Earlier this month, we noted the slew of scouting department changes the Pittsburgh Steelers have made, their biggest and most sweeping amount of change since Omar Khan was named general manager in May 2022. The turnover was headlined by several new hires and departures from the staff. Now, we know the new job for one of those who left the building. According to his LinkedIn account, former Steelers scout Braunson Williams has been hired by the University of Connecticut as the football team’s Director of Recruiting/Offense.
His profile lists him starting the job in June 2024. While it doesn’t offer details of the job, the title implies the types of things he’ll be doing with the team.
Williams served as the Steelers’ scouting intern from 2022 through the 2024 draft. Scouting staff changes almost always happen in the month after each draft and according to his profile, his time with the team ended in June 2024. A Western Michigan graduate, Williams had previously worked at WMU as a quality control coach while spending time as an intern with the New York Jets and recruiter at Princeton.
UConn’s program has labored over the last decade. The Huskies haven’t had a winning season since going 8-5 in 2010 and have finished with three or fewer wins in six of the last seven years, excluding the lost COVID season. The team showed promise in 2022 under Jim Mora, finishing 6-7 and making a bowl game, but regressed to 3-9 in 2023. Mora was retained for 2024 but he’ll enter the year on the hot seat as the school continues to be a basketball program under Dan Hurley, back-to-back national champs.
Along with Williams, Fawwaz Izzuddin and Phil Kreidler won’t be back with the scouting department in 2024. The Steelers’ former BLESTO scout, Izzuddin’s profile doesn’t yet show a new job while Kreidler retired following 33 years with the organization.
The team hasn’t hired a new scouting intern though there’s still Anthony Rooney, hired in January 2023 after finishing his football career at Denison University. They could hire someone late in this year’s cycle before the college football season gets underway. New names to the front office are Senior Personnel Assistant Quentin Harris, Assistant Director of Pro Scouting Max Gruder, BLESTO Scout Matt McCreight, and Northeast Area Scout Jimmy Noel.
