The Pittsburgh Steelers will interview Louis Riddick for their general manager position.
That’s according to Ian Rapoport:
The #Steelers are scheduled to interview ESPN commentator Louis Riddick for their vacant GM job, sources say. He last worked in the NFL as the #Eagles Director of Pro Personnel in 2013.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 8, 2022
As Rapoport noted, Riddick has ties to the city, although there’s a long list of possible candidates to take over the position:
A former Pitt player, Riddick joins a list of GM candidates that includes Ryan Cowden, JoJo Wooden, Ed Dodds, Omar Khan, and Brandon Hunt. The hire — replacing Kevin Colbert — will go into effect after the NFL Draft. https://t.co/rcwIYJV5IT
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 8, 2022
In addition to his playing career at Pitt, Riddick has further ties to Pennsylvania; he’s a native of the state, and his last front office role was as director of pro personnel for the Eagles. Riddick hasn’t worked in an NFL front office since 2013, but his work in broadcasting (especially time spent in the Monday Night Football booth) has obviously kept him in league circles and connected to the game. It helps that Riddick always does good work in media, too, coming across as an analyst very much ready to step back into the competitive side of the sport again.
It’s hard to say whether Riddick is a serious candidate here; that list of possible options is a long one, and filled with some of the top executive prospects in the sport. But if Riddick were to land the Steelers position, it would obviously mean another shakeup for ESPN’s MNF booth, which is probably the last thing the network really wants right now.
One other fun bit of business from this: it was Ian Rapoport that broke this news, not anyone at ESPN. Reading into that too much is probably foolish, as there could be any number of explanations. It’s at least an example of how not all the synergy streams get crossed at ESPN, though, which is perhaps illustrative on its own.
About Jay Rigdon
Jay is a columnist at Awful Announcing. He is not a strong swimmer. He is probably talking to a dog in a silly voice at this very moment.