The Pittsburgh Steelers and ESPN on-air analyst Louis Riddick have official met and conducted an interview in Indianapolis, according to a report from ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
Per Schefter’s reporting, the two parties met in Indianapolis this week during the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine and conducted the interview for the pending opening at General Manager in Pittsburgh.
Riddick was one of the initial names reported as a candidate for the GM job, aside from the internal options in Brandon Hunt and Omar Khan in Pittsburgh.
A former University of Pittsburgh star that was a ninth-round draft pick of the San Francisco 49ers in 1991, he went on to play seven years as a pro in the NFL for the Niners, Atlanta Falcons, Cleveland Browns and Oakland Raiders.
Following his retirement, the 52-year-old went on to work in Washington’s front office and also served as a scout before being promoted to Director of Pro Personnel. After Riddick’s tenure in Washington ended in 2007, he took a similar position with the Eagles and climbed the ladder to become Director of Pro Personnel in Philadelphia, as well.
Based off of current Steelers’ GM Kevin Colbert’s comments to the media last week prior to the NFL Scouting Combine, the Steelers were aiming to get all interviews in the first round conducted by March 1. It is unclear from Schefter’s reporting if this is the first or second interview with Riddick, as it was initially reported February 8 that Riddick would be interviewing for the job.
Colbert also previously stated that the second rounds of interviews would be conducted after the 2022 NFL Draft, so that leads me to believe that this was the first interview with Riddick. We now await to see if he makes it to the second round of interviews.
UPDATE (7:01 PM): The Steelers have confirmed the interview.
