Yeah I would bet that if he'd done a higher volume of upper body lifts he'd have seen more progress in that time. Even something as simple as high volume dips and chins three times per week, adding weight when necessary, would have brought more results. Stronglifts and Starting Strength are very low volume for the upper body even for a beginner, and in my personal experience volume is the key to growth.
I also don't believe in the whole squats and deadlifts raise your testosterone and build your arms thing that they peddle - if so, where are all the shredded 16 inch arms as a result of all the squatting? Same with all that you can't get a big upper body without training your legs thing. During the times in my life when I wasn't able to train legs due to injury, my upper body lifts progressed far more than usual and I saw more growth. My guess is that the body only has so much capacity for recovery and growth to go around or something.
I also don't believe in the whole squats and deadlifts raise your testosterone and build your arms thing that they peddle - if so, where are all the shredded 16 inch arms as a result of all the squatting? Same with all that you can't get a big upper body without training your legs thing. During the times in my life when I wasn't able to train legs due to injury, my upper body lifts progressed far more than usual and I saw more growth. My guess is that the body only has so much capacity for recovery and growth to go around or something.