First, I know you recently retired – there were a number of changes in the Steelers front office – what if anything changed in the way the team approached scouting as an organization?
The biggest thing is the bigger influence now analytics has on the department. Omar is a little more into it than Kevin was. They’re brought in new guys. It’s interesting stuff – they delve into every fact and stat and extrapolate it all out into graphs and charts – it’s another tool.
How are they using analytics now in a practical manner – how are they using that data to help the scouting?
Well, nothing replaces the guys watching film and games and talking to coaches. But the past year we used a lot more analytics than we did under Kevin. We used it a lot to compare guys’ stats to see if they met certain criteria for success with guys in the past who were successful. We try to find the guys that matched that criteria. We even went back and added guys to the database from the past to create a database of players to compare to.
What makes the Steelers different from other NFL teams in terms of their approach to scouting?
We ignore no one – we talk to everyone. My best contact was a janitor at a small school in Louisiana. He was in the room with the players and they’d say anything around him – he heard everything because he was practically invisible to them. All he wanted was a hat and t-shirt and a free lunch.
Also, the people we hire are good guys who work hard and turn over every rock. They don’t just watch film and write reports and check boxes. They really understand their responsibility to the organization and to do the best job they can.
As the son of Jack Butler, what did your father teach you that has impacted you most as a scout, and why?
Even before I started, he had one simple rule. He told me that “You can lose with talented players, but you cannot win without them.” You can’t win with overachievers only. You need talent. What I looked for in players was talent. It wasn’t my job to coach them or evaluate the scheme they were in. My job as a scout was to find the best athlete regardless of how they are being used.
But isn’t how they are used impacting how they perform? How did you account for a player that may be talented but is being used in a manner not best suited for their ability?
That’s a big part of it. You have to figure out how they may do in your scheme. You can love a 4-3 defensive end and give them a great score, but if they don’t have the right size to fit the Steelers 3-4 scheme as a defensive lineman or the athleticism to play outside linebacker, then he isn’t the right fit for the defense and I’ll state that in the report.
Unless they go 4-3!
Ha yes – then we can bring back LC Greenwood and Dwight White too!
Did your father want you to be a scout – how did that interest in becoming a scout develop for you?
It was always something I chose on my own. He never pushed me one way or the other. He wouldn’t even let my brother and I play football until we were in sixth grade. We wanted to play for the Steel Valley Ironmen but he wouldn’t take us to practices.
Was he too busy?
No – he just felt like it was our decision and we had to do it on our own. He didn’t encourage or discourage us; he just felt like we had to be responsible for our own decisions and live with them.
You also worked with other legendary figures like Bill Nunn and Kevin Colbert. What were you able to pick up from them that impacted you the most?
Bill- he had a ton of things he looked for down to shoe size. One big thing for him was about defensive linemen. He wanted to see their play on the goal line – how bad did they want it? Most of what he looked for was in his head.
Kevin – he was the most thorough and prepared person I ever met. I wanted to emulate that – he was so detail-oriented. I never wanted to disappoint him.
How so?
He wanted all the information on every player – their backgrounds – and if they didn’t play well, he wanted to know why. Was it the scheme? Were they playing hurt? I loved working for him.
Asking why – that was key. Were they hurt? Asking why is huge and that means doing the research and asking everyone you can about a player. Were there problems at home? Is the kid driving home to take care of his mother after practice every night because she is sick? Are they not getting any sleep because they are driving back and forth, sometimes hours each way, taking care of their family? It shocks you what some of these kids are going through.
Your dad started BLESTO – what is the difference between being a BLESTO Scout and team scout?
BLESTO is the jumping off point, you can say. Where BLESTO starts is where we finished off. In Spring we prepare for the draft – while we’re doing that BLESTO scouts are mostly going out and looking at the Juniors about to be Seniors for the next year’s draft. After the draft we then meet with the BLESTO scouts – usually around late May – to talk about the players they’ve seen.
What was your start in scouting like?
When I first started I graduated college on a Friday and Art called right after and told me I was to start work the following Monday. I was the first scouting intern in the NFL. Art developed the first intern program for NFL scouts – before that they hired ex-coaches and players.
Why did he start the program?
That way he could develop his own scouts and bring them up the way he wanted scouts to work – the way he wanted things to be run, instead of relying on grizzled old coaches who were set in their ways of doing things. He’d show us everything – from how to dress and talk to coaches to how to arrange travel. That’s the way everyone does it now but the Steelers were the first to do it.
So he had his own bank of scouts to choose from when he wanted to hire someone. Art was about to let me go when the internship ended when the Chief walked in and asked how I was doing. Art said I was doing ok and the Chief asked what he was going to do with me. Art said the internship was over and I was being let go, and the Chief asked him if I was a jerk! Art said “No!” So the Chief told him to hire me!
Back then I had to carry my own projector to the colleges and a white piece of cardboard to project film on to. I later started calling the school and asking them to send me film. Bob McCartney taught me how to copy the film. I’d copy it and then send it back. We got the equipment from an old WWII aircraft carrier that was used for reconnaissance. It was pitch black – you couldn’t see anything in it.
Continued: https://steelerstakeaways.com/exclusive-with-steelers-scout-mike-butler-1983-2023-part-ii/
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