First off, can you let me know how you started off with the team?
I was supposed to start as a training camp intern but the team purchased a VR tool in 2018 from a company called Strivr. Omar asked if I wanted to work on that instead since they knew I had video experience and I said “Hell yeah!” Anything to get a role on the team.
How did the team use the VR system?
It was used by the offense – the defense didn’t really use it. We had six go-pro cameras that filmed practices. We’d upload that film and players could put on the VR goggles and look around and hear the sounds from the practices. They could rewind the film to relive plays – look right and left and watch how things developed and what to look out for.
Who used it?
Mason Rudolph was in to it for a while. Josh Dobbs too – it was good for developing younger players – especially quarterbacks. Ben didn’t use it. I tried to push the players and coaches to use it more but most of the guys weren’t interested in it and it got phased out.
Why not?
Some just didn’t like it. It also took a lot of time to upload and by the time it was done a lot of the guys left the building already. And they never looked at practiced from the day before – they liked to move on.
From there you moved on to the scouting department – what brought that on?
I just nagged them – I wanted to be a scout. I’m not sure if I was being too annoying, but it worked. I told Kevin and Omar I wanted to be a scout and Phil Kreidler pushed for me – he was a big advocate for me. He got me my early scouting projects and I started sitting in scouting meetings.
Starting off as a scouting intern – that’s the toughest job in the department. You work 100 hours – that was during Covid when I started and there was no operations guy like there is now with Weidl. I had to plan travel, create cutups, make meetings schedules and make sure the scouting meetings were all set. I was also given a couple of lower-tier teams to scout, two major teams and a couple of pro teams as well.
I also had to help with the free agents – I had t help them get to the facility and to the hospital to get their medicals and help onboard them.
Any of those guys stand out to you?
Dwayne Haskins was cool – RIP to him. Getting to know him was cool but it ended sadly. I enjoyed the onboarding – you get to know those guys and they get to know you.
Oh – I also had to cut guys too – I was the grim reaper for a while.
Oh wow – any stories there to share?
The first one I had to cut was Jordan Berry. Christian Kuntz – early on he was on and off the team – they had Canaday then. I remember once going to find a guy in the weight room and seeing Kuntz there. He gave me a look and I told him I wasn’t looking for him this time! Then I went upstairs and Brandon Hunt told me I needed to go back downstairs and get Kuntz. I just thought “Oh fuck.”
Robert Spillane – he threw his helmet when he was first cut from the team – he crashed out. But they signed him back.
Any good stories working with the free agents?
I had to drive the guys around and I had this old busted-up car. The wipers wouldn’t turn off. I drove BJ Finney around once too when he just came back to then team and made a wrong turn….he told me that he should have gotten in the car with someone else!
As a scout, were there guys you remember really liking hat you wanted the team to draft?
They really don’t let you speak up much. One guy I liked a lot was Christian Gonzalez, I remember that. And I liked some of the West Coast guys but the team didn’t give those guys a lot of love. Bucky Irving I liked too. But you didn’t get to speak up much unless they really liked you. That’s the way it worked.
Carlton Davis was a free agent I scouted and liked. But they didn’t like you speaking out of turn. You weren’t supposed to – only some guys were allowed to – I wasn’t one of them though. The rule was you couldn’t speak out about guys you didn’t write about. But some did and they allowed it. When I did it once they asked me why I was speaking. And they guy who gave the highest grade on a player was the one who spoke first on that guy.
What was unique about the scouting process in Pittsburgh from your perspective that made it successful?
The most unique thing was Bill Nunn – you could feel his influence even though he passed away. And the way Kevin assigned territories. He wanted his scouts to be versatile. We scouted pro and college players – most teams do one or the other. But scouting professional players makes you a much better college scout.
How did things change when Kevin left?
Any Weidl created more efficiencies. Kevin was old school – he liked to work with binders and was meticulous. He wanted reports read word for word. The decision-making under Kevin was more collective – under Omar it was more directive. Decisions under Kevin took much longer – under Omar it was more top-down.
Tell me more about what made things more efficient?
Andy had us meet more frequently and some of those would be online and faster. And Andy didn’t want you to read the entire scouting report each time – he wanted you to tell everyone what was different from the prior player report. Andy didn’t want to hear three entire reports for one guy – he just wanted to hear the differences.
Who helped mentor you there in Pittsburgh?
Mark Gorscak was awesome – he was a great mentor. He looked out for the little guy and made you enjoy the scouting process. He was also very technical.
Phil Kreidler – the way he looks at people and communicates… It seems like he’s ignoring you sometimes then 20 minutes later he’ll answer your question. He knows players like the top of his head. He took terrible scratch notes but he knew how to articulate his thoughts and fight for guys he liked. And he was right most of the time.
Add to those – Samir Suleiman was the reason I got on the team and started it all. Dave Pettet, Dan Rooney jr. Dan Rooney II, Brandon Hunt, Dennis MacInnis. Dan Colbert, Mac. Kory Hartbauer, Todd Lewis… All were amazing guys that have been part of that organization
What were you taught that helped you most as a scout?
Dan Colbert was great at showing me how to evaluate film and break it down. Branden Hunt too. They taught me that there is a flow to how you scout and watch a player. You don’t start from random points when evaluating a player. You go from the start of the play to the finish. For example when you scout a cornerback, you start with the the formation, stance, their movement and break and tackle. You don’t evaluate them from what they did 30 yards downfield. It’s like a story – you go from the start to the finish.
What do you think they made the changes to the scouting process – are they for the better, do you think?
Well, you know the Steelers never fire anybody….they all just…retire…
They wanted to bring in guys they knew. The grading system changed – we went to a different number and color system. For example we never had a gold star before, but now they use a gold star ranking for guys they think will be future elite guys – Hall of Fame or Pro Bowl players, like TJ Watt.
The scouting room was also re-done, and the way we write reports and meet changed and our territories all changed. It all happened immediately – they ripped the ground from the bottom-up. I’m a fan of more progressive change.
Any funny moments you can share before I let you go?
I remember Kevin Colbert screaming from the press box once when Ben threw an interception in a preseason game: “What the fuck was that!?” We all looked at each other – was that Kevin yelling from the press box?
I was there for the Mason Rudolph-Myles Garrett fight game. It was really quiet on the bus on the way home when Zach Banner asked Mason “Did you really say that shit?”
What did Mason say?
“No!”