This piece (dedicated QB coach) was a desperate area of need, and I am glad that HCMR was able to fill it with an experienced coach who has had success developing QBs. Last year’s QB play was poor, in part because of the inexperience of some of the players involved, but the fact that Sims actually played worse than he had before and that Haarberg and Purdy were turnover prone spoke to me that the “turnover problem” was in large part a systemic and coaching issue. No matter who they rolled out there, turnovers ensued. I’m hopeful that the addition of Thomas as QB coach and the addition of improved “arm talent” with the addition of Raiola and Kaelin largely removes the “turnover virus” from the program.
Kudos to Matt Rhule for moving to solve this problem and get proper coaching and mentoring for his young QBs. And Kudos to those of you (I don’t remember who you are) who said that an announcement would come once the Steelers were eliminated from the NFL playoffs.
And if Rhule hires DH as an analyst, then kudos to him for that, too. Adding GT and DH to the program would get two very creative minds into the building to help with the offense. I can’t help but see that as a major commitment to fixing what was very clearly broken in 2023.