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According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, the Pittsburgh Steelers are scheduled to interview ESPN commentator Louis Riddick for the organization’s soon-to-be vacant general manager job.
That would make him the fourth external candidate to interview for the job, following in the wake of Ryan Cowden of the Tennessee Titans, Ed Dodds of the Indianapolis Colts and JoJo Wooden of the Los Angeles Chargers.
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Louis Riddick is a Former NFL Player, Executive
Riddick, 52, entered the NFL as a ninth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers in the 1991 Draft, having played his college ball for the Pitt Panthers. The Quakertown, Pa. native played 94 games at defensive back with three different teams—including Atlanta and Cleveland—before finishing his playing career with the Oakland Raiders in 1998.
Riddick went on to serve as a pro scout in Washington (2001-04) before being promoted to director of pro personnel, a position he held for three seasons (2005-07). He went on to join the Eagles in 2008 as a scout and was named assistant director of pro personnel in 2009 before being promoted to director of pro personnel (2010-13), the last time he was part of an NFL front office.
Riddick joined ESPN in May 2013 as an NFL Front Office Insider and has since contributed to a cross-section of ESPN’s NFL properties, including Sunday NFL Countdown, Monday Night Countdown and NFL Live, as well as SportsCenter and ESPN Radio, not to mention the NFL Combine and NFL Draft. He was named a Monday Night Football analyst in August 2020, and last offseason attracted attention from several teams with general manager openings, including the Detroit Lions.
The Steelers Have Already Interviewed 2 Internal Candidates
Meanwhile, the Steelers have already interviewed a pair of internal candidates for general manager, those being vice president of football and business administration Omar Khan and pro scouting coordinator Brandon Hunt. One of those two could end up succeeding longtime Steelers general manager Kevin Colbert, who will be stepping down following the 2022 NFL Draft. Alternatively, it’s possible that team owner/president Art Rooney II will not hire a general manager at all. According to a late-January report from Ed Bouchette of The Athletic, the Steelers might choose to split the job between Khan and Hunt, perhaps re-incorporating the title of director of football operations, which the team has used in the past.
Regardless of whom the Steelers choose to hire, Colbert will not be an easy act to follow, as he is frequently mentioned as being among the best—if not the best—general manager in the league. His retirement was not unexpected, however. Colbert has been working on a series of one-year contract extensions, with the most recent extension having been signed in March 2021. In December 2020, former Steelers pro personnel coordinator Doug Whaley predicted that Colbert would retire shortly after longtime Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger announced his retirement, which is exactly what transpired.
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