Hiring offensive coordinator Arthur Smith isn’t the only move the Pittsburgh Steelers made today. According to Inside The League’s Neil Stratton, in the know when it comes to the scouting world, the Steelers parted ways with long-time scout Dave Petett.
Stratton notes that Petett’s contract expired, and he has left the organization. His name no longer appears on the Front Office page of the team’s website.
Petett served as a long-time area scout for the Steelers before being promoted after Omar Khan was named GM in May of 2022, replacing Kevin Colbert. Petett was promoted to Assistant Director of Pro Scouting. He served as Sheldon White’s assistant. White was brought over from the Detroit Lions following Khan’s hiring.
Previously, he worked as the team’s Northeast/Mid-Atlantic Scout and was always visible on Pro Day trails. He spent 20 years with the team. Last year, we spotted him at the Boston College and Pitt Pro Days. In 2022, he attended Northwestern, Wisconsin, Pitt, Penn State, and Boston College.
Since Khan took over, the Steelers have seen major shake-ups in their scouting department. Now, only a few names from the Colbert era remain, a stark contrast compared to the previous decade when the team made little changes or moves in their scouting department. Since Khan and Assistant GM Andy Weidl took over, the only holdovers on the scouting side from the Colbert era are: Dan Rooney Jr., Dan Colbert, Phil Kreidler, Kelvin Fisher, Mark Bruener, Mike Butler, Chidi Iwuoma, Dennis MacInnis, and Fawwaz Izzuddin.
A good number of people, but they make up only roughly half the team’s scouting staff, with some in “senior” roles like Kreidler and Fisher. Others, like Rooney and Colbert, received promotions, while MacInnis and Izzuddin have climbed the ladder from Scouting Interns to Area and BLESTO Scout, respectively.
Most often, scouts have their contracts run through each draft cycle, making the timing of this news a little surprising. But Stratton notes sometimes scouts are able to leave early in the draft cycle to land a job elsewhere before the NFL Combine and Pro Days begin.
Pittsburgh seems likely to replace his job at some point, though that may not occur until after April’s NFL Draft.
