Penn State's Drew Allar Has Steelers Relationship That No One is Talking About

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Familiarity is a major factor in professional sports, which can hurt or benefit certain players. 

Right now, former Penn State standout Drew Allar has to feel rather confident in some of the familiarity he has on his side. Not only do the Steelers have a new coaching staff and he was the quarterback they decided to take, but there's another relationship he has with the Steelers quarterback coach that I don't think many realize. 

Speaking to reporters recently, the Steelers QB coach said that he actually knew Allar from his college coaching days at the University of Akron.

"Very excited to have Drew in our room," said Tom Arth, the Steelers quarterbacks coach, per the team. "Drew's a young man who I've been fortunate to have the opportunity to get to know since he was pretty young. I was coaching in college in Ohio at the University of Akron when Drew was in high school, so I've been watching Drew since he was probably 14 or 15 years old.

"You saw the talent, you saw the ability, you certainly saw the stature and all of those things. To see what he's accomplished and how far he's come is really special for me. Now to have the chance to have him here in Pittsburgh and in our quarterback room I think is outstanding."

This is going to sound crazy to say, and of course, I'm not trying to suggest that just because a player was very good in high school, they're going to play in the NFL for a long time or have a chance to start, but Allar was arguably the best quarterback prospect in America during that time.

Frankly, I have a real feeling that Arth is going to have some level of impact on some of the decisions made, and as crazy as this could be, it wouldn't be too surprising to me if Allar even gets a nod or two here and there because of what he's done in the past. 

He'll have to prove that he can play in the league during practice, and we all know he has a lot to work on, but having guys on his side who have trust in him will certainly help with that.

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