The Pittsburgh Steelers have completed a massive overhaul of their scouting staff that has been underway slowly since Omar Khan took over as general manager, with a flurry of moves becoming official this offseason.
The Steelers have been dealing with a good bit of natural changeover, anyway, with Phil Kreidler retiring earlier this offseason after 33 years with the club. That came one year after fellow longtime scouts Mark Gorscak and Mike Butler stepped aside.
But it seems clear at this point that the Steelers changeover in scouting is not just a natural progression. The team let go longtime pro scout Dave Pettit earlier this offseason. Also leaving the team this offseason are BELSTO scout Fawwaz Izzudin and intern Braunson Williams.
In their places, Dennis MacInnis has been promoted to pro scout, and the team has made four new hires, bringing on Quentin Harris as senior personnel assistant, Max Gruder as assistant director of player scouting, Jim Noel as an area scout and Matt McCreight as a BLESTO scout.
Harris was most recently the vice president of player personnel for the Arizona Cardinals. He was in the Arizona front office from 2008-22, after having played for the Cardinals from 2002-05. He aligns with the job experience of many of the team’s collection of junior front office executives under Omar Khan, like Andy Weidl, Sheldon White and Mark Sadowski, as the team has put together a varied group of experienced evaluators rom multiple backgrounds with connections all over the league.
Gruder, a former Pitt player, also has a direct connection to Weidl. He spent five years with the Philadelphia Eagles, most recently as director of pro scouting. He also worked with the Miami Dolphins after his short pro career. McCreight had been working with the Senior Bowl, and had spent time with the Chicago Bears with Sadowski.
Kelvin Fisher, who also holds the title of senior scouting assistant, is now the team’s longest-tenured scout. He is in his 19th season with the team. Mark Bruener, the team’s West Coast scout, is the next-most senior with 14 seasons with the club. Only five members of the team’s scouting staff now pre-date Khan’s tenure as general manager.