Was going to suggest Mick Mannock for the famous people we maybe should know better?
He was the UK's top WWI fighter ace with 61 aerial victories, but he was working class and believed in Irish self rule.
Richthofen was bought down over Allied lines and was given a hero's funeral. As for Mick, barely anyone's heard of him.
The public school words removed and the Daily Mail do not come out well in Mick's story.
What's changed?
The mindset is subtly different between studio recording and recording to loop.
A loop encourages precision. If you cock up a pass? You have to start everything again. This is frustrating, but the reset is instantaneous, and reconstruction to get to the same point is quick and straightforward. Then you're getting the practice that makes perfect on the first attempt.
Also looping is continuously rolling, it's more go than stop. I think that refines the internal clock somewhat? Keeping good time becomes less of a conscious effort.
In your friend's case, consider a looping sampler.
A zillion years ago we had a Lexicon JamMan. Digitech do one now, I think? There's others, I'm sure.
They encourage good timing with feet and fingers.
They work as delays too, so it's win win.