The Pittsburgh Steelers are long known for casting a wide scouting net, and general manager Omar Khan fully intends to live up to those principles. Since taking over the job in 2022, he is one of only two general managers to attend the HBCU Combine. Once fertile ground through which the Steelers fed their 1970s dynasty, HBCU schools no longer draw the talents they did in the past, but the talent pool is improving.
Asked by Steve Wyche why he makes it a point to attend to HBCU Combine and Legacy Bowl, Khan provided the obvious answer to Steelers fans. “I learned from Bill Nunn”, he said on the NFL Network of the Steelers’ Hall of Fame former assistant personnel director.
Nunn worked for the Steelers for the better part of a half-century, albeit much of it in an advisory capacity. He always made himself available, and he and Khan shared many conversations over the years as a result.
History chiefly credits Nunn for affording the Steelers a leg up on HBCU talent. Among his hits in the 1970s drafts are Hall of Famers such as Mel Blount and John Stallworth, and the Steelers signing Donnie Shell as an undrafted free agent. Of course, things were different, then—Nunn had the only available game tape of Stallworth back then. In 2024, everybody has everything they could possibly want.
But the point is, Nunn proved that talent can come from anywhere, and Khan and the Steelers still abide by that. They regularly seek out players from the spring leagues, bringing an occasional CFL player as well. Their continued scouting of the HBCU circuit hasn’t yielded an established prospect in a while, but they keep looking.
Last year, for example, Khan signed two running backs who participated in the HBCU Combine and Legacy Bowl. Neither made the roster, but Alfonzo Graham and Darius Hagans spent time on the 90-man roster. In fact, Graham is still under contract, spending the 2023 season on the Reserve/Injured List.
“A lot of the things that I do and how I think it’s important to do things comes from [Nunn] and the things that I learned from him”, Khan said. “I think it’s so important just to support the schools and the players that are down there. It’s an honor to be down there, and that’s something that I foresee always being involved in”.
Last year, only one team selected one player from an HBCU school in the 2023 NFL Draft. The New England Patriots selected Jackson State’s Isaiah Bolden in the seventh round, but he suffered a season-ending injury. In a preseason game, a tackle attempt left him immobile, to the point that the league suspended the game. He spent the night in the hospital, but the facility released him the following day.
