Eagles/Steelers Front Office “trade:” Andy Weidl for Brandon Hunt

 

New Steeler Assistant GM Andy Weidl, New Eagle Player personnel executive Brandon Hunt

A week and a half ago, the diary reviewed a series of front office changes, which included 8 subtractions and 4 additions.  Summarizing, the Eagles lost 4 key executives (Ops VP Catherine Raiche, Codirectors of player personnel Ian Cunningham and Brandon Brown and key internal personnel consultant Tom Donahue), removed 4 other personnel folks (Director of scouting ops Casey Weidl, Area scout Shawn Heinlein, Personell executive TJ McCreight and scouting assistant Evan Pritt), and added 4 folks in beginning to fill the void (Matt Russell, Jordan Dizon, Charles Walls and Ryan Myers… positions TBD). 

The NFL Network was first to report the news that Andy Weidl will join the Steelers staff as No. 2 underneath Steelers executive Omar Khan, a similar effective position to the one Weidl left under Roseman with the Eagles.  Weidl had also been a candidate for the Steelers’ GM job this offseason given to Khan.  He had spent 3 years as the Eagles top personnel executive under GM Howie Roseman, and 3 additional years with the Eagles personnel department before that while Joe Douglas had that role.  The Eagles have now lost four front office members to assistant GM jobs, a position they don’t have on their staff.  Weidl helped construct Super Bowl winners with the Eagles in 2017 and before that with the Ravens in 2012. Weidl’s departure is a significant loss given the Birds recent draft success being fairly attributed at least in part to his scouting and leadership abilities.

Per Roseman after the draft: “We’ve lost a lot of really good people, and we still have a lot of really good people. “Obviously, because of that, we’re going to have to continue to make additions and continue to fortify that group. I think we have a good process for that. I think we’re in a situation where we want to continue to grow talent in the building.”

After the Pittsburgh Steelers promoted Omar Khan to GM and hired Eagle VP of Player personnel Andy Weidl (the 9^th and most recent “casualty” in the Eagles front office), the Eagles added a 5^th new personnel executive by effectively “trading” Andy Weidl for Steeler pro scouting coordinator Brandon Hunt.  Hunt is to have a “high-ranking” role on Howie Roseman’s staff.

Hunt joined the Steelers in 2010.  He was a homegrown talent for the Steelers and a Pittsburgh native who had been learning on the job under recently retiring Steeler GM Kevin Colbert for almost 15-years. Seen as a rising star in the scouting field, Hunt had also been a front-runner for the Steelers GM job.  In addition to interviewing during Colbert’s transition for that Steelers GM role, he interviewed with the Raiders for their G.M. opening, and spoke with the Bills about an assistant G.M. job.

It was reported on Steelers NOW that losing Hunt “hurt the team’s scoring staff and severed the deep connection with the club’s history that Hunt maintained.”  Hunt had worked with legendary Steeler scouting director Bill Nunn, who helped build the 70’s Steeler dynasty and became the first Black contributor in his role inducted into the Pro football Hall of Fame.  “Hunt’s relationship with Nunn built him into the executive he’s been for the Steelers for more than a decade, and ties into how he operates day-to-day.”  In 2021, Hunt explained “We hold everything up to the 1974 draft.  That was the best draft in (not only) Steelers history and (also) NFL history. The benchmark is always set super high to walk away with that many hall of fame guys. But it always reminded how much work goes into scouting and how hard they worked to get that done was extraordinary. The climate Mr. Nunn had to go through goes beyond the Xs and Os…”

Hunt said of Nunn. “Bill loved contradiction. Anytime there was an argument or a disagreement he would sit up from his normal relaxed posture in his chair. As soon as he would hear two people argue if a player was a second round grade or a fifth round grade, you could tell he got excited. He wanted to see us and how we shook things out in our process… He used every opportunity to talk with us, not just about scouting and players, but helping us learn about how to be a man, raise kids and give back to our communities. From a mentor standpoint, he had so much he wanted us to do that he would plant seeds for us to learn and grow.” 

Kevin Colbert, the Steeler GM after Nunn retired, hired Hunt among others and created a legacy of his own that included 2 Super Bowl rings.  Per Steelers NOW, “Hunt, has ties to both men and their legacies. Whether it was working beside them or learning from them, Hunt possesses the experiences that helped build the Steeler front office into what it is today. The Steelers’ process and style of action has been built over decades of work and lessons learned through trial, error, and wisdom.

Eagle Lesson:  GM Roseman has hired one respected candidate to replace the one he lost.  Hunt has been a part of the Steeler 21^st century success, with direct connections to their 20^th century success (a key executive in Bill Nunn who contributed to both the 70’s Steeler dynasty and the “best draft ever,” the Steeler draft of 1974).