Interesting comments by Penn state coach on Allar

Dont think I have ever seen a coach say/admit they had the wrong scheme for a player



https://steelersdepot.com/2026/04/o...oach-confident-drew-allar-will-be-better-pro/

 

That is a weird thing to admit to. Why did you recruit him then? I dunno. College football has not and continues to make zero sense to me.

I am just hoping that Allar is like a cut-rate Herbert. I couldn't see what everyone saw in Herbert the little I saw him play at Oregon. But, he certainly has been more than adequate as a pro.

 

Most QBs fail.

But it sounds like there is a ceiling in his case that is NFL starter.

If I had to bet on it, I'd go with the chalk and put my money on him not being a medium term starter.

But with an offensive minded HC who's had some success working with (and maybe even developing...if that's possible) high end QBs at the NFL level. So the odds to me seem higher than if we had made this pick in the Cowher or Tomlin eras.

 

Still light years beyond Steelers QB position since Ben retired.

Gotta take what you can get.

 

Time will tell. I'm looking foward to seeing what he has at camp.

 

While we're all disappointed with our results since 2020 (when Herbert was drafted), looking at the Chargers vs. the Steelers in that time period gives us some context.

The Chargers have gone to 3x playoff games (lost all) with a QB who's a top 10 guy in the league. They are 52-43-0 in the regular season.

In that time, we've had post-injury Ben x2, Kenny/Mitch/Mason 2 years, Wilson/Fields, and Rodgers. We went to the playoffs more times (0-4) and had a better regular season record (60-40-1).

It's true that they have KC in their division (best QB of the generation by far). But we have 2x of the best QBs in the league in our division too.

 

Interesting article. Read thru the comments as well. On paper, he has some supporters. Only 2 months until we get to see a glimpse of what he has.

 

You recruit the best players you can, regardless of schematics. He was Ohio Mr. Football or whatever. Bring him in and develop him. Collegiately at least.

Cut-rate Herbert would be a fair hope. He's slower and less athletic than Herbert, but both have the size and arm needed. He's not as far along as Herbert (there's a reason Herbert went early and Allar in the 3rd), but its not impossible that he turns out okay.

 

Thats a tribute to our defense to keep us in games. Chargers offense im pretty sure has put up more points and been ranked much higher than the steelers. And their offensive coordinators in that span are all still in the NFL.

 

The Chargers' defense had been better than the Steelers' in the last two years in yards and PPG(second in PPG in 2024 and 9th in 2025), and offensively, the chargers were 20th in points scored in 2025 and 11th in 2024(the steelers were in the middle of the league in both years in PPG but the chargers were much better to move the ball...The steelers were in the bottom 5-10 in yards,so the defense were more often in the field....Of course the chargers defense were much better on 3rd down,top 5 in both of those years and the steelers were second in the nfl on 3rd down in 2024 but in 2025 they were too often unable to leave the field in this down,25th in the nfl and 31st on fourth down,28-38 for the opponents..It was also a struggle in 2024 on fourth down for the steelers but the opponents had been on fourth down against them only 22 times vs 38 in 2025)

The chargers offense was, however, a complete disaster in the playoffs under Greg Roman, but I believe they will improve under Mike McDaniels as OC.To be fair to Roman,in 2025 their o-line were depleted by injuries but he was still awful

It's also true that their defense under Brandon Staley was so bad, like bottom 5 every season under him.

 

Agreed.

Also to our game planning. It's been incredibly boring to watch the Steelers play offense in this stretch. But the massive focus on not turning it over with sub-standard offensive talent (while trusting the D) had us winning more games than we probably "deserved" to.

 

I don't know if he'll succeed but he's being put in a great situation for him to develop. A HC who has a history of bringing the best out of young QBs and likely a starter who is going to the HOF, loves to talk football, and was talked about as an ideal mentor / teammate last year.

Now we just wait and see.

 

This news shouldn't shock anyone. James Franklin was notorious for this. Drew Allar is just the current and most prominent example.


All the more reason that I did state that he needs to redshirt a season. Dudes confidence was starting to go downhill before the game against Northwestern. He needs a factory reset; not another "patch" that isn't going to work.

 

Penn State keeps going through offensive coordinators. No matter who they hire and what offense is installed, they always end up looking exactly the same. It was Franklin. He was the common denominator. He wants to play a certain style, and he wasted the arm talent of his quarterback so he could make him tuck it and pound him up the middle and give him limited options within the offense. They have him playing in an offense that simply didn't fit his skill set and he didn't have quality receivers. The offenses are very basic, and it was a disservice to Allar that his coach didn't try to build a more aggressive passing offense around him and by doing so would have attracted more WR recruits to play at PSU.

Even though Franklin was a very good recruiter, he couldn't get talented wide receivers because nobody wants to play in his awful offenses.

 

The news isn't shocking. The only shocking thing is that a coach came out and admitted it.

 

I think Terry Smith thought it was more important to support the player that seemed to take all the blame rather than kiss the butt of the former head coach that put Allar in that position.

He ain't wrong.

 

Hence why it shouldn't be shocking.


Whether or not a Coach comes out and states the obvious should be no means be the major takeaway. Pattern recognition is critical to understand why certain players, specifically five star recruits, don't work out. Sometimes it is on the player.


On the other hand?! Sometimes it is on the Coach. Al Golden, the former Miami Hurricanes Football Head Coach, was infamous for this. Anthony Chickillo was a five star EDGE but Golden made him into a 3-4 5 Tech. That is unacceptable.

 

Let's hope he's the next great!