Following a months-long process that included two rounds of interviews and a narrowing of the original list of candidates to six finalists, Steelers President Art Rooney II hired Omar Khan as the team’s new general manager and successor to Kevin Colbert. Khan signed a four-year contract.
“I am pleased to announce Omar Khan as our next General Manager,” said Rooney. “Omar has been an integral part of our Football Operations Department during his 21 years with the team, and that experience will serve him well in his new position.”
Khan will be officially introduced as the new GM during a press conference on Friday, May 27, at 10 a.m. at the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. The press conference will be streamed LIVE exclusively on Steelers.com, the Steelers Official Mobile App and the team’s Facebook, Twitter and YouTube pages.SNR (Steelers Nation Radio) will also carry the press conference live.
Khan, 45, has worked for the Steelers in a variety of capacities for the last 21 years, with his most recent role being the team’s vice president of football and business administration. That position found Khan working closely with Rooney, Colbert, and Coach Mike Tomlin in the day-to-day overall management of the Football Operations Department.
“I am extremely excited for this opportunity to be the General Manager of the Pittsburgh Steelers,” said Khan. “I would like to thank Art Rooney II, Mike Tomlin, and Kevin Colbert for their support throughout this process. I am ready for this challenge and grateful to continue the success we have had on the field during my first 21 years. I look forward to completing our football operations staff and working tirelessly to build another championship football team for Steelers Nation and our community.”
While Khan was in charge of overseeing many different areas and functions of the organization prior to being hired as the general manager, he was known outside the team as being the Steelers’ lead contract negotiator and the one managing the salary cap. His effectiveness in those areas was a factor in the Steelers going to three Super Bowls, winning two, and having just one losing season this century.
Before joining the Steelers, Khan worked with the New Orleans Saints for four years. In 2000, he served as Football Operations/Coaching Assistant, where he supervised the overall operation of the football program and assisted the offensive coordinator in the day-to-day operations of the offense.
From 1998-99, Khan served as New Orleans’ Player Personnel Assistant, where he assisted in pro scouting, negotiating player contracts, government affairs, and football administration, as well as bing the interim Player Programs Director during the 1998 season. In 1997, Khan was a Player Personnel Intern.
Hired by the Steelers in 2001, one year after Colbert replaced Tom Donahoe atop the team’s Personnel Department, Khan originally served as the team’s football operations coordinator and was named director of football administration in 2011. Five years later, he was promoted to vice president of football and business administration.
In 2005, Khan was selected to attend the NFL Manager Program at Stanford University Executive Education Graduate School of Business. Khan, who is very active in the community, serves on the executive board of the Pittsburgh Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the board of the Pittsburgh Film Office, and the advisory board of FNB Community Bank.
