panthers, I am afraid he that could be the next Jeff George.

The talent is as obvious as is his arrogance as is his unlikeable nature. To be fair, Smith is not very likable either. He is the son of the founder of FedEx and was incredibly cocky whenever he spoke with the Atlanta media during his perpetual 7-10 split nonsense over in Flowery Branch. You know what? Maybe they deserve each other? It would be crazy, but it just might cancel out all of their baggage.

While the Bears have Williams, they are also the Bears. For head-coaching candidates who could have their pick of the litter, such as Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, I would think less of them and immediately short them if they took that job over far better situations. Then again, this might be the best job Smith could get in the extended wake of his previous failures with Atlanta.

This is an outside-the-box type of candidate, but it might actually be zany enough to work out as well.