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Arthur Smith draws attention with unusual hand gesture from sideline

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Aug 17, 2025 12:38 AM ET

Arthur Smith already appears to be in midseason form.

The Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Smith went viral during Saturday’s preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In the fourth quarter at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pa., the television broadcast cut to Smith on the sideline.

Smith was doing a rather unusual hand gesture, which the camera caught just in time. Here is the video.

pic.twitter.com/3bJ2aksQx4
— No Context Pittsburgh (@PGHNoContext) August 17, 2025

The second-year Pittsburgh OC Smith was obviously calling out a play with the Steelers on offense at the time. But that motion made it look like Smith was doing … well, something else.

With the score tied 14-14, Pittsburgh wound up going for it on 4th-and-7 after Smith’s playcall. Steelers quarterback Logan Woodside ended up firing an incomplete pass for a turnover-on-downs as Pittsburgh eventually lost to Tampa Bay by a 17-14 final score.

Formerly the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons, Smith took over the Steelers OC job last season and oversaw a unit that ranked just 23rd in the NFL by way of total offense. After also drawing interest for other football coaching jobs in recent months, Smith is now back for Round 2 in Pittsburgh.

The Steelers look almost entirely different on offense this season with Justin Fields, Russell Wilson, and George Pickens all out and Aaron Rodgers, DK Metcalf, and Robert Woods now in. As such, Smith is having to change up the gameplan in order to fit his personnel … apparently starting with the hand gestures.

This article first appeared on Larry Brown Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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