New Steelers assistant coach Danny Rooney is "being groomed for a much loftier position within the organization" and is the "heir apparent to his father," Steelers President Art Rooney II, according to a profile by Ray Fittipaldo of the PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE. The 27-year old Dartmouth graduate has been on the "fast track to a prominent role" within the organization since the day he received his Ivy League diploma. Last fall, Legendary Entertainment Chair & CEO and Steelers investor Thomas Tull said that Rooney is indeed the "heir apparent to his father." However, Art Rooney II said that there is "no formal succession plan." In Danny Rooney's previous jobs in the NFL, he "worked as a scout and learned first-hand about the league's media strategy" at the NFL offices in N.Y. straight out of college. NFL Senior VP/Media Sales Strategy & Development Hans Schroeder "worked closely" with Rooney during his "two-year internship at the NFL office." As part of the internship, Rooney was "expected to rotate around the league's different departments." But he "proved so valuable to Schroeder and the NFL's media and development teams that he spent an entire year with them." Schroeder: "I was impressed with his maturity as he thought about his opportunities. He wanted to have a balance within his portfolio. Within that it was recognition that he learned a lot on the business and media side, but he wanted to learn about the football side." Fittipaldo notes Rooney played QB for Dartmouth, the reason he was "afforded the opportunity to be be a member" of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin's staff (PITTSBURGH POST-GAZETTE, 8/30).
