Though the Pittsburgh Steelers have seemingly changed under general manager Omar Khan, they’re still viewed as an old-school team more reliant on tape and gut instinct than a group that follows the numbers. ESPN’s Seth Walder surveyed all 32 NFL teams asking for feedback on all things analytics. When it came to vote on which team cared about the data the least, the Steelers received multiple votes.
Out of 19 votes, the Steelers received four of them when asked which team was least analytically advanced. That tied for the second-most votes, the same number as the New England Patriots received. The only team that received more was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, leading the way with nine.
That was the only mention of the Steelers in Walder’s article so it’s hard to know any additional feedback. Pittsburgh has seemingly embraced analytics more under Khan than former GM Kevin Colbert so perhaps old narratives still exist around the league. However, the team’s analytics department hasn’t changed in tangible and obvious ways since Khan’s promotion. The team lists three members of its front office with an analytics title: football analytics coordinator Tosin Kazeem, football analyst Donovan Moore, and football analytics intern Jake Clancy.
Kazeem has been with the team since Colbert’s final years, seemingly taking a dual analytics and scouting role. He received a new title this summer after being previously listed as a football analyst. Moore and Clancy are new hires. Moore was brought in this January while Clancy was hired just before the season began.
Pittsburgh has continually shown up in these surveys among the least analytical teams. The Steelers received one vote in 2022 with ballots being more spread out than the concentrated list offered in 2024.
It’s difficult to know exactly how the Steelers incorporate analytics into their overall scheme. Having the numbers is one thing. Using and valuing them is another. To a degree, every team uses data to help game plan and understand player movement, each player equipped with a tracker that measures speed and steps and other metrics for practice.
While the Steelers likely are using analytics more now than they were before, Mike Tomlin still brings an old-school approach that relies on his eye and gut more than being dictated by the data. So long as Tomlin is on Pittsburgh’s sideline, the Steelers’ use of analytics, or at least the perception of it, won’t dramatically change.
