The Pittsburgh Steelers are expected to hire former Los Angeles Chargers assistant coach Tom Arth as their next quarterbacks coach, per the PPG’s Gerry Dulac.
UPDATE (5:26 PM): An initial report tabbed Arth in a passing game role, likely a passing game specialist, but Dulac shot the assertion down. He notes that the team is still determining a role for Mike Sullivan, who has served as the Steelers’ QB coach since 2021. Hopefully the details will be sorted out in the coming days.
NFL Insider Aaron Wilson reported yesterday that Arth interviewed for the job. He leaves the Chargers, who are undergoing a coaching staff shakeup after firing Brandon Staley midseason and recently hiring Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh as their head coach.
Dulac soon followed up that Arth will not hold a passing game role in Pittsburgh and will be the team’s quarterbacks coach.
Arth played quarterback at John Carroll, setting numerous school records. He spent three years as a backup with the Indianapolis Colts, never appearing in an NFL game. After making several more stops, including one with the Green Bay Packers and several others in different leagues, he began his coaching career in 2010. He returned to John Carroll as a coordinator and recruiter before becoming a head coach two years later.
Consistently winning there, he became the head coach at Chattanooga in 2017, spending two seasons there. He then was hired as Akron’s head coach in 2019, spending three seasons there but compiling a 3-24 record. The Chargers hired him as their pass game specialist in 2022.
If Arth or Sullivan wind up holding a passing game title, they’ll be the first Steelers coach to do so. The passing game is an area the Steelers have struggled mightily over the last two seasons. Since Ben Roethlisberger’s retirement, the Steelers have thrown a league-low 25 touchdown passes. Traditionally, the Steelers have used their offensive coordinator as the de facto pass game coordinator and their o-line coach as the de facto run game coordinator.
Arth is the third offensive coaching hire the team has made, the Steelers tabbing Arthur Smith as their new offensive coordinator and Zach Azzanni as their new wide receivers coach, replacing Frisman Jackson. We’ll see if the team hires any additional offensive coaches throughout this cycle. The team is also retaining QB Coach Mike Sullivan, according to a separate report, though the initial reporting makes his role with the team a little hazy.
