The Steelers valued Andy Weidl so much during their general manager search that they created a new job for him. Prior to him, they never had an assistant general manager, but they wanted to keep him around. Three years in, he is still here, but for how much longer, as he presumably seeks an external promotion?
Historically, the Steelers have rarely lost many coaches or front-office executives, though they also promote from within. Current Steelers GM Omar Khan was a long-time front-office executive, but they really liked Weidl, too. Despite the high regard he holds around the league, however, he has yet to earn a general manager chair. Ray Fittipaldo believes the Steelers better milk him for all he’s worth now, while they still can.
“I’m confident that Andy [Weidl] someday will run an operation of his own”, he said on 93.7 The Fan yesterday of the Steelers’ assistant general manager. “But until that time, the Steelers have to take advantage of his skills. I think for the most part, he’s done a real good job of building these offensive and defensive lines out from what was, let’s face it, a pretty bad circumstance”.
Fittipaldo is not alone in his view of Andy Weidl’s future. Indeed, his colleague, Gerry Dulac, wagers that he will be a general manager “soon”. Although his name didn’t appear to be as out there during the last general manager hiring cycle, that can quickly change.
And the 2025 season will be an important one, presumably, for Weidl’s own legacy. By and large, people identify him with a trench warfare attitude. The Steelers have rebuilt the offensive and defensive lines, so their performance will reflect upon him. If they dominate in the trenches, that could easily make him a hot-ticket item in the next cycle.
Although reports indicate Andy Weidl is content with his role with the Steelers, circumstances can always change. And indeed, even that report is now two years old, so who knows? He has interviewed for general manager jobs, so he obviously has greater ambitions.
“Every evaluator like Andy [Weidl] wants to go on and become a GM one day”, Fittipaldo argued. “They want to run their own operation one day, so we’ll see if that happens for Andy. People forget, Andy was one of the 10 names in the Steelers’ search”.
But, he added, “Sometimes guys get their chance and that’s it—they take it and run with it. Sometimes guys, if it doesn’t happen early, it doesn’t happen at all”. Weidl has gone through the general manager hiring cycle more than once in the past. This is the highest title he has held, so, arguably, he has a stronger resume. But really, it will come down to how well the Steelers do, and how teams view his imprint on that.
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