On February 8, many insiders confirmed that the Pittsburgh Steelers would hire Tom Arth as an offensive assistant. However, not all of the accounts agreed on Arth’s role.
KPRC 2 Houston’s Aaron Wilson was the first to report that the Steelers had hired Arth for a passing game position. That was his former role with the Los Angeles Chargers.
However, approximately a half hour later, Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette claimed that the Steelers had hired Arth as their new quarterback coach.
Dulac also stated in his story that the Steelers were signing Zach Azzanni as wide receivers coach while still considering former quarterbacks coach Mike Sullivan for a new position.
“Steelers have hired former NYJets assistant Zach Azzanni as WR coach and former Chargers assistant Tom Arth as QB coach, per team sources,” Dulac tweeted on X. “They are still in discussion for some arrangement with former QB coach Mike Sullivan.”
A half hour later, Mike DeFabo of The Athletic tweeted in support of Dulac’s report.
“Reports of a passing game coordinator are inaccurate,” DeFabo said in a statement.
Pittsburgh Steelers Adding Tom Arth to the coaching staff
Clearly, there is some uncertainty over Arth’s function. Regardless of his position, the Steelers are hiring a coach who has previously worked with a former first-round quarterback. Arth’s resume also includes college head coaching experience.
Arth worked as a pass game specialist with the Chargers from 2022 to 2023. In his debut season in Los Angeles, quarterback Justin Herbert passed for 4,739 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also improved his completion percentage (but his yards per attempt average decreased).
The Chargers did not keep Arth after hiring Jim Harbaugh as their new head coach this offseason.
From 2013 to 21, Arth served as the head coach of three different college institutions before joining the Chargers. He began at Division III John Carroll, where he coached the team to a 40-8 record over four seasons.
Arth’s subsequent two stays, however, were significantly less successful. He coached Chattanooga to a 9-13 record before going 3-24 as head coach at Akron from 2019 to 21.
Arth played collegiate football at John Carroll before joining the Indianapolis Colts and Green Bay Packers from 2003 to 2006. However, he never appeared in an NFL regular-season game.
The Steelers also hired Zach Azzanni as WR coach.
There were no contradicting reports regarding Azzanni’s title. The Steelers hired Azzanni as their wide receivers coach.
Azzanni has been coaching NFL wide receivers since 2017. He began the season with the Chicago Bears and later joined the Denver Broncos from 2018 to 22. He was the wide receivers coach for the New York Jets this past season.
He began his coaching career with Urban Meyer at Bowling Green.
Mark Kaboly of The Athletic stated on X that Arth and Azzanni were “Arthur Smith hires, or at least suggestions.” Kaboly also stated that, while Arth is the team’s quarterback coach, that does not mean he will not be assigned the same tasks as other teams’ pass game coordinators.
If Dulac is true, the Steelers may add Arth and Azzanni while re-signing Sullivan. But it’s unclear what role Sullivan would have on the new Pittsburgh coaching staff.
Sullivan was the team’s quarterbacks coach from 2021 to 2023. He also took over play-calling duties after Matt Canada was dismissed by the Steelers in November.
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