i see nothing wrong with it, but you need to give a few more details, like what other exersices does he do after his first set of 4? you only need a few exercises per body part for most people, and he may just have better genetics for getting big.
post up the rest of the routien and we should be able to help you out, also the routien you are on right now. you said you do pyramids and he does 4 sets of 8 then pyramids, there isnt much difference in these. i would usually ysay mix it up a little more then just doing pyramids, but different things work for different poeple.