The Pomp And Joe Show
11AM - How much is Andy Weidl involved in the Steelers head coach search? Bob thinks there are similarities between Will Howard and Fernando Mendoza
21 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: How involved is Andy Weidl in the Steelers head coach search?
Mike McCarthy interviewing today.
Greenfield's very own, Bob. You know him. He knows how to get there. He doesn't need to take an Uber. He can drive himself.
Yep. And he'll know exactly where to stop and eat on the way and maybe the way back. Who knows? If it's a long interview, he may have two meals, Bob.
You wonder how long those interviews really go. I remember back... Before they hired Tomlin, some of them were like all day into the next day. And I guess in the second interview process, you would go deeper.
Well, let me ask you this question. Rooney himself said that him and Omar would be the point men here, correct? Yes. How much is Andy Weidel Omar's sort of football shadow? Because we know that Omar really isn't a football guy. And now Andy Weidel is interviewing for the Falcons GM job. And I think based on his background, probably has a decent chance to get it.
And as Ryan Scarpino used to work in the Steelers offices, says first, he put out a cryptic tweet today, Bob, that said, all I'm going to say is Omar is not the dude you think he is. Someone said, can you explain more? He said he doesn't have a player personnel background. He was the contracts guy. I'm just telling you what I know.
That doesn't mean he hasn't learned on the job, but there's a reason they brought in Andy. All of this in the context of, are Omar and Art... The guys you want running a football search. The guys you want as point men to find a football coach.
I'm not so sure. I thought it would include a lot more people, actually. You could be point men, but that doesn't mean you can't listen to a whole bunch of other people who may have connections and know more about coaches than you do. So... Yeah, I got to believe that Dan is in there as well. He's the guy moving up eventually. So I think his voice can be heard in this.
Well, as our friend Scarpino finishes here with a tweet, I strongly suggest they don't let Andy Weidel go somewhere else. I mean, they're not going to stop him via his chance to be a GM. He's their best personnel guy and talent evaluator, and no, he should be heavily involved. And he said he should be heavily involved in the head coach search. I agree.
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Chapter 2: What are the implications of Omar Khan's role in personnel decisions?
You could have point men. Point men also means information comes in, we go through this, you bring it to them, and you listen to what maybe everyone has to say before you make a decision. Because obviously you can't do it yourself to learn everything. Just like trying to scout players. These guys have a whole bunch of people involved in this.
And my bigger concern is if Andy Weidel does leave, first of all, I guess a lot of the preliminary work for the draft has been done. It had to be. They had to scout so many people and they know so many things about those incoming players. But that's a big part of this. It's presenting the guys who are available both in free agency and in the draft.
Yeah.
And there's a lot of work involved in that, and they have a whole bunch of people who do it.
Now, when Weidel joined the fray here, the sort of narrative was that he was going to start like the Eagles did, help build like the Eagles did from the inside out on both sides of the ball. And I'd say offensively, I kind of like where their line is going, even with the Broderick Jones question, Bob. You?
Yeah.
Yeah, and I would say the same for defensive line. Harmon's a guy.
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Chapter 3: What insights does Ryan Scarpino provide about the Steelers' management?
You've got to win those trenches. You really have to. Football may change a lot. There may be different offensive schemes. But ultimately, if you're going to have success, regardless of the scheme, you've got to have guys who are going to create openings on that offensive line and shut them down on the defensive line.
To me, that's always where football is over, which is why the run game has come back in vogue a little bit, Joe. People were saying, why would you bring in a running back and get him anywhere? Well, now you need guys who understand how the running game works as running backs. So there's talent out there. You want the best one who can take advantage of whatever scheme they have.
I'll tell you what, Bob.
The 2023 and 2024 drafts, even with the Jones draft, Don't even know if he'll get a second contract. Look pretty darn good to me right now. You get Fatanu and Frazier, and even with the Roman Wilson disaster, you get Fatanu and Frazier as your first two picks of a draft. That's pretty damn good. And then you throw in Peyton Wilson and Mason McCormick. I think that's a good draft.
More than anyone. Great draft, maybe. He stepped right in and played. He's been really good.
And then the one before that, after Jones, you got Joey Porter Jr., who's come on like gangbusters here, Keanu Benton, Mount Washington, and Nick Herbig. That's a good draft. I think the last two drafts have been good.
Guys have stepped in and played.
I don't know about this most recent one.
Well, there's still guys from it who have played, and I have, you know, you're right, it's too early, but I sense that those guys are going to be contributors.
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Chapter 4: What strategies are being considered for the Steelers' coaching staff?
Okay, similar to what you guys said about Andrew Reid, but hiring a passing game coordinator from the Rams as the offensive coordinator, sort of head coach in waiting to learn under McCarthy, similar to what the Chiefs were doing with Eric Bien-AimƩ. before Bien-Ami started interviewing outside the organization.
Then bringing in Martindale as a defensive coordinator, who was the D coordinator for Harbaugh in Baltimore, then went to Michigan. Because, again, he knows about the AFC North. He's familiar with the teams. And maybe take a run. I was thinking as far as quarterback, maybe run Rodgers back. Then take a look at the quarterback from Ole Miss.
I don't know what his grade is going to end up being, but I remember Jackson Dart last year, before he had pro days and so forth, wasn't a first-round draft choice. I remember him being around a third or fourth. He wasn't Joe Starkey's book.
He wasn't my book. Hold on a second here. You've mentioned 18 different things. What's the primary thing you want us to address?
Just the idea of bringing in Malarkey with bringing in the passing game coordinator out of the Rams. McCarthy, I'm sorry. And bring in the passing game coordinator from the Rams as the OC to learn under McCarthy and bring in Martindale as your defensive coordinator. Link Martindale. Get a good offensive line coach, and it's been said many times. I know I've said it on here.
Kick the tires on Munchak to see if he'd come back to Pittsburgh.
All right. Let's address, once again, he went into a lot of different topics. But he's a man of passion, Bob. He's a man of passion. What about McCarthy matched with Sheilhas?
I mean, that's something that I, you know, as far as coaching weighting, I don't know about that concept. I don't know if they believe in that kind of concept. But I do believe that Sheilhas is going to be a guy who's going to get an opportunity as an OC first before he becomes a head coach. I think once they go through these interviews, maybe he just jumps ahead of everyone.
Maybe he's that good at this. He played quarterback, did a pretty good job, understands a lot of the offense. I think I am okay with him being an offensive coordinator here under whomever. At that point, it wouldn't matter. It doesn't have to be Shula, who's currently on the same coaching roster with him. It could be anyone.
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Chapter 5: How does Mike McCarthy's potential role impact the Steelers' future?
So was Charles Smith. They both are okay. But I think what happens is so many people have just looked at Ohio State quarterbacks and say, ah, it's another Ohio State quarterback. I don't know. I want to see him, and that's why this past season was disappointing. He never got a chance.
This upcoming season looks like he may very well get a chance, and if that's the case, I'd be interested to find out how good he can be. That part I agree with.
The first part, the logic I don't agree with. Tim Tebow was maybe the greatest college quarterback ever. Does that mean he's as talented as guys who were picked ahead of him?
No, but there's also exceptions to every rule there. You can find guys who have virtually no experience in terms of big games, but then they turn out to be better, and that's why some of them get drafted later. I don't know what the real deal is. All I know is He's example A, Mendoza example A. Together, look at them the same way, and I don't see that big of a disparity.
If you were to tell me that if Will Howard was available in this draft and Mendoza was as well, I don't think there would be that much of a disparity if they had the same kind of resumes.
Well, wait, we haven't even seen Will Howard. If Will Howard took a year off and came back or something and they were both in this draft, Mendoza would go first overall and Will Howard would go in the sixth round.
You still believe that? What would have changed? But I don't know why people looked at him as a sixth-round pick. I thought more of his production than anything else. And I think scouts, they may be right, they may be wrong.
I guess for me it's more about talent than production necessarily with quarterbacks in college. Maybe, maybe not. Josh Allen springs to mind.
Okay, but there are guys who have the production but also have not gotten the same kind of response with their work at pro days or whatever, and you come away thinking differently. A lot of those guys are missed.
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