The Pittsburgh Steelers are adding to their scouting staff, reportedly hiring Mark Sadowski to an “executive role,” according to this tweet from Inside The League’s Neil Stratton, who tweeted the news a short time ago.
If Sadowski sounds like a familiar name he should. He’s someone we mentioned could be in line to be hired by Khan, who is close friends with him. On May 28th, we wrote this about Sadowski’s potential hiring:
“Another name who “fits” is Mark Sadowski. Most recently the Chicago Bears College Scouting Director, he was let go earlier this month as new GM Ryan Poles puts together his staff. Sadowski may sound like a name out of left field but he has close ties to Khan. Both went to Tulane and worked with then-head coach Buddy Teevens. Both were then hired by the New Orleans Saints in the late 90s and spent time together there, entering and exiting at similar times (Khan 1996-2000, Sadowski 1998-2005). The two reportedly remain close. In fact, it was Khan who got Sadowski his first job in New Orleans, as cited by this 2020 Athletic article by Dan Pompei.
“Sadowski wants to be an NFL coach. So once a month, he prints out 32 resumes and sends one to every NFL team but gets no responses. After a while, he calls Omar Khan, a friend from Tulane who now is with the Saints.
“If I give you a handful of my resumes, would you mind putting one in the head coach’s mailbox every week?” he says.
Khan initially is hesitant, but he agrees, placing one of Sadowski’s resumes in Mike Ditka’s mailbox every Friday for a couple of months. Finally, Sadowski gets a call from Saints pro personnel director Chet Franklin. He asks if Sadowski is interested in a pro scouting job. Sadowski tells him no. He wants to be a coach. After some back and forth, Sadowski agrees to an interview. Franklin calls him for a second interview.”
(Long story short, Sadowski took the Saints’ offer).
It makes Pittsburgh a logical landing spot for a guy like Sadowski.”
Sadowski had previously served as the Chicago Bears’ scouting director before being let go last month as new GM Ryan Poles puts his team in place. Given Khan and Sadowski’s close relationship, this hire comes as little surprise.
Sadowski’s exact role and title are unclear. Perhaps he’ll function primarily as an area scout, replacing the likes of Rick Reiprish and Bruce McNorton, who are no longer with the team. Brandon Hunt’s absence was filled by Sheldon White to handle the pro side of things. Pittsburgh certainly could make one or two more hires in the coming weeks. We’ll update you if anything else occurs and when Sadowski’s official title is known.
