Pittsburgh Steelers scout Zach Crockett will help teach how to follow in his footsteps. As tweeted by Senior Bowl Director Jim Nagy, the Senior Bowl is creating its own “Scout School,” of which Crockett will serve as guest speaker. Nagy shared the news Wednesday evening. The workshop will take place June 10-12.
According to the Scout School landing page, the opportunity will be open to those who spent at least two years in the NFL. Crockett spent much longer than that in the league, drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in 1995 and playing through the 2007 season, spending time with the Oakland Raiders, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
As he outlined in the Steelers’ most recent episode of “The Standard,” the team’s ongoing YouTube series, Crockett approached owner Al Davis about the chance to stay involved with the game after his playing days were done. He worked as a scout for 14 years before being hired for the same role in Pittsburgh. As noted, he works as the Steelers’ Southeast Area Scout, covering the schools in that region during the year and throughout the Pro Day circuit.
According to our tracker, we spotted him at: South Carolina, Georgia, Clemson, Alabama, Florida State, NC State, and Duke. That covered the SEC and ACC, an area Crockett knows well growing up in Florida and attending Florida State.
Per the Senior Bowl website, the three-day event will cover the NFL scouting structure and calendar, tape study, how to write a scouting report, and presenting players in meetings, among other aspects of the job. While often tiring work, area scouts make up the bedrock (along with National/BLESTO scouts) for organizations to evaluate their future draft picks. The event will take place in-person in Mobile.
While fans like us aren’t able to attend, there could be some former Steelers interested in making the jump. Pittsburgh has several members of their scouting staff who have taken that path, including former Pittsburgh TE Mark Bruener and CB Chidi Iwuoma, who currently serve as area scouts for the team.
