Home Steelers Offseason ESPN’s Louis Riddick Joins Crowded Steelers’ GM Search

ESPN’s Louis Riddick Joins Crowded Steelers’ GM Search

by Steeldad
Riddick. steelcityblitz.com

No one does ‘due diligence’ quite like the Pittsburgh Steelers and we are seeing that up close as they search for a replacement for the retiring Kevin Colbert. What we know is that Colbert will be staying on through the NFL Draft which concludes on April 30th. The Steelers’ plan is to have someone in place for a smooth transition before they get to the draft. Today we learned from various sources that ESPN analyst Louis Riddick was scheduled to meet with the Steelers for the job. He joins incumbents Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt along with outside candidates Ed Dodds, JoJo Wooden and Ryan Cowden.

Riddick was a former Pitt standout in college and was drafted in the 9th round by the San Francisco 49ers in the 1991 Draft. He would go on to play with the Falcons, Browns and Raiders before stepping into front office roles starting in 2001. His entire experience with both the Washington Redskins and Philadelphia Eagles was based strictly around player evaluation. He served both organizations as both a scout and director of pro personnel.

Since then, he has been an analyst for ESPN and has been in the Monday Night Football booth for the last two seasons. Known as a smart and mild-mannered guy, Riddick seems to grasp player relationships as well as anyone in television these days.

I have believed since the start of this that Omar Khan would be given the opportunity to stay with the Steelers as a “Financial GM” if you will while someone else takes the reins of of personnel and player evaluation. Whether this is something that Riddick would be fond of is not yet known and the same can be said for the other candidates as well.

This group is growing more crowded than I had anticipated to be very honest and I think the Steelers want someone in place rather soon. Being able to learn from Colbert and see how he navigates a draft is of serious importance one would have to think. Riddick has interviewed for other GM jobs in Houston and Detroit so it’s clear he would like to return to this aspect of football. Whether or not it’s with the Steelers will be known sooner rather than later.

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