Calling it the toughest decision he has ever had to make, Steelers pro scouting coordinator Doug Whaley is leaving after 10 years to become assistant general manager for the Buffalo Bills.

Whaley, a native of Upper St. Clair who was a safety and linebacker at Pitt (1990-94), is headed to an organization that already has some Steelers flavor. The Bills' vice president of college scouting is Tom Modrak, former scouting director for the Steelers, and their new head coach is former Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.

"It was a gut-wrenching decision," said Whaley, 37. "I never had a tougher decision in my life. The Rooneys, [director of football operations] Kevin Colbert, everybody -- they're not only an unbelievable organization, but they treated me like family."

Whaley, who met Bills chief executive officer Russ Brandon several years ago at an executive training course at Stanford, interviewed Tuesday in Buffalo and was offered the job the same day.

"I'm a competitor, and I want to see if I can take what I learned from the Rooneys and Kevin Colbert and implement it with an organization that is starting from the ground and help turn them into a competitive organization that can compete for division titles," Whaley said.

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