Arthur Smith didn’t grow up in Columbus, nor did he ever wear scarlet and gray. And until recently, he didn’t have much of a reason to care about the game. And yet, the moment he said yes to Ohio State’s Ryan Day, he quickly learned how deep this rivalry cuts. Within hours, his phone buzzed with a message that perfectly captured the madness.

“You know, it means a lot to a lot of people,” Arthur Smith told reporters about the intensity of The Game. “One of the first texts I got was from Taylor Lewan, who told me that I was a traitor. Even though I had no ties to that, I was a North Carolina guy. So I understand that, that rivalry, obviously, it’s a huge game. And I’m looking forward to being part of it.”

Taylor Lewan, who played for the Maize and Blue back in 2009-2013, is a proud Michigan alum who didn’t care that his former coach from Tennessee had zero ties to either side. In this rivalry, you’re either in or you’re the enemy. But perhaps their past connection played a role in his betrayed feelings. Arthur Smith served as the Tennessee Titans’ assistant coach on offense when Lewan was drafted as a first-round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. 

Before that, Arthur Smith was a grad assistant at North Carolina, a behind-the-scenes staffer at Ole Miss, and then there’s the long, grinding climb through the NFL ranks, most notably with the Titans, where he built a reputation for physical, efficient offense. By 2020, his unit was top-four in scoring and second in rushing. 

Lewan isn’t just a former player. He’s a massive, vocal extension of the Michigan fanbase. While they were tight in Tennessee, Lewan’s loyalties strictly lie with Ann Arbor. His playful jab shows exactly how personal this rivalry gets, even for old NFL buddies.

Taylor Lewan’s text was a quick welcome to the madness. But deciding to actually take the job meant leaning on someone who knows Columbus inside and out to help make the final call. Regardless, he is now part of one of the nation’s fiercest rivalries that stemmed from actual border tension (the Toledo War). Now, it has evolved into a football rivalry match since 1918. Michigan still leads the all-time series, but Ohio State is currently the more dominant team, owning 18 of the last 25 wins. 

The intensity of this game is evident when Ryan Day admitted losing to the team up north is one of the worst things that happened to him besides his father’s passing. So this past season, when the Buckeyes snapped that four-game losing streak with a 27-9 win in Ann Arbor, it was a reset. So when Arthur Smith says he understands the rivalry, he’s underselling it. He’s walking into the most emotionally charged job in college football. But how did a lifelong outsider end up at the center of college football’s fiercest rivalry?

Arthur Smith and the Mike Vrabel connection 

No matter how long you’ve been away from Columbus, once you’re a Buckeye, you’re always a Buckeye. Smith’s old coach, Mike Vrabel is one of those permanently clothed in scarlet and gray. His word carried a lot of weight. Having played and coached at The Shoe, he gave the new OC the exact push he needed to completely buy into Ryan Day’s vision for the offense.

“And I’d had such a good experience with some of the players that have come through here that I’ve gotten the privilege to coach. So I was intrigued, weighed my options, and talked to a lot of people, including Mike Vrabel… He’s a great friend of mine. It just made sense,” Smith said.

Mike Vrabel is a bridge between eras. He coached at Ohio State from 2011 to 2013 as a LBs coach and DL coach. His tenure overlapped with Urban Meyer’s early years in Columbus. He knows what the program demands and knows what it produces, and even joked at the NFL Combine that Buckeye fans now have someone new to blame “if they don’t score 50 points a game.” That’s humor, but it’s also expectation, and Smith is built for that pressure.

Arthur Smith also mentioned that his respect for Ryan Day is one of the major factors that influenced his decision to join the Ohio State staff.

“First and most important was the respect I have for Coach Day,” Arthur Smith told reporters in his first public appearance after being named Ohio State’s new OC. “He reached out, we had a good conversation, came down here and spent some time with him, just kind of weighed my options.”

But can an outsider truly understand what it takes to win the game? Or is Arthur Smith about to learn the hard way? He’s stepping into a culture where every decision echoes through a rivalry that defines seasons. Beat Michigan, and you’re immortal. Lose, and nothing else matters. And somewhere in Ann Arbor, you can bet Taylor Lewan isn’t backing off that “traitor” label anytime soon.