PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It was one of the hot talking points from the Kevin Colbert media gathering on Monday. The outgoing general manager announcing that he and Steelers president Art Rooney are conducting the interviews to be his successor.
How can that be fair? Wouldn't Colbert be biased towards in-house candidates? He wants to still have a role with the team, is that a part of the interview?
Let's clear up a few things.
· Colbert is conducting interviews with Rooney, not by himself.
· Rooney asked him to be a part of the process
· Art Rooney has never been in charge during a GM search before and the next two highest ranked Steelers personnel are also applying for the job
Tomlin is not involved in the process until the second round of interviews which may have already started, although the team is saying that won't happen until after the draft.
"I'll keep him up to date as to who we talked to and how the interviews went," Colbert said of conversations with Tomlin. "But listen, we have two great internal candidates in Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt, and of course they've been interviewed, but there's several guys outside of our organization that are very qualified. I think as we go through this, we come out of it and understand that there's a lot of capable people."
Colbert would like to stay with the team in some capacity. Ultimately that will be up to whomever is hired and if they want Colbert around.
"We said we're not going to define it as a retirement, because if there's a way that I can help and not hinder the next person, then we're going to be open to that," Colbert said. "But nothing has been decided, nor will it be, until after we get through the interview process."
Why step aside now?
"It's something my family and I've discussed, really over the last few years and that's why we've been asking to do the year-to-year contracts and Art [Rooney II] has been great in allowing us to do that," Colbert said. "But we just think it's time. It's time I think from a personal standpoint, I think it's time from a professional standpoint."
Approaching two and a half decades as the Steelers personnel leader, Colbert realizes there may need to be some upgrades or different thinking moving forward. Admitting that some of the tried and true ways of the past, may not be the best way to do business moving forward.
"We always have to be open to new ways to do things and more current ways to do things quite honestly, and I encourage our younger scouts to push me in that regard," Colbert said. "But the better solution may be outside the organization. We don't know, but I just think from a personal side for sure it's time. Even from a professional side we have to be open to trying to stay ahead of the game."
Asked directly if he feels the Steelers front office and their decisions have become stale?
"When we are 9-7-1, we are not good enough," Colbert said. "When we are not winning a Super Bowl, we are not good enough. Is that stale? I don't know if it's stale, but I know it's not good enough."
