The Steelers knew they had a big transition to make with the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger on Thursday.
Friday, team president Art Rooney II confirmed what had been rumored for well over the past month that GM Kevin Colbert also will be stepping down after this year's draft.
It adds up to what could be perhaps the most tumultuous offseason in Steelers history -- or at least in recent memory.
"Kevin Colbert is stepping down as our GM after the draft this year," Rooney said Friday in his season-ending wrap-up press conference. "We have left the door open, Kevin and I, to fill an ongoing role after the draft. But we will be conducting a search for a new GM starting immediately. We probably won’t make a hire until after the draft, but we will be interviewing people. We’ve already interviewed two of our in-house candidates, Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt."
Roethlisberger had been the Steelers' quarterback since 2004, while Colbert has been with the team since 2000, initially being hired as the director of football operations with a title change to general manager in 2010.
The duties, regardless of title, were the same. Colbert oversaw the Steelers' drafts for the past 21 years, a period of time that saw the team go to three Super Bowls, winning two, six AFC Championship games and posting a 226-124-1 record, second-best in that span behind only the Patriots.
The GM position with the Steelers is somewhat unlike those in many other organizations around the league in that the GM and head coach are equals and both report directly to Rooney. Colbert thrived in that position with both Bill Cowher and then Mike Tomlin, forming a symbiotic relationship with both.
Rooney doesn't see that structure changing.
"I think a GM has a lot of responsibilities these days. We’ll be hiring somebody who can fill all of those responsibilities, which includes, obviously No. 1, being a talent evaluator and putting that draft together, but also everything else that goes along with being a GM in the NFL today," Rooney said. "Having said that, we’re looking for somebody that fits with the way we’re structured and our culture. We’re not really planning on changing our own structure here. It would have to be somebody we feel can fit that culture and that role."
That being said, the GM will continue to be an equal with the head coach. And Tomlin won't be assuming any additional roles.
"Mike’s role in all of this will most likely stay the same," Rooney said. "The new GM will step into Kevin’s role and fill that role in a similar way and similar set of responsibilities that Kevin has had. I don’t expect to make a dramatic change in those responsibilities, coach versus GM has worked well. We’re not really trying to make a big change there."
Khan has been with the Steelers since 2001, joining them after a stint with the Saints. He has risen through the ranks to his current role of Vice President of Football & Business Administration. Khan, 44, has interviewed with several organizations over recent years for GM positions with other teams, most recently this year with the Bears, but has been passed over in those searches.
Hunt, an IUP graduate, has been with the Steelers since 2009, joining them after spending two seasons with the Texans. The team's Pro Scouting Coordinator, Hunt also spent the 2005 and 2006 seasons as a scouting intern with the team before joining the Texans.
But, Rooney said he also plans to interview external candidates. Those could include former Steelers front office man Samir Suleiman, currently vice president of football operations with the Panthers, or the Steelers could go completely outside the organization and attempt to hire a young up-and-comer, such as Colts director of college scouting Morocco Brown.
"We are going to be talking to outside candidates," Rooney said. "We’re going to fill them with the best person for the job, whether they’re internal or external. We’re certainly not afraid to bring somebody in from the outside. When we hired Coach Tomlin, we had some good internal candidates in that round and wound up hiring somebody from the outside. We don’t try to narrow it to too much of a narrow focus. We try to get the best person for the job, wherever they’re coming from."
Colbert, 65, also was hired from outside the organization when he replaced Tom Donahoe in 2000. Colbert began his career working for the BLESTO Scouting Service before joining the Dolphins as an area scout in 1985. The Pittsburgh native left Miami to go to Detroit in 1990, where he served as the Lions' Director of Pro Scouting until being hired by the Steelers.
Colbert has overseen drafts that included the selections of players such as Troy Polamalu, Roethlisberger, T.J. Watt and others.
And despite stepping away from his full-time role with the team, he is expected to serve in an advisory role with the Steelers after this year's draft is completed, much the way Bill Nunn Jr. did in his final decade-plus with the team after stepping down as assistant personnel director in 1987.
"Kevin’s interested in having a reduced role," Rooney said. "That’s something if we can figure out how it works, he’ll probably describe it as more than just hanging around. But I think we can probably figure something out if it makes sense for everybody."
