If the Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks are the headline story of the team’s 2024 season, then the man in charge of coaching them should get some notice, too. Not only does the team have a brand-new quarterback room, it has a new quarterbacks coach. Tom Arth was hired for the role early in the offseason, tasked with reviving Russell Wilson’s career and coaching up Justin Fields to maximize his potential. Speaking to reporters Tuesday, OC Arthur Smith praised the job Arth’s done.
“He believes in the details, the fundamentals. He’s a fantastic communicator,” Smith said via the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette YouTube channel. “And ultimately we’re teachers and that’s a big part of our job. And Tom checked a lot of those boxes.”
Arth isn’t new to coaching but relatively new to the NFL. Hired in 2022 by the Los Angeles Chargers due to ties with then-head coach Brandon Staley (whom Arth hired at John Carroll years prior), he served as the team’s pass-game specialist the previous two seasons. Pittsburgh tabbed him as its new quarterbacks coach as Mike Sullivan, who previously held the title, shifted into a senior assistant role. The team also let go assistant QBs Coach David Corley. They haven’t hired a replacement.
While Smith had never coached alongside Arth until this year, there’s still links that tie them together.
“Tom’s a guy I’ve gotten to know from afar. Cleveland being down the road, I’ve worked with two St. Ignatius guys. Tom is, I guess the third,” Smith said. “Dave Ragone, who I was with in Tennessee and Atlanta, John Gannon and I shared an office in Tennessee. So I got to know them over the years.”
As we outlined in our “Big Book Of Tom Arth,” he grew up outside of Cleveland. He stayed local, attending and playing quarterback at D-III powerhouse John Carroll. He would leave a superstar and named the greatest player in school history. After his playing days, he returned to the school as a coach, working his way up to run the program in 2013. That led him to stops at Chattanooga and Akron though success at each was more fleeting.
While Arth lacked the talent to stick long-term in the NFL, he learned from bright minds.
“Was a backup to Peyton Manning. Spent some time with Mike McCarthy.”
Arth spent several years on the Indianapolis Colts’ practice squad behind Manning where he would routinely be quizzed about the playbook and how to react in certain situations. Arth left such an impression that Manning vouched for Akron to hire him a decade later.
Not only do the Steelers have new-looking personnel on offense, they have a new coaching staff too. Smith at coordinator, Arth at quarterbacks coach, Zach Azzanni the wide receivers coach. All coaches in key units who must perform well. If so, not only will the Steelers’ offense spring to new heights, these coaches could earn looks and promotions from around the league.
