The Pittsburgh Steelers have raved nonstop about new head coach Mike McCarthy's "QB School." Many have praised him for his intense attention to detail and hands-on approach to developing a passer. He was hired in the first place to help get Pittsburgh out of this quarterback purgatory, while still not outright blowing the team up and trying to get a top pick. He has a long way to go before the fruits of his service start to show. The organization badly needs this to work or else they'll spend another decade searching for the face of the franchise.
Karl Roser / Pittsburgh Steelers
Steelers' Mike McCarthy coaches up quarterback Drew Allar during rookie minicamp in 2026.
McCarthy has been praised for the development of multiple quarterbacks. The best example of this is former Super Bowl champion and current Pittsburgh passer Aaron Rodgers. With help from the coach starting in his second season, he eventually became a four-time MVP and is seen as one of the greatest players in the history of the NFL.
There is just one problem with this whole idea. As Rodgers mentioned in a conversation with Mike DeFabo, McCarthy can't do everything he did to help these young gunslingers become great.
"The QB School, whatever [Mike McCarthy's] calling it now, is not what it was back then," Rodgers said. "They missed out on the real work back then when the rules were different."
Back when Rodgers was a new student to McCarthy's quarterback school, the rules surrounding offseason training were very loose. As DeFabo noted, the 2011 CBA changed everything, and it effectively ended the coach's personal course on how to be an effective passer. He no longer has the time to do everything he did in the 2000s, which could end up being a detriment for his new students.
McCarthy is still being as hands-on as he can with all of his passers, but it's just not the same. It does seem to be working, however, as rookie Drew Allar is showing strengths in his mechanics that used to be a weakness. Obviously, there is still a lot for the third-round pick to work on, but this is a great start to getting him to be what everyone thought he could be while he was in college.
Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images
Steelers' Drew Allar during training camp with Mason Rudolph in 2026.
Meanwhile, Will Howard entered the season with the opposite issues of Allar. Fundamentally and mentally, it felt like he was all there. There were just some little tweaks he could make to reach that next level. So far, he seems to be struggling with McCarthy's newest iteration of the QB School. If he can't figure it out soon, he could end up being released so the rookie can take all the backup lessons for himself.
Steelers Will Likely Have To Rely On 2026 Teaching For 2027 Season
Rodgers has made it very clear that he's retiring at the end of the season, and it seems like the Steelers are primed to pick in the same spot that they have for the last few seasons: in the high teens or low 20s. Odds are that Pittsburgh won't be able to get a potentially elite passer in the 2027 draft class. Mason Rudolph's contract would also expire then, if he's not released prior to the start of the 2026 season.
No matter how intense McCarthy's quarterback school is, the best way to learn is still through experience. The most likely scenario is that Howard and Allar would end up battling it out for the starting passer role in 2027. Of course, that doesn't mean that the course on being an effective passer would be over. This would just bring up the next level of courses.
One thing that the CBA hasn't taken away from coaches is all the time they get to work with the players during the regular season. Once one or both young passers end up getting real game action, McCarthy can sit them down privately and break down every little movement that they do on the field -- just like how he does during practice and training camp.
What do you think about McCarthy not being able to give his full QB school anymore? Let us know on X at @Steelers_ChrisB.
#SteelerNation