As we’ve written about several times since Tuesday’s cutdown, one of the best stories and most unknown Pittsburgh Steelers to make the 53-man roster was OL Dylan Cook. Undrafted in 2022, the Steelers signed him in May and he worked his way up the team’s depth chart to make the final 53.
Instead of hearing more from us, we decided to hear from Cook’s college coach, Montana’s Bobby Hauck. A long-time coach with stops at San Diego State (where he coached Steelers’ safety Damontae Kazee) and UNLV, Hauck returned to Montana in 2018 and has led a successful program, one that upset No. 20 Washington in 2021.
I asked Coach Hauck about Cook and a little about Kazee. Here is a transcript of our conversation. And special thanks to our editor Scott Brown for setting up the interview.
Alex: When Dylan walked onto Montana after playing QB at Montana State Northern, was the immediate plan to make him a tackle? Had you been in that situation before with that type of unique conversion?
Coach Hauck: It’s a really unique story. We put him at tackle right away. We knew who Dylan was because he was a local guy. I had never heard of that transition of tackle to quarterback except for one other time when I was at UNLV. We had a kid who has a high school quarterback at Saskatchewan that cam to UNLV. He ended up playing for the Chargers. His name was Brett Boyko.
Those are the only two I’m aware of. It’s pretty unique.
Alex: Were there growing pains with Dylan making that conversion? Or did he latch on right away?
Coach Hauck: I didn’t know what to expect. It took a little bit of time. It’s a completely different deal. Throwing passes to protecting the passer. Dylan always had the athletics ability. He always had the frame. He had to learn the position. Offensive tackle is a very technical position. So it takes time. So you gotta stick your nose in there and get your hands dirty, which is a little different than quarterback. Once he acquired a taste for that and learned the technique, his rise up the depth chart was fast.
Alex: Can you speak to his work ethic making that switch?
Coach Hauck: The weight room time and the gaining of strength and all that. And he still continued to work. That’s why he’s with the Steelers now. He’s continued to work really hard to build himself into an NFL football player. He had the frame, he had the athletic ability but again, he had to work really hard to get it done. He’s a great guy, he knew what he wanted to do. I’m just as pleased as I could be for him.
Alex: What did Dylan show to earn a scholarship with your team?
Coach Hauck: He earned a scholarship. For us, it’s the same reason he’s in Pittsburgh. There aren’t guys like him walking around. You can’t go down the street and find guys with that stature and that size and the ability to move their feet like he can. He earned a scholarship pretty rapidly because we had to make sure we kept him.
Alex: Had you followed him this summer with Pittsburgh?
Coach Hauck: We always try to keep an eye on our guys who are moving on. When we’ve been good, we’ve had a lot of those guys. We’re getting back to that point. We try to keep track of them. Especially our guys from Butte, Montana, we keep a close eye on them.
Alex: Have you spoken with Dylan since he made the 53?
Coach Hauck: I swapped a bunch of texts with him.
Alex: I know at San Diego State you coached Damontae Kazee. What do you remember about him in college?
Coach Hauck: Oh I remember Kazee, man. He was a great player. Absolute playmaker. I remember going there and it took about two days of spring practice to figure out he was the best player on our defense. That had a lot of good players. Special cat. The thing I remember the most about him, I think it’s probably why he’s had a nice career in the NFL to date, is that he’s highly competitive. He wants to win. He loves football. He’s a great dude.
