Steelers Will Start Second Round Of Interviews With 2 Potential Candidates

[Steeler Nation]

The Pittsburgh Steelers will start their second round of interviews with two names according to Mike Garafolo of NFLNetwork. Tennessee Titans’ Ryan Cowden, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ John Spytek are at the top of the list for this round.

The #Steelers will have a second round of interviews for their vacant GM job. Among those who have been scheduled are the #Titans’ Ryan Cowden and the #Buccaneers’ John Spytek, sources tell me, @RapSheet and today’s @gmfb cohost @TomPelissero. Others will interview, too.

— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) May 5, 2022

Spytek was elevated from director to Vice President of Player Personnel in 2021. He’s spent the past 6 seasons with Tampa Bay. Before his time in Tampa, Spytek worked for the Denver Broncos, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles and Detroit Lions in scouting and operations. He has been in the NFL for 18 seasons total. Spytek graduated from Michigan University.

Cowden is in his sixth season with the Titans is currently their Vice President of Player Personnel. He has a long background in scouting spending 16 seasons with Carolina as a scout before joining the Titans in 2016. He’s a well-rounded candidate, for sure, overseeing all areas of the scouting department, both college and pro, including advance scouting, free agency preparation, and evaluation of players in the NFL. Cowden is also involved in preparation for the NFL Draft in Tennessee.

Cowden played football at Wofford University in Virginia and graduated with a degree in finance. He previously had an interview with the Giants this off-season for their general manager position.

The Steelers interviewed 16 candidates during their initial round of interviews.

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[suncitysteel]

Wow, eighteen candidates so far. I'm glad the team is doing its due diligence in order to get the right person, but you'd only hope that whenever the time comes for a new head coach search that they'd be just as assiduous.

 

[ZonaBurgh]

With the amount of time this is taking, I can only conclude two things, they are being extremely careful to find the right person, or none that they have interviewed so far are worth ****.

 

[SteelerInLebanon]

Wow, eighteen candidates so far. I'm glad the team is doing its due diligence in order to get the right person, but you'd only hope that whenever the time comes for a new head coach search that they'd be just as assiduous.

It will be a decade before that is an issue or longer.

 

[steel dino]

With the amount of time this is taking, I can only conclude two things, they are being extremely careful to find the right person, or none that they have interviewed so far are worth ****.

Zona--
I would have to believe....it is the former.

They have interviewed 18 candidates to this point....what's the odds of all of them not only giving a bad interview, but also lacking of needed experience and talent?

 

[jitter77]

Don't know anything about the guys, but Spytek seems like a hard pass. TB was good, but Broncos, Eagles, Lions, Browns does not scream good team building to say the least

 

[mightyguru]

Spytek? Shouldn't he be working for the pats******?

 

[steel dino]

Spytek? Shouldn't he be working for the pats******?

Or in the next Austin Powers movie..

 

[steelreeling]

i can't understand WHY they are screwing with Omar Khan this badly?

Guy had like a decade under Colbert learning the gig and to his credit, Khan retained some superstar players with highly favorable contract negotiations. WTF else do they think is so much more important skill-wise?

this reeks of Art2

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

i can't understand WHY they are screwing with Omar Khan this badly?

Guy had like a decade under Colbert learning the gig and to his credit, Khan retained some superstar players with highly favorable contract negotiations. WTF else do they think is so much more important skill-wise?

this reeks of Art2

because he’s a bean counter and not a personnel guy. I don’t recall any other teams asking to interview Khan for GM spots.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

Don't know anything about the guys, but Spytek seems like a hard pass. TB was good, but Broncos, Eagles, Lions, Browns does not scream good team building to say the least

Eagles have done a good job of maximizing draft capital and working the cap. Their only issue has been misses on actual picks. That may be more on their scouts and the coach than the GM.

Look at how much more common draft trades have become. How many times have we complained about the Steelers rarely trading back to get extra picks? The Eagles culture is to work the board and if the guy you want may be available 5 picks later, you work the phones and try to move back.

I think in recent drafts, the Steelers have missed a lot of opportunities to gather more picks just by moving a few slots. I want a GM that is better at those aspects to couple with a good scouting department.

 

[jitter77]

He was a scout for eagles, broncos, and browns. He was just a intern for the lions. He has been the director of player personnel for TB for 6yrs so i am not sure what all that means. TB built up a solid team even before Brady, but sold of the teams he was involved with have been perennially bad

 

[SteelerFan448]

I’d like some fresh ideas in the front office. Drafts haven’t been stellar as of late.

I can only assume one of the first questions will be how they feel about Kenny Pickett.

 

[tapeANaspirin2it]

My biggest fear with drafting Pickett, or any other QB, is that they end up wasting 4 or 5 years on a QB who is not the guy to take them to a Super Bowl. Having a new GM may be a good hedge against that scenario because they won't be married to Pickett.

Years ago, prior to the rookie cap, drafting a 1st round QB meant you had to give him a big contract and you were stuck with him for about 4 years minimum. That's no longer the case. Arizona proved this point when the ditched Josh Rosen after 1 season.

I'm not saying you just give up on Pickett for no reason. But you have to be honest. If you don't think he's the guy then plan to move on. Seattle was able to pawn of Rick Mirer to a sucker team back in the day.

This is why Pickett should be the week 1 starter unless he is awful in preseason or one of the other QBs looks great.

Steelers have to know if Pickett is their franchise QB by the end of year 2. By franchise QB, i mean the guy you think can make you better and win you a SUper Bowl, not the guy you think can be pretty good if surrounded by enough talent. If you think he's the franchise then you need to go all in to try to win a SB before you have to pay him.

I thik it will be good to have an outsider involved in making that call.

 

[SteelerFan448]

Doug Whaley being brought in for a second interview is rather uninspiring. I was never under the impression he did a good job in Buffalo and Bills fans seem to support that with their comments on this report. I believe he was also just one The Fan talking about how he would've passed on Pickett for Trent McDuffie to build the defense so they could win games by allowing 10-13 points per game. I don't have a problem with the direction he would've went, but having a new GM that didn't want the first-round QB and still thinks you can win games by allowing two scores a game is a bit out of touch.

 

[slashsteel]

Doug Whaley being brought in for a second interview is rather uninspiring. I was never under the impression he did a good job in Buffalo and Bills fans seem to support that with their comments on this report. I believe he was also just one The Fan talking about how he would've passed on Pickett for Trent McDuffie to build the defense so they could win games by allowing 10-13 points per game. I don't have a problem with the direction he would've went, but having a new GM that didn't want the first-round QB and still thinks you can win games by allowing two scores a game is a bit out of touch.

Whaley's background doesn't impress me. The other two I think can bring something to the room. Right now I am leaning towards the Bucs guy. Love how they turned that team around.

 

[Drink IRON City]

My biggest fear is propmoting from with in. We need fresh ideas as our lakidaisical Ideas seem to be dominant as we speak.



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