Pittsburgh Steelers Draft Day Selection: In Kevin We Trust

The key person behind the preparation for the Pittsburgh Steelers Draft today is Director of Football Operations Kevin Colbert. Probably never heard of him have you?

Recently, he was talking to a small group of people at an event in Pittsburgh. A person introduced himself and Colbert replied. “Oh, my name is Kevin Colbert, I am a scout for the Steelers.”

Ahem. “That’s Bullshit” I wanted to cough under my breath. But that isn’t Kevin. The Steelers don’t really care about credit. They prefer to focus their time on more important things like buying hardware polish for their trophies.

The Pittsburgh Steelers know a thing or two about the NFL Draft.  “We look at it as a team decision and come together. The key is preparation. We don’t expect to be in the draft room and have arguments, we expect that to happen weeks and weeks before draft. On draft day, we’re always prepared.”  Mr. Rooney.  Pittsburgh Steelers.  Six Time World Champions.

The Steelers haven’t always had the preparation that Mr. Rooney refers to on draft day.   After the 1999 season, the Steelers organization was suffering.  A power struggle between Tom Donahoe and Bill Cowher had come to a standoff.  Arguments referred to by Mr. Rooney ended with a Cowher win in the standoff. Donahoe was fired as their Director of Football Operations in January 2000.

The Pittsburgh Steelers search for a new ‘scout’ was on.

Colbert won the job a month later.  A relative ‘no name’ was the new GM, I mean Director of Football Operations.  The job he was about to do for the Steelers was nothing short of remarkable.

NORTH CATHOLIC KID COMES HOME
Colbert is a graduate of Robert Morris University, just a fifteen minute ride from Heinz Field. A Sport Management major who started his journey to the NFL by scouting for the Colonials basketball program. One of his first ‘jobs’ was scouting a young man named Chipper Harris for the Division I Colonials.

Kevin tells stories of chasing Chipper all over Western PA. Do I need to tell you that he got his man? As every organization that has employed Colbert knows….., Kevin, well, he always gets his man.

Chipper Harris played on the school’s first two teams to appear in March Madness with NCAA tournament teams in 1982 and 1983. The Colonials lost to Indiana in 1982 and then in 1983, they defeated Georgia Southern in a play-in game, and then lost, 55-53, to Purdue in the first round.

Nice pick Kevin.

Colbert came to the Steelers from the Detroit Lions organization.  He worked under Ron Hughes.  “Ronnie taught us a system they had developed in Detroit of evaluation, of organization, of draft development. I was working with him for 10 years, and when I came to Pittsburgh, we followed the same system that we used there,” Colbert said. “We added a few things here and there, but basically it’s Ron’s system that we continue to work under today.”

Hughes was Vice President of Player Personnel for the Lions for 18 years.  He was fired by Matt Millen.

Shortly after Hughes was let go, Colbert reached out to his former boss. Hughes scouted for the Steelers as a consultant for 2½ years before going full time in April 2003.

Nice pick Kevin.

“I’m very thankful the Steelers let me come to them,” Hughes said. “They really made me feel better about myself as a human being. Because I wasn’t feeling really good about myself.”

Kevin Colbert didn’t forget who brought him to the dance.  He never does.

COLBERT’S BIGGEST STRENGTH

Colbert is known as a consensus builder.  Everyone is not going to agree all the time, but Colbert has the ability to get everyone to agree on a decision they can live with, not a democracy or a vote, but a powerful decision on a player that will wear Black and Gold.

The consensus Colbert has built in his time in Pittsburgh has been quite impressive.

In 2007, at Bill Cowher’s resignation press conference, Colbert was thanked by Cowher for giving him a  “second wind.”  Colbert and Cowher are credited with completing the roster that won Super Bowl XL. The two men spent considerable time working on the core of team that still makes Cowher proud today as he talks on National Television.

Just look at the talent level of the Steelers organization.  It is daunting. The Steelers seem to replace players yearly and actually show improvement.

After the resignation of Cowher, the Steelers had a difficult decision.  Staff members, Russ Grimm and Ken Whisenhunt appeared to be the favorites. Colbert, Art Rooney and Dan Rooney, the team’s chairman, picked Mike Tomlin as their new coach.  Colbert was the fan in Tomlin’s corner.

Nice pick Kevin.

He scouted around the league and knew of the young man’s reputation.  Tomlin is even keel.  A Steelers coach told me last week, the absolute best thing about Tomlin is he is never  too high, never too low.  Sound familiar?

Colbert, who turned 52 in January is an equal with Tomlin. “On our organizational chart, they’re on the same line,” Rooney said, “organizationally, it works well, and we have no plans to make changes in that regard.”

But since 2000 the common thread is Colbert.  He has had the best first round draft selections of any team in the NFL.  He knows how to bring all of the information given to him by his outstanding team of scouts into a presentation format that allows success in preparing his ‘board.’

Colbert actually does scout as well, he spends a considerable amount of time on the road.  Inspect what you expect.  What doesn’t the guy do?

It’s up to Tomlin and Colbert to work together on such decisions as which free agents to pursue; which of their own players to sign to new contracts, to release or allow to leave in free agency, and which players to draft.

IF A PLAYER FAILS, ITS OUR FAULT

Humble doesn’t begin to describe the mastermind behind the Pittsburgh Steelers sucess. An example is the story on the Steelers website this morning, there is really only one person who could have provided this humbling information. The story discusses the 2004 draft. The Steelers reached for LB Nathaniel Adibi in the fourth round, rather than sticking to their board and taking RB Michael Turner. Adibi didn’t make it out of training camp.

Colbert is always trying to improve on the mistakes of the past.

“We always go back and try to review on what we did do well and what we didn’t do well,” said Colbert. “If we take a player at a certain point, that player is not saying he is that value, we are. If that player fails then we failed to evaluate him correctly. If a player gets picked in the second round and he doesn’t contribute, that is not on the player that’s on us, because we were the ones who said that he could contribute.”

TEAMBUILDING

He has built a great team, no, not the one on the field. That’s a given. Colbert has built an empire of scouting prowess that is the envy of the NFL.  I would be remiss if I didn’t list his team for this story.

Doug Whaley, Pro Personnel Coordinator
Ron Hughes, College Scouting Coordinator
Joe Greene, Special Assistant
Mark Gorscak, College Scout
Phil Kreidler, Pro/College Scout
Kelvin Fisher, College Scout
Bruce McNorton, College Scout
Dan Rooney, College Scout
Dave Petett , Blesto Scout
Bill Nunn, College Personnel
Luke Palko, Player Personnel Intern

Good luck trying to see him on ESPN today. He usually is not near the camera, or hides effectively from it. You’re not surprised are you?

In Pittsburgh draft day is huge, but everyone pays just as much attention to the free agent signings. Because, much like Colberts personality, the under the radar free agent signings, have brought serious production for the Steelers.

James Harrison ring a bell?  Yeh that was a nice one.

Dan Kreider?  So many Steeler fans miss the spritual devastating blocker now with the Arizona Cardinals.  Perhaps, Willie Parker misses him as well.

Not all people are fans of drafting a running back in the first round. The Steelers first round pick Illinois RB Rashard Mendenhall was hurt last year and his talent is still waiting to be played out. In essence, the Steelers will have two first round picks playing this season. What great news that is for Steeler fans.

I believe the reasoning behind people stating not to draft first round running backs is the ability of personnel teams such as Colbert and his team to find non-drafted players. Insert all the great storylines about Willie Parker here.

What an amazing piece of work Colberts team did in finding Parker at North Carolina. I don’t fully think the public realizes how important this player was to the Steelers success.  I think it will be looked back upon in future years in an even more awe-inspiring personnel acquisition.

At the draft today, look for a few things.  Colbert is a fan of moving up, not back.  Again, a metaphor of the man.  Remember the drafts of the past Steeler fans?  A great safety was selected with this tactic.  I could see a move up the board happening as Colbert mentioned on 105.9 this week.  Then again, it just might be the mystique he wants out there?  Either way, the Steelers go offense in the first round.  Defense in the second.  We will have a few new linemen by the time the weekend is over.

A BUSINESS CARD DOESNT MAKE THE MAN

Most of his peers in the league have the title of GM on their business card. Kevin doesn’t have that title. He has that respect. He has that preparation. He has the rings.

Colbert has the amazing team of scouts that produce, not only in the draft this weekend, but much more importantly, in the free agent bargain market.  The market that has allowed the Steelers to seperate themselves from fierce competitors over the past four seasons.

And think about this if you are an unsigned free agent Sunday night.  Where would you want to play?  On a team that looks like they could use your help, or on a team that has provided free agent players every opportunity to make their team?  The Steelers always get their man.

Today at Radio City, In Kevin We Trust.