Andy Weidl Gets Second Interview with Pittsburgh
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Upheaval has been the theme of the Eagles’ offseason when it comes to the personnel department and things remain far from settled.
The latest major domino when it comes to the exit door is the leader of the scouting department: vice president of player personnel Andy Weidl.
The NFL Network reported Thursday that Weidl is getting a second interview for the general manager job in Pittsburgh, the fourth known external candidate to replace the retiring Kevin Colbert.
Others already getting second looks by Pittsburgh are Titans executive Ryan Cowden, Tampa Bay’s John Spytek, and former Bills GM Doug Whaley, who is currently working in the XFL. The candidates are joined by internal options Omar Khan and Brandon Hunt.
Hunt also recently interviewed for a front-office job with the Eagles.
A Pittsburgh-area native, Weidl’s first job in the NFL was as a Steelers’ player personnel assistant back in 1998 and he was hired by Tom Donahoe, 75, a long-term senior personnel executive for the Eagles who is leaving the organization after his most recent contract expired and is reportedly contemplating retirement.
Philadelphia has already lost VP of football operations Catherine Raiche, and co-directors of player personnel Ian Cunningham and Brandon Brown to assistant GM jobs and has moved on from Donahoe and some lower-level execs like Weidl’s younger brother, Casey Weidl.
Despite moving on from one of Andy Weidl’s mentors and brother, however, the Eagles’ are happy with Weidl as the leader of their scouting department and preparing to move forward with him unless the Steelers give Weidl the GM job.
More so, Weidl is not about to leave a high-paying job without securing another one first so if there is any ill will about changes with employees close to him, it’s not expected to alter Weidl’s standing in Philadelphia.
“We've lost a lot of really good people [in the scouting department] and we still have a lot of really good people,” GM Howie Roseman said after the draft. “Obviously, because of that, we're going to have to continue to make additions and continue to fortify that group. I think we have a good process for that.”
The Eagles are hiring former Cleveland national scout Charles Walls as director of player personnel and bringing back Matt Russell, a former Eagles scout and longtime personnel man in Denver, in a role similar to Donahoe’s, according to a source.
Russell is also bringing along Jordan Dizon to be a national scout for the Eagles, according to a source on the Denver side.
Both Russell and Dizon were star linebackers for the Colorado Buffalos about a decade apart. Russell won the Butkus Award as the nation’s top LB in 1996 while Dizon was the runner-up for the award to Ohio State’s James Laurinaitis in 2007.
Dizon was hired by Russell as a pro scout for the Broncos in 2015 and he is expected to be based in Arizona moving forward with the Eagles.
Weidl, meanwhile, was first hired by the Eagles in 2016 as their assistant director of player personnel and Joe Douglas’ right-hand man. When Douglas got the New York Jets GM job in 2019, the Eagles promoted Weidl to director of player personnel and later added a VP title as a promotion.
-John McMullen contributes Eagles coverage for SI.com's Eagles Today and is the NFL Insider for JAKIB Media. You can listen to John, alongside legendary sports-talk host Jody McDonald every morning from 8-10 on ‘Birds 365,” streaming live on YouTube. John is also the host of his own show "Extending the Play" on AM1490 in South Jersey. You can reach him at jmcmullen44@gmail.com or on Twitter @JFMcMullen
