The Pittsburgh Steelers already have their first coaching change of the year. Offensive Assistant Glenn Thomas is being hired by Matt Rhule and Nebraska as the team’s quarterbacks coach.
The Athletic’s Mitch Sherman reported the news a short time ago.
Thomas spent just one year in Pittsburgh, hired from Arizona State as an extra set of offensive eyes for the Steelers’ coaching staff. With the Sun Devils, he served as the school’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He has bounced between college and the NFL, spending time in Atlanta as the Falcons’ quarterbacks coach, with plenty of stops in college. Thomas also coached at Baylor and Temple, working alongside Rhule. Now, he’s teaming up with him in Nebraska. The Cornhuskers finished 120th out of 130 FBS teams in scoring offense this past year, averaging 18.0 points per game, a tenth better than the Steelers’ 17.9 mark.
Pittsburgh’s offense struggled for most of the season, leading to the Steelers to fire OC Matt Canada following their Week 11 loss to the Cleveland Browns. Production only improved after QB Mason Rudolph took over as the Steelers’ starting quarterback.
The Steelers finished the year 28th in points per game. The passing game sputtered and produced just 13 touchdowns while the running game didn’t show signs of life until halfway through the season before truly hitting its stride down the stretch.
Thomas’ role for the team was a bit unclear and as an assistant, he didn’t interact with the media. He likely helped with game planning and film study as the team put together its weekly game plan. In late November, Interim OC Eddie Faulkner praised Thomas’ performance and insight.
“Glenn Thomas is awesome, man,” Faulkner told reporters. “He’s been a coordinator in Power Five schools for years. The expertise that comes with that kind of resume, you would expect to get good information from him. He’s been fantastic.”
The Steelers figure to have a different-looking coaching staff on offense in 2024. They’ll have to hire a permanent offensive coordinator, most likely an outside hire. It’s also logical that Quality Control Coach Matt Tomsho will also leave the team. He served as Matt Canada’s right-hand man over the last five years, hired by the Steelers when Canada was promoted to offensive coordinator ahead of the 2021 season. It’s possible the team makes changes to its positional coaching staff, possibly replacing WRs Coach Frisman Jackson or OL Coach Pat Meyer.
