Kevin Colbert Mentoring Omar Khan Through GM Transition

Steelers general manager Omar Khan revealed during a press conference on Tuesday morning at Saint Vincent College that the situation with Kevin Colbert staying on in an advisory role is still fluid. Colbert alluded to staying on in an advisory position following his retirement in May.

“Yeah, that’s still fluid,” Khan said. “I had him up here a couple of days ago just to speak to the scouting staff about some of the stuff that he’s done in the past, and how we did it in the past. We’re still working through that. Art (Rooney II) and him have been talking. He’s been a great resource for us so far. He’s just a phone call away, we text and talk all the time.”

Since joining the Steelers’ front office in 2001, Khan has been known to be the organization’s cap guru. Khan did some scouting with the New Orleans Saints in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but it’s not his strong suit, which is why the Steelers hired Pittsburgh native and former Eagles vice president of player personnel Andy Wiedl as their new assistant general manager.

While Khan doesn’t have much of a background in scouting, he has learned a ton by working under Colbert for 21 seasons. However, it certainly would be beneficial for him if Colbert comes on in an advisory role, just to make it a smoother transition. Former Ravens general manager Ozzie Newsome served as a consultant when he handed the job off to Eric DeCosta in 2019. DeCosta worked under Newsome for over 20 years, so there are some similarities with the Colbert-Khan relationship.

During his introductory press conference as the Steelers’ new general manager in May, Khan was asked about what Colbert taught him, and he said listening to Joe Greene and building through the draft are the two biggest priorities.

“Number one, when Joe Greene speaks, you listen — that’s number one. Number two, and this goes way before Kevin, but we’re always going to build this through the draft,” Khan said. “I can’t ever forget that and I won’t. He was always big on that and that goes back to Art, Mr. Rooney and that’s going to continue.”