The Pittsburgh Steelers are well on their way to a playoff berth this season as one of the top teams in the league, but it sounds like there is a chance they could lose one of their coaches to a college football program.
Earlier this week, the North Carolina Tar Heels announced that they had decided to part ways with head coach Mack Brown, leaving an opening for the school to fill ahead of next season.
Given that Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is a North Carolina alum, there was a lot of speculation that he could be a candidate for the opening.
During a press conference this week, Smith confirmed that he has indeed received a call from North Carolina about the job opening.
Smith, however, said that he is currently focused on helping lead the team as they compete for a division title.
“Obviously, that’s your alma mater,” Smith said according to Kevin Gorman of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “That’s not something I’ve thought about. Like a lot of these things go, I know in today’s media things can blow up out of control. The reality is, reached out with a preliminary call. I appreciate it. Love that place but that’s not my focus.”
Smith attended North Carolina from 2001 to 2005 where he played as a guard on the offensive line.
In addition to playing for the Tar Heels, Smith also began his coaching career with North Carolina, serving as a graduate assistant coach for the team back in 2006.
Given these comments, it sounds like there’s a very real chance he would at least entertain the possibility of leaving the Steelers for this job, but that’s clearly not his focus right now.
We’ll have to see how this whole situation plays out.
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