The Philadelphia Eagles officially announced the hiring of former Pittsburgh Steelers director of pro scouting Brandon Hunt to their front office on Friday.
Hunt will hold the title of director of scouting with the Eagles, which is nominally a promotion, though he will be joining a front office that has two assistant general managers, two advisors to the general manager, a vice president and nine other people with director in their title under GM Howie Roseman.
Hunt ran the Steelers’ pro scouting department and was also man influential part of their amateur scouting process. Under Colbert, Hunt was seen as a right-hand man for matters of scouting and talent evaluation. He was one of 16 candidates and six finalists to be the team’s next general manager after the retirement of Kevin Colbert, but the club ultimately chose fellow internal candidate Omar Khan.
In addition to interviewing with the Eagles, Hunt also interviewed with the Buffalo Bills for their assistant general manager position.
Hunt began his career as an intern with the Steelers before joining the Texans as a scout from 2007-09. He returned to Pittsburgh in 2010, and has served as the club’s pro scouting director ever since.
Hunt is one of three front office members to leave the team since the announcement of Khan’s promotion. Senior college scout Rick Reprish and college scout Bruce McNorton have also left the club to pursue other opportunities.
The Steelers have added former Eagles assistant general manager Andy Weidl, former Detroit Lions vice president Sheldon White and former Chicago Bears director of scouting Mark Sadowski to their front office under Khan.
Teams that have minority candidates hired away to become a head coach or general manager will receive draft-pick compensation, but as a director of scouting with the Eagles, Hunt will not qualify the Steelers for compensation.