Just a few weeks ago, we noted that the Pittsburgh Steelers’ scouting staff felt settled in. And then, of course, it changed. The team hired Jim Noel as a Northeast area scout. That was followed, as we suspected, by Phil Kreidler’s retirement after 33 years with the team. While Omar Khan’s input on overhauling the team’s roster has changed, he’s had as much an impact on the scouting department. That’s the foundation of the staff that builds the Steelers’ roster.
A couple days ago, I shared this screenshot I took in May 2022 prior to Khan’s hiring. In it, I noted all the names no longer with the organization.
Excluding Colbert and including just the scouts and not the operations department, more than half of those names, eight of 15, are no longer with the Steelers: Brandon Hunt, Rick Reiprish, Mike Butler, Mark Gorscak, Bruce McNorton, Dave Petett, Will Britt, and Kreidler.
They’ve left for a variety of reasons. Some retired, like Butler after last year and Kreidler after 2024. Reiprish also appeared to have retired, too, but his departure shortly after Khan’s promotion was less clear. Hunt was a predictable name to leave after being passed over for the GM job. He’s now on the other side of the state as an executive with the Philadelphia Eagles, now their senior director of scouting.
Gorscak left to pursue other football opportunities, now working with Jim Nagy and the Senior Bowl, while Britt was one of several Steelers analysts to leave for another job. Petett left for unknown reasons and McNorton sorta faded off, too.
The change isn’t alarming. It’s natural. Part of it stems from the new regime of Khan and assistant GM Andy Weidl. Khan brought over some of his people like Mark Sadowski, long-time friends from their Tulane days. Weidl brought over brother Casey Weidl.
Under Kevin Colbert, the Steelers had a remarkable run of keeping their scouts intact. No one left. Part of that might’ve been because of good job security and working for a successful and stable franchise. Some of it might’ve been due to not being approached by other teams that just assumed they didn’t want to leave. Whatever the reason, that wasn’t going to last forever. And when the first domino began to fall, the rest followed. It’s led to a truly new-looking front office. Based on Khan’s first two draft classes, this new-look group is carrying the torch well.
