Tag: Andy Weidl

A losing season is exactly what the Steelers need

A losing season could be just what the Steelers need to get this team on track.

For the second time in three seasons, the Philadelphia Eagles are headed to the Super Bowl. The Eagles blew out the Washington Commanders 55-23 and will take on the Kansas City Chiefs for the second time in the Super Bowl.

Seeing the journey the Eagles have made to get to this point, it’s hard not to look at the Pittsburgh Steelers situation and wonder if what they need is to lose. Lose like the Eagles did in 2020.

It wasn’t a popular move after their 4-11-1 season because then-head coach Doug Pederson had led the team to the playoffs three straight years and even won a Super Bowl in 2017. But the Eagles thought one down year was enough and moved on to Nick Sirianni.

Since the 4-11-1 season, the Eagles have made two trips to the Super Bowl, including this year and are the class of the NFC. They even went from 4-11-1 to 9-8 the following year and made the playoffs.

The Steelers meanwhile are the model of consistency and mediocrity in the AFC. The best thing that could happen to the Steelers is to finally have a down year, which would quite down the talk of head coach Mike Tomlin’s streak of non-losing seasons. This is a badge he’s work for nearly two decades but amounts to an NFL participation trophy.

It would also help the Steelers get a higher draft pick and hopefully secure an elite player. Picking in the late teens and early 20s year after year had kept them from landing the truly elite players in recent drafts. Much of the Eagles success was via the NFL draft and thanks to Andy Weidl. Weidl is now the Steelers assistant GM and is working his magic in the draft for Pittsburgh.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Steelers front office drawing no interest from rest of the NFL

No teams have requested interviews with Omar Khan or Andy Weidl so far this offseason.

Multiple NFL franchises have moved on from their general managers already this offseason with more on the way. When it come to the success of any NFL team, it starts at the top with roster building, contracts and the NFL draft.

The primary members of the Pittsburgh Steelers front office are general manager Omar Khan and assistant general manager Andy Weidl. Khan is the  man with the plan when it comes to contracts and Weidl is the draft guru who brings in the young talent.

We assumed with all the attention being paid for finding GM replacements around the league, Khan and/or Weidl would be on team’s interview lists. But so far teams have avoided the both of them for requests.

Is this an indictment of how the rest of the league views the Steelers front office or should we just be happy Weidl and Khan are flying under the radar and aren’t going anywhere?

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Steelers FO guru tabbed as a future GM

The Steelers could lose Andy Weidl at the end of the season.

One of the biggest additions for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the past two years has been assistant general manager Andy Weidl. Weidl came over from the Philadelphia Eagles and taken over the responsibilities of the NFL draft with great success. Weidl’s success has put him squarely on the radar of other NFL teams as a future general manager according to Sports Illustrated.

Weidl has a similar path to Cunningham’s, having come up in Baltimore, before going with Douglas to Philly. Plenty of people who’ve worked with him have asked why he doesn’t get mentioned more—and there’s a reason why Omar Khan, whose background was on the cap side, worked hard to get him to be his No. 2 after Kevin Colbert retired. Few have the path of having worked for three perennial winners that Weidl brings to the table.

Weidl and Omar Khan are the ultimate front-office tandem but we expect to see Weidl get plenty of offers to run his own team at the end of the season. If he leaves, Pittsburgh might need to coax another person off of this list to help fill that void.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Andy Weidl building a powerful Steelers offensive line via the draft

Andy Weidl has been the Steelers most underrated hire of the past two seasons.

Perhaps the most underrated addition to the Pittsburgh Steelers over the last two years has been that of assistant general manager Andy Weidl. Weidl came over from the Philadelphia Eagles and in just two drafts has added a level of physicality up front that this team hasn’t seen in years.

Weidl addressed the media on Thursday and he emphasized this point by using the term “football maturity” and noted that this group of rookies has it.

A lack of physicality has been an issue for the Steelers on both sides of the line of scrimmage for several years. But recent additions of Broderick Jones, Troy Fautanu and Zach Frazier on offense is changing that.

Pittsburgh has gone all in this offseason to make a deep playoff run by completely overhauling the quarterback position. This puts a lot of pressure on these young players in the trenches to play beyond their years.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Steelers assistant GM Andy Weidl dodges question about Brandon Aiyuk

Andy Weidl deflected the questions about Brandon Aiyuk at his presser.

When Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Andy Weidl addressed the media, you just knew they were going to ask him about all the trade rumors surrounding the Steelers and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk.

Weidl wasted no time in deflecting the inquiry and passing the buck on to general manager Omar Khan. “That’s an Omar question,” Weidl said. He did say that the team always does its due diligence when a player becomes available.

The Steelers have been linked to Aiyuk via media reports going all the way back to March and it hasn’t slowed down one bit since the start of the preseason.

It seems Weidl’s primary role has been the NFL draft and he has done a tremendous job. The Steelers’ 2023 and 2024 NFL drafts have been among the best in the entire NFL and have yielded multiple starters and potential stars on both sides of the football.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Eagles director of scouting Brandon Hunt to interview for Patriots GM role

The Eagles could be set to lose another key member of the front office personnel, as Adam Schefter reports that Brandon Hunt will interview for the Patriots lead personnel job (GM).

The Eagles could be set to lose another key front office personnel member, as Adam Schefter reports that Brandon Hunt will interview for the Patriots’ lead personnel job (GM).

Hunt was a homegrown talent for the Steelers and a Pittsburgh native who attended IUP and had been learning on the job under Kevin Colbert for almost 15 years.

Hunt officially joined Pittsburgh’s scouting department in 2010 and was named the pro scouting coordinator for Houston after Doug Whaley was hired as the general manager of the Buffalo Bills.

https://instagram.com/p/ClZmm6UPZ9t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

The move to Philadelphia was essentially a trade of front-office personnel, with Andy Weidl joining the Steelers as Omar Khan’s assistant GM.

For New England, the interview process is a chance to balance the front office with proper titles after former head coach Bill Belichick did not have a traditionally titled general manager in his 24 seasons.

Krafts (ownership) hasn’t employed one since owning the team, and current senior personnel Eliot Wolf is the favorite to land the job.

Strong draft haul could cost the Steelers invaluable FO staff

The Steelers have leaned heavily on assistant GM Andy Weidl in the draft.

Pittsburgh Steelers general manager Omar Khan gets all the credit for the Steelers strong offseason the last two years but there’s a forgotten name in the mix. That is assistant general manager Andy Weidl. When Khan spoke to the media on Monday, he heaped praise on Weidl and gave him credit for leading the process as the team prepares for the 2024 NFL draft.

I have a lot of anecdotes about Andy (Weidl) I’m not really going to share them. We go way back. But Andy’s (Weidl) been great. You know, I’ve said this before, I’m very fortunate to have a great staff around me. You know, with Andy (Weidl) and Sheldon White and Mark Sadowski, Cole Marcoux, Dan Colbert and the rest of the guys. It’s just been, they’re great for me. But
you know, Andy (Weidl) leads his process, and he does an awesome job of it and I’m excited about what Thursday is going to bring.

If the Steelers knock the 2024 NFL draft out of the park the way they did in 2023, Weidl will be a hot name for general manager vacancies in the 2025 offseason.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Eagles to hire former Steelers executive Brandon Hunt to a front office role

Philadelphia Eagles to hire former Pittsburgh Steelers executive Brandon Hunt to a front office role

The Eagles are set to add another talented staffer to the front office, as Geoff Mosher is reporting that Brandon Hunt is leaving the Steelers to join Howie Roseman’s staff.

Hunt is a homegrown talent for the Steelers and a Pittsburgh native who attended IUP and had been learning on the job under Kevin Colbert for almost 15-years.

Hunt officially joined Pittsburgh’s scouting department in 2010, before being named the pro scouting coordinator for Houston after Doug Whaley was hired as the general manager of the Buffalo Bills.

The move is essentially a trade of front office personnel, with Andy Weidl heading to the Steelers as the assistant GM to Omar Khan.

[vertical-gallery id=667231]

[listicle id=667329]

[listicle id=665951]

[lawrence-related id=667345,667340,667331,667319,667313]

Eagles VP of Player Personnel Andy Weidl to be named Steelers’ new assistant GM

Philadelphia Eagles Vice President of Player Personnel Andy Weidl to be named the Pittsburgh Steelers’ new assistant General Manger

Andy Weidl is heading home to Pittsburgh, but it won’t be as the Steelers’ new general manager, and instead, he’ll be named the assistant GM according to Aditi Kinkhabwala.

A key fixture in Philadelphia with 24 years of NFL scouting experience, Weidl just completed his sixth overall season with the Eagles and his third as the team’s vice president of player personnel.

Weidl originally joined Philadelphia’s scouting department as the assistant director of player personnel (2016-17) under current Jets general manager Joe Douglas.

During the 2018 offseason, Weidl was promoted to director of player personnel.

Weidl’s exit will now mark the fourth departure for a key front office member following Brandon Brown, Ian Cunningham, Tom Donahoe, and Catherine Raîche out the door, with only the longtime scout Donahoe, not landing in a new situation.

[vertical-gallery id=667231]

[listicle id=667329]

[listicle id=665951]

[listicle id=667323]

[lawrence-related id=667331,667319,667313,667306,667301]

Eagles hiring Jeremy Gray as assistant director of pro scouting

Philadelphia Eagles are hiring Jeremy Gray to the position of Asst Dir of Pro Scouting

The Eagles retooling of the front office and scouting department continues and the team recently added Jeremy Gray to the position of assistant director of pro scouting.

This move follows the departures of former Eagles senior scouts Ian Cunningham and Brandon Brown back in January.

Recently, vice president of football operations Catherine Raiche moved on to the Browns, while Casey Weidl and three other staffers were also shown the door.

Gray spent a year in the Pac 12 at Arizona as Coordinator of College Scouting, and before that, he also worked as a Player Personnel Assistant and Pro Personnel Scout for the Minnesota Vikings.

[listicle id=665965]

[listicle id=665971]

[listicle id=666917]

[lawrence-related id=667091,667081,666980,667047,667037]