Steelers announce official interviews of three more General Manager candidates

The Pittsburgh Steelers continue their search for Kevin Colbert’s successor as the new league year approaches. Colbert’s contract expires after the 2022 NFL Draft, and for bother personal and professional reasons he is calling it a career. While the long-time General Manager (GM) is expected to remain on staff in an advisory role, the team continues to interview external candidates for the job,

Saturday evening, the Steelers announced three more candidates who were interviewed for the job.

Andy Weidl is the Philadelphia Eagles’ vice president of player personnel. Here is his bio, via the Eagles’ official website:

A veteran with 24 years of NFL scouting experience, Andy Weidl enters his sixth overall season with the Philadelphia Eagles and third as the team’s vice president of player personnel.

Weidl has played an integral role in helping construct rosters that have produced playoff appearances in three of the last four seasons, including two NFC East championships (2017 and 2019) and a 41-33 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.

Weidl originally joined Philadelphia’s scouting department as the assistant director of player personnel (2016-17), working under former Eagles vice president of player personnel and current New York Jets general manager Joe Douglas. During the 2018 offseason, he was promoted to director of player personnel.

Ran Carthon is the director of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers, and was a former running back in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts. Here is a brief bio of Carthon’s time min front office personnel, via the 49ers official website:

Ran Carthon enters his first season as director of personnel after serving five seasons as the director of pro personnel with the 49ers. In his role, Carthon manages the pro scouting department in evaluating players among the professional leagues while continuing his duties of advance scouting of the 49ers upcoming opponents. In addition, he prepares the club for acquisitions through free agency, trades and the daily waiver wire.

In 2013 & 2018, Carthon was selected to participate in the NFL Career Development Symposium at the Wharton School of Business in Philadelphia.

Carthon joined the 49ers after spending five seasons (2012-16) as the director of pro personnel with the St. Louis/Los Angeles Rams. Carthon also spent four seasons (2008-11) as a pro scout with the Atlanta Falcons.

The third candidate interviewed was Joe Hortiz, who is the director of college scouting for the Baltimore Ravens. A brief bio on Hortiz:

He has been part of the Ravens since 1998, and in that time he has emerged as one of the most trusted voices in the building, first as a scout and then as an executive. Hortiz has always taken a pivotal role in the draft, and in 2009, they made him their Director of College Scouting. He held that position for a decade before his promotion two years ago.

These candidates push the team’s count of external candidates to 10, and if you missed any of the previous interviews you can read about them in the link below:

The Steelers aren’t expected to announce the new hire until after the draft, so be sure to stay tuned to BTSC for the latest news and notes surrounding the Steelers as they prepare for the new league year to begin March 16th.