Titans OC Arthur Smith received vote for Assistant Coach of the Year

Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith received one vote the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year.

After spending much of the first half of the season in the dog house, Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Arthur Smith and the offense as a whole rebounded nicely to finish the season strong.

During the team’s 2-4 start, Tennessee’s offense looked abysmal with quarterback Marcus Mariota at the helm, and it didn’t help that Smith looked overmatched in his first season as the offensive coordinator.

However, after quarterback Ryan Tannehill was officially named the starter in Week 7, the Titans’ offense took off and produced numbers that the franchise hasn’t seen in years. In turn, Smith began to look more like a competent coordinator, calling some great games along the way.

As a result, Tannehill and Co. finished the regular season with a 7-3 stretch that culminated in the team making the playoffs at 9-7. From there, the Titans rode running back Derrick Henry all the way to the AFC Championship Game.

Tennessee ended up finishing No. 10 in points per game, No. 12 in total yards per game and No. 3 in rushing yards per game.

After the NFL Honors ceremony on Saturday, it was revealed that Smith had received one vote for the AP NFL Assistant Coach of the Year award, which was ultimately won by Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator, Greg Roman.

Roman ran away with the honor, as he received 41 of the 50 votes for the award. San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh finished in second with three votes, while Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale placed third with two votes.

Along with Smith, Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine, and New England Patriots special teams coordinator and wide receiver coach Joe Judge (now the head coach of the New York Giants) all garnered one vote.

While Smith fell well short, two Titans took home awards on Saturday.

Tannehill won Comeback Player of the Year and Henry took home the FedEx Ground Player of the Year. Unfortunately, wide receiver A.J. Brown was snubbed for Offensive Rookie of the Year in favor of Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Kyler Murray.