February 25, 2026 • 9 mins
General Manager Omar Khan sits down with Rob King at the 2026 NFL Combine in Indianapolis
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, Omar, thanks very much for being with us.
(00:02):
My first question for you. The Steelers won the AFC
North last year. A lot of people didn't predict that.
I know, I don't know if you pay much attention
to that kind of thing, but you have quality wins
over teams like New England, who was in the Super Bowl,
Detroit Baltimore. How would you categorize that twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You know, we won some good games, but the reality
is our goals won a Super Bowl and we didn't
reach that goal.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So anything short of that's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And we're in the process of evaluating everything we did
last year and trying to get better and improve because ultimately,
our goals won a super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
The season ended and Mike Tomlin announced his resignation, it
seemed to catch all of us by surprise. What was
your reaction when you heard the news?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, same, You know, he came and met with me
that morning, the day after the game, and he told
me what he was going to do, and I was
surprised as everyone else. You know, we've been together with
him for nineteen years and he's been a great partner.
You know, it's been a truly been an honor to
work side by side with coach t And but yeah,
I was surprised like everyone else.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So I'm sure that now you have to go through
the process you probably weren't expecting to, which is hiring
a head coach. What made Mike McCarthy the right guy
to hire?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So we we, uh, we had a very we were
very open minded and and we we did cast a
wide net trying to figure out, you know, trying to
find the right guy, interview some great candidate.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
It's really really the process.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Was was really proud of the process that we ran,
and you know, Art Rooney led that and it was
it was tremendous.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
But as we went through the process of you know,
we evaluated.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Where we were as an organization and uh, where we
are as a team, you know, it just it just
just felt right and it became evident that Mike McCarthy
was the was the right choice for us.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And uh, it's been great so far.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know, it's it's been we've been NonStop since he
got hired.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But it's it's it's been. It's been good. Excited.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know, everyone talks about the combine and that's exciting,
and free agency but coach asten Hoe his own roster too,
So how does he get up to speed? How do
you help him get up to speed with a back
waiting what he currently has, which will be the bulk
of what he has in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, so I can tell you he was extremely prepared
when we met, when we went through the interview process.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You know, I was really impressive about how well he
knew our roster.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And obviously there's things he doesn't know, things that happened
that are going on inside the building that no one
else knows.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And you know, it's been part of the last month.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, we've been we communicate multiple times a day. Uh,
you know, we're working long hours trying to get to
know each other, and that's been part of the process.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
His press conference, one of the great things he said
was being flexible with the players on the roster, tailoring
the system to them. That having been said, are there
minor tweaks of what he might want at a particular
position as opposed to what you have or what you
might be scouting leading up to free agency in the draft?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, certainly there's gonna be some things that are different
than than or he's gonna want expect different things. And
then maybe and that goes coach to coach, right, every
coach is gonna be a little bit different. But for
the most part, you know, I think he's excited about
the the pieces that are in place here. We have
some good young players and some exciting players, and uh,
you know, he's excited to work with him.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I know his his staff as echoed the same thing.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You know, when when you come to the combine, I
think maybe a lot of fans maybe don't fully understand
what goes the amount of work that goes in before
the combine. It's not like you're showing up shuffling through papers.
Hey what do we have here? Guys? You know, so
what are some of the milestones kind of leading up
to the draft? Leading up to the combine, I should say,
for you and your stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So scouts really spend uh, obviously a lot of their
time on the road and in the fall getting ready
and evaluating the guys.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And we get together in December.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It kind of gives me a rundown idea of what
the draft is looking like and who the players are.
It gives me a good first look, and then what
happens is in February. We spent a couple of weeks
locked into that uh, that that draft room. It's interesting
because every day it feels like that.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Room getting smaller and smaller. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
But we you know, it's it's it's a it's a
grind for two weeks there leading up to the and
a lot of phone calls and a lot of sidebar
meetings getting to know that the players that are going
to be part of the process.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And you know, we come here, this is the next step.
There's still a lot of work to be done.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
What is the most valuable part of the combine for you?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, you guys have heard me talk about I've
said this publicly about trying to identify guys that are Steelers.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
That are there they are for us.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Certain players might not, you know, fit what we want
as guys to be a Steeler, but they might fit
somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And you know what that means. It's it's it's sometimes
hard to explain.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Because there's so many characteristics and traits of what we
what we want a Steeler to to be and to
look like.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And but when you're in this you sort of know.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So for me, being here in the interview process, watching
these guys, how they interact when they're not they don't
know they're being necessarily filmed, and just just seeing that
and obviously working out Uh, it's it's it's all part
of it, just.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Really getting to know them and see if they're they're
meant to be Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
This might not be a great question, might be a
better question two months from now. I'm sure it probably
would be. But are there strengths and weaknesses whether it's
position or hey, the top of the draft is good
or no, no, there's more depth than top of the draft.
Or are you still kind of working through that.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, we're still working through you know, as I sit
here today, I mean there's some really.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Good football players.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
This is a good draft, a lot of talented players,
and you know.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
We have twelve picks, which is a lot. You know,
as a sit here today, I wish I had forty picks. Like,
there's some good football players out there. But the spring
is really important for this.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Process and allows us to sort out some things and
you know, things like the medical and be off the
field stuff and certain schematic things and things that you
learn about guys.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
But you know, we'll get there. But it's fluid. It's fluid.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Right now, you and your staff have had three really
well regarded drafts. How do you make sure that trend continues?
Are there little things that you're still kind of fine
tuning or is it pretty much a machine sort of
by now?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So you know, it's a good question.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You know, I'd say every year, after the draft, and
you know, we get into the season, we evaluate ourselves.
We self scout ourselves, see how we did and the
process and what we can tweak and what we can
do better. For the most part, we've sort of identified
what we wanted every position, so we just source we
stick to that.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
This time last year, there were a lot of questions
about the quarterback position. A lot of them revolved around
Aaron Rodgers. Here we are a year later, there's still
a lot of questions about the quarterback position, mostly involving
around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So, uh, what is that? What is the status there? Uh?
You know, I I've had conversations with Aaron.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Uh. Coach McCarthy has two, uh god, good conversations, honest conversations.
You know, I think we went we started off last year,
we went at this. I think we'd all agree that
we probably thought it was just gonna be a one
year thing. But it was a really good experience for
us and and for him, I believe.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
But you know, we'll see where it goes. You know,
I don't foresee this.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Uh, this isn't gonna be like last year where drags
on into June.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I think we'll know probably sooner than later, you know,
I don't. I don't have an exact date on it,
but you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So you've continue to be aggressive in free agency. I
don't know if you. I'm sure you have an idea
of this year's class, and certainly guys can be extended.
Some of your own guys might be extended. So outside
of the combine, how much attention is being focused on
re signing some of your own players and what this
year's free agency class.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Might look like.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, right now, it's it's really on our own guys.
You know, that's that's the priority. That we have some
key free agents that we players that we want back.
They know they know we want to we want them back,
and we're just we're just going through the process and
you know, meeting with the agents and and hoping we
can get some of these deals done as.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We get closer to the sort of free agency.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So the combine is an important step, right, we know that,
but it's only one step. So what happens after the
combine is finished here in Indianapolis?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, after the combine, we'll go back, get back to Pittsburgh,
will evaluate how these guys did, see who worked out here,
who didn't.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And then now the pro day start.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
You know, Coach McCarthy and I were going to be
hitting the pro day circuit in March, so are our scouts.
And then lots of meetings, lots of conversations, a lot
of information gathering. Uh, and then you know, and then
the drafts will be here before we know it.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And I would be remiss if I didn't ask one
final question about the quarters. IIP, you're wearing, yeah, NFL
in Pittsburgh. What is your excitement and expectation of Believe, there's.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
No place better than Western p A to b hosting this.
You know, we've been talking about this for a long
time and it's hard to believe that it's it's here.
You know that this is the year, and I'm so exciting.
I'm getting a ton of requests. I'm sure a lot
of people are and you know, but my focus obviously
will be and on picking the players. But I can't
tell you how excited I am this. The city is excited,
(08:46):
the organization's excited, and I can't wait to show you know.
I've been in Pittsburgh Apple what twenty five, twenty six years,
and I've grown. I love it, you know, It's a
great place to be and it has so much the
reasion has so much.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
More to offer than people realize.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And I can't wait for whatever, five six, seven hundred
thousand people that are coming to see it to really
get an exposure of western Pennsylvania because it's special, it's unique.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
And can't wait. Oh, Mark, thanks very much, Appanis. I'm
good to see h
All right, Omar, thanks very much for being with us.
(00:02):
My first question for you. The Steelers won the AFC
North last year. A lot of people didn't predict that.
I know, I don't know if you pay much attention
to that kind of thing, but you have quality wins
over teams like New England, who was in the Super Bowl,
Detroit Baltimore. How would you categorize that twenty twenty five season.
Speaker 2 (00:18):
You know, we won some good games, but the reality
is our goals won a Super Bowl and we didn't
reach that goal.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
So anything short of that's not good enough.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
And we're in the process of evaluating everything we did
last year and trying to get better and improve because ultimately,
our goals won a super Bowl.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
The season ended and Mike Tomlin announced his resignation, it
seemed to catch all of us by surprise. What was
your reaction when you heard the news?
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, same, You know, he came and met with me
that morning, the day after the game, and he told
me what he was going to do, and I was
surprised as everyone else. You know, we've been together with
him for nineteen years and he's been a great partner.
You know, it's been a truly been an honor to
work side by side with coach t And but yeah,
I was surprised like everyone else.
Speaker 1 (01:02):
So I'm sure that now you have to go through
the process you probably weren't expecting to, which is hiring
a head coach. What made Mike McCarthy the right guy
to hire?
Speaker 2 (01:09):
So we we, uh, we had a very we were
very open minded and and we we did cast a
wide net trying to figure out, you know, trying to
find the right guy, interview some great candidate.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
It's really really the process.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Was was really proud of the process that we ran,
and you know, Art Rooney led that and it was
it was tremendous.
Speaker 3 (01:27):
But as we went through the process of you know,
we evaluated.
Speaker 2 (01:29):
Where we were as an organization and uh, where we
are as a team, you know, it just it just
just felt right and it became evident that Mike McCarthy
was the was the right choice for us.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
And uh, it's been great so far.
Speaker 2 (01:43):
You know, it's it's been we've been NonStop since he
got hired.
Speaker 3 (01:46):
But it's it's it's been. It's been good. Excited.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
You know, everyone talks about the combine and that's exciting,
and free agency but coach asten Hoe his own roster too,
So how does he get up to speed? How do
you help him get up to speed with a back
waiting what he currently has, which will be the bulk
of what he has in twenty twenty six.
Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yeah, so I can tell you he was extremely prepared
when we met, when we went through the interview process.
Speaker 3 (02:09):
You know, I was really impressive about how well he
knew our roster.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
And obviously there's things he doesn't know, things that happened
that are going on inside the building that no one
else knows.
Speaker 3 (02:17):
And you know, it's been part of the last month.
Speaker 2 (02:20):
You know, we've been we communicate multiple times a day. Uh,
you know, we're working long hours trying to get to
know each other, and that's been part of the process.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
His press conference, one of the great things he said
was being flexible with the players on the roster, tailoring
the system to them. That having been said, are there
minor tweaks of what he might want at a particular
position as opposed to what you have or what you
might be scouting leading up to free agency in the draft?
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Yeah, certainly there's gonna be some things that are different
than than or he's gonna want expect different things. And
then maybe and that goes coach to coach, right, every
coach is gonna be a little bit different. But for
the most part, you know, I think he's excited about
the the pieces that are in place here. We have
some good young players and some exciting players, and uh,
you know, he's excited to work with him.
Speaker 3 (03:07):
I know his his staff as echoed the same thing.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
You know, when when you come to the combine, I
think maybe a lot of fans maybe don't fully understand
what goes the amount of work that goes in before
the combine. It's not like you're showing up shuffling through papers.
Hey what do we have here? Guys? You know, so
what are some of the milestones kind of leading up
to the draft? Leading up to the combine, I should say,
for you and your stuff?
Speaker 2 (03:27):
So scouts really spend uh, obviously a lot of their
time on the road and in the fall getting ready
and evaluating the guys.
Speaker 3 (03:35):
And we get together in December.
Speaker 2 (03:36):
It kind of gives me a rundown idea of what
the draft is looking like and who the players are.
It gives me a good first look, and then what
happens is in February. We spent a couple of weeks
locked into that uh, that that draft room. It's interesting
because every day it feels like that.
Speaker 3 (03:52):
Room getting smaller and smaller. Uh.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
But we you know, it's it's it's a it's a
grind for two weeks there leading up to the and
a lot of phone calls and a lot of sidebar
meetings getting to know that the players that are going
to be part of the process.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
And you know, we come here, this is the next step.
There's still a lot of work to be done.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
What is the most valuable part of the combine for you?
Speaker 2 (04:13):
You know, you guys have heard me talk about I've
said this publicly about trying to identify guys that are Steelers.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
That are there they are for us.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
Certain players might not, you know, fit what we want
as guys to be a Steeler, but they might fit
somewhere else.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
And you know what that means. It's it's it's sometimes
hard to explain.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
Because there's so many characteristics and traits of what we
what we want a Steeler to to be and to
look like.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
And but when you're in this you sort of know.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So for me, being here in the interview process, watching
these guys, how they interact when they're not they don't
know they're being necessarily filmed, and just just seeing that
and obviously working out Uh, it's it's it's all part
of it, just.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
Really getting to know them and see if they're they're
meant to be Pittsburgh Steelers.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
This might not be a great question, might be a
better question two months from now. I'm sure it probably
would be. But are there strengths and weaknesses whether it's
position or hey, the top of the draft is good
or no, no, there's more depth than top of the draft.
Or are you still kind of working through that.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Yeah, we're still working through you know, as I sit
here today, I mean there's some really.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
Good football players.
Speaker 2 (05:16):
This is a good draft, a lot of talented players,
and you know.
Speaker 3 (05:19):
We have twelve picks, which is a lot. You know,
as a sit here today, I wish I had forty picks. Like,
there's some good football players out there. But the spring
is really important for this.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
Process and allows us to sort out some things and
you know, things like the medical and be off the
field stuff and certain schematic things and things that you
learn about guys.
Speaker 3 (05:39):
But you know, we'll get there. But it's fluid. It's fluid.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
Right now, you and your staff have had three really
well regarded drafts. How do you make sure that trend continues?
Are there little things that you're still kind of fine
tuning or is it pretty much a machine sort of
by now?
Speaker 3 (05:56):
So you know, it's a good question.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
You know, I'd say every year, after the draft, and
you know, we get into the season, we evaluate ourselves.
We self scout ourselves, see how we did and the
process and what we can tweak and what we can
do better. For the most part, we've sort of identified
what we wanted every position, so we just source we
stick to that.
Speaker 1 (06:14):
This time last year, there were a lot of questions
about the quarterback position. A lot of them revolved around
Aaron Rodgers. Here we are a year later, there's still
a lot of questions about the quarterback position, mostly involving
around Aaron Rodgers.
Speaker 3 (06:25):
So, uh, what is that? What is the status there? Uh?
You know, I I've had conversations with Aaron.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
Uh. Coach McCarthy has two, uh god, good conversations, honest conversations.
You know, I think we went we started off last year,
we went at this. I think we'd all agree that
we probably thought it was just gonna be a one
year thing. But it was a really good experience for
us and and for him, I believe.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
But you know, we'll see where it goes. You know,
I don't foresee this.
Speaker 2 (06:51):
Uh, this isn't gonna be like last year where drags
on into June.
Speaker 3 (06:55):
I think we'll know probably sooner than later, you know,
I don't. I don't have an exact date on it,
but you know, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (07:02):
So you've continue to be aggressive in free agency. I
don't know if you. I'm sure you have an idea
of this year's class, and certainly guys can be extended.
Some of your own guys might be extended. So outside
of the combine, how much attention is being focused on
re signing some of your own players and what this
year's free agency class.
Speaker 3 (07:20):
Might look like.
Speaker 2 (07:20):
Yeah, right now, it's it's really on our own guys.
You know, that's that's the priority. That we have some
key free agents that we players that we want back.
They know they know we want to we want them back,
and we're just we're just going through the process and
you know, meeting with the agents and and hoping we
can get some of these deals done as.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
We get closer to the sort of free agency.
Speaker 1 (07:39):
So the combine is an important step, right, we know that,
but it's only one step. So what happens after the
combine is finished here in Indianapolis?
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, after the combine, we'll go back, get back to Pittsburgh,
will evaluate how these guys did, see who worked out here,
who didn't.
Speaker 3 (07:55):
And then now the pro day start.
Speaker 2 (07:57):
You know, Coach McCarthy and I were going to be
hitting the pro day circuit in March, so are our scouts.
And then lots of meetings, lots of conversations, a lot
of information gathering. Uh, and then you know, and then
the drafts will be here before we know it.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
And I would be remiss if I didn't ask one
final question about the quarters. IIP, you're wearing, yeah, NFL
in Pittsburgh. What is your excitement and expectation of Believe, there's.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
No place better than Western p A to b hosting this.
You know, we've been talking about this for a long
time and it's hard to believe that it's it's here.
You know that this is the year, and I'm so exciting.
I'm getting a ton of requests. I'm sure a lot
of people are and you know, but my focus obviously
will be and on picking the players. But I can't
tell you how excited I am this. The city is excited,
(08:46):
the organization's excited, and I can't wait to show you know.
I've been in Pittsburgh Apple what twenty five, twenty six years,
and I've grown. I love it, you know, It's a
great place to be and it has so much the
reasion has so much.
Speaker 3 (08:59):
More to offer than people realize.
Speaker 2 (09:01):
And I can't wait for whatever, five six, seven hundred
thousand people that are coming to see it to really
get an exposure of western Pennsylvania because it's special, it's unique.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
And can't wait. Oh, Mark, thanks very much, Appanis. I'm
good to see h
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