First, tell me what you did with yourself after the Steelers?
Well, I went back to coaching defensive backs back at my old high school, Woodland Hills. That’s where I played ball, back in the day. I kept myself occupied until the next round of NFL or XFL hiring.
How did you get your start with the Steelers?
I was coaching at St. Vincent College when Kevin Colbert’s brother coached the offensive linemen there. I met Kevin through him and some of the other folks in the organization when they had camp there.
I built some relationships, then in the Spring of 2017 the scouting internship opened up and I threw my name in the hat and applied. I got the job – I was coaching the running backs at the time at St. Vincent. That’s where I got my start.
What were your main roles there?
My main role that first year was mostly to be in the office and help the scouts – the pro scouts mostly but some college scouts too – to watch film on the free agents for all the teams in the league and report on what they’ve done since they’ve been in the league – report on their strengths and weaknesses.
I’d also go to a couple of schools and work with the coaches on their side projects – cut-ups for film and some gameplaning work.
I was mostly in the office the first year, but by the second year I was given 10-to-12 schools to visit and talk to coaches and players and other key people. It really helped me learn what the scouts do and what the business was all about.
What surprised you most about the scouting work you did?
We had a smaller staff than many of the other teams, and that gave guys chances to work on the pro and college scouting work. That really helped you see how the game evolved – how, for example, undersized linebackers could now be hybrid guys in the NFL. You could see that and use it in your evaluations knowing how the college and pro games worked.
That surprised me. Most teams don’t have guys work on both and they don’t get as much of that communication on how the game has evolved and how players that may not have been big enough can be used in the NFL – as an example. That surprised me.
How did the pro scouting process work – how did you communicate your thoughts on players to the coaches?
All the scouts get together the first week of training camp and get introduced and are told what schools and teams they will be covering. Then we do our reports on the players – we can do those from anywhere – and send those all in. We do that for the pro players for the free agency process as well.
The reports cover the positives, negatives, then all have a summary of the player with our overall thoughts.
Mark Barron was a good example of someone I scouted as an NFL player – he was on the Rams which was one of my teams. He wasn’t a free agent then – but I really liked him, and sure enough they signed later on. It’s crazy how the football world works.
Any experiences stand out most to you?
For me it was all an awesome experience. It was a great experience – being a Pittsburgh guy born and raised. To see the scouting side – it was all a special time for me. I enjoyed every second – the AFC Championship game, even tough we lost, the Ravens game in 2016, the Christmas Day game…And getting to work with Kevin. Colbert, Bill Nunn and Mr. Rooney – it was an awesome time. I appreciate the opportunity they gave me over those five years.
Tell me about Bill Nunn – many know about his contributions to the team, but what we he like and what did you learn from him?
He and Mr. Rooney were great people. Just being around those guys and driving them around sometimes was amazing.
I remember sitting down with Bill Nunn and just listening to him and him sharing his knowledge with me. He was one of the smartest people I ever met. He was funny and honest. The thing I took most for him was, as a scout, your job is to evaluate athletic ability. That’s all you should be doing. Just evaluating a player’s ability. Don’t look at a player and start convincing yourself of what he can and can’t do. Let the coaches do that. You just focus on their athletic ability. He taught me that that’s where some scouts get caught up – trying to be too much like a coach. We all have our jobs and roles, and we should stuck to ours and let the coaches do their jobs.
Another thing he taught me was just to be a good person. He was the nicest person – he did so much for people that not everybody realized he did – from helping Roberto Clemente and the Negro League players. Not many people realized that at the time. Except Mr. Rooney – he did, and because of that the team saw players before a lot of other people did.
You also helped the coaching staff too – what was your experience and role there?
I was a coaching assistant but it was really like being the Defensive Quality Control Coach. For the first three years I coached the inside linebackers then coached the defensive backs my last year. I got to work with pretty much everybody on the defense – doing cut-up prep and gameplan prep.
What was working with Coach Butler like – and did you work with Coach LeBeau as well?
I didn’t work on the coaching side with Dick LeBeau when he was there. Butler was a great guy – he was easy to work for and an intelligent guy. In my eyes we did some good there and had some things rolling, but we had some injuries and things didn’t work out like we hoped in the end.
The main thing I learned from the coaches was not to try and do too much. Do your job and show and stay with it. Don’t be that guy that tried to do everything. Do what you do.
What does that mean exactly?
Coach Tomlin taught me to watch film and perfect that – to generally just sit, watch, and learn. He is so intelligent – one of the smartest, most intelligent guys I know and worked with. He helped show me to just to focus on your job first and do that well first. And to find your own style – don’t try to be someone you’re not as a coach. I’ve seen too many guys in college try to be yellers when that’s not who they were. Just find your own style and mold that.
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