Martin

Cable is very interesting as many have mentioned, the o-line coach is the most important role on the offensive side next to Canales. I think Cable can get or line in shape, no doubt.

36 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

 

Well if Bryce is half as good as Natalie claims, Bryce will carry this team to the Super Bowl any time now…

59 minutes ago, Khyber53 said:

I'm still wondering why the title of the thread has the phrasing "BY A WOMAN!"

What kind of sexist bullshit is this? There's no reason in the world that a woman can't be an effective NFL team owner, steady-handed executive and lead the turn around of a struggling organization.

And she has certainly been that. 

SMH at what came across as someone trumpeting their 1947 values in an attempt to belittle our current ownership. Yeah, our team owner sucks, and the Lions have gotten a great one. It's not gender. It's competence, something that is never gender-based.

This is some bullshit stuff.

And it's probably part of the atmosphere that ran off pretty every long-time female contributor on this site. Some of our best, smartest, most knowledgeable and funniest posters on the site were women. And they are missed greatly.

Frikkin' sausagefest. 

Agree 100%. Unfortunately it is the mo for the person starting this thread.

1 minute ago, mrcompletely11 said:

Ben said no already I would bet

This might be it. 
 

2 minutes ago, Happy Panther said:

Was my first choice.

Mine too, great blend of leadership, communication and offensive acumen.

9 minutes ago, Tbe said:

Sheila seems far more humble and far less pushy than Tepper.

Thats probably the key difference.

She can sit in on all FA scouting meetings, give her opinion, and be fine if they do something different. 
 

Tepper seems like he really pushes his preferences and opinions.

This is my impression, and I could obviously be totally wrong. Tepper asks a lot of questions, asks people to justify their decisions, “have you thought of this?”, etc. IF his people can answer and show they know what they are doing, that they considered other solutions etc. then he’s ok.

39 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

My worry with coaches like Vrabel is how much of their image overrides their effectiveness.

Is he genuinely that good, or do people just think he is because of all the swagger?

I also feel he would be very very dependent on getting a great OC, so I have some doubts

10 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

From the article:

The word seems to be that the Panthers are going to be very deliberate with their coaching search and may be one of the final teams to actually make a hire. Owner David Tepper is in no hurry, which is not necessarily a detriment. Vrabel is in Carolina today, and I was told to watch how well he gets along with Dan Morgan, the team’s new general manager. Both men are in their mid to late forties, both played linebacker in the NFL and both are from the Pennsylvania-Ohio cradle of football. Vrabel would be a telling hire by Tepper, who is used to having his say in team matters but would not get it with the former Tennessee Titans coach.

Carolina has to wait on Baltimore Ravens DC Mike Macdonald, who I think it likes. The Panthers could also make a late bid for Detroit Lions OC Ben Johnson, though Johnson to Washington feels much more likely at this point.

Of note with Macdonald: He can’t help if teams are offensively obsessed this offseason, but from all indications he has made some strong impressions.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers OC Dave Canales is another name to watch in Carolina. It sounds like his interviews have gone really well, and there is definitely some mutual admiration there. The 42-year-old longtime Seattle Seahawks assistant burst onto the coaching radar this year after injecting some life into the Tampa Bay offense.

If I had to take a wild swing right now, I would not be surprised if the Panthers job didn’t come down to Vrabel vs. Canales. 

Thank you for sharing this one. I hit my monthly limit for free articles from SI  

37 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Texans reporter doesn't think Slowik to the Panthers is happening.

Far as we know, they haven't requested a second interview so he's probably correct.

That makes sense. They interviewed him and didn’t feel he brought some of the pieces needed to be a HC.

11 minutes ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

I can get excited about Canales, Johnson, or Slowick.

That’s my list as well. I really like Canales. His background is great, great leader and communicator etc.

11 hours ago, Wes21 said:

Fans were skeptical about Sheila's reported "involvement," but that was because someone tried to pump her up during an interview.  But he oversold it.  Which made it sound like Sheila was making football decisions.  She wasn't.  And you are absolutely right about Sheila being smarter about how she goes about her business than Tepper.  For anyone interested, here is the breakdown of the Lions power structure.

Sheila - Owner of the team since 2019 (officially in 2020).  She received ownership from her mother, Martha Firestone-Ford.  Martha was owner after her husband, Willie Clay Ford, died.  Willie was a bad owner but he was very loyal.  When Willie died and Martha took over, she made an important move.  During the 2015 season she appointed a man named Rod Wood to be Team President.  Rod was not a football guy by any stretch.  He was a highly trusted advisor who ran some of the Ford Family's other business and charitable interests.  At Rod's intro press conference he said "I am not qualified to run any other team but this one."   Lions fans were in a panic.  It turns out he was right in the bad way we were thinking, but also a good way.

Rod Wood - As Team President since 2015 and trusted family advisor for decades, Rod worked closely with Sheila when she took over the team.  HOWEVER, they both recognized they lacked the football knowledge to properly steer the ship on their own.  Rod's personality is very humble and he is very aware of his limitations.  He also likes to play the background and let others get the glory.  They decided to hire a "football guy" as a special advisor they could lean on.  They agreed to hire Lions legend Chris Spielman to fill that role.

Chris Spielman - Appointed by Sheila and Rod as a special advisor that reports directly to them on football matters.  However, he was given no real authority to actually "do" anything.  Chris' brother is Rick Spielman, former GM of the Vikings.  Chris has said "I know football, but I am not qualified to be a general manager."  That made him perfect for the role, because he would not be angling for the GM job or trying to be GM by proxy.  So that puts (3) people at the top of the food chain where none of them want to play general manager.  Chris played a critical role in using his connections to get a list of coaching and GM candidates to interview.  He also joined the interview process with Rod and Sheila.  A man named Mike Disner also joined the interviews.  He works under Rod on the executive side of operations.

John Dorsey - He fills a role as Senior Personnel Executive.  He is an experienced NFL GM that has a dual role of helping the General Manager as well as advising Sheila, Rod and Chris.  So if the top execs are doing something that is hindering the GM's ability to do his job, Dorsey is supposed to let them know.  He was also put in place to assist first time GM Brad Holmes get the program up and running.

Sheila has created a situation, by her own choice, that she is insulated by 2.5 people from making rash decisions as owner.  Her decisions are discussed with Rod and Chris at a minimum.  And for some discussions, Dorsey might be brought into the room.  One "incident" that was brought up earlier in the thread is when Sheila asked why the Lions were not taking a wide receiver.  Its important to understand the context.  Prior to the draft Brad and Dan said they were going too prioritize getting a WR.  That's what they told Sheila.  After the first round, Brad and Dan finalized their targets they wanted at WR in the second round.  At some point both of them realized if you look at how the draft was unfolding and their draft board, they would be reaching for a WR if they took one in the second round.  They also noticed that some of the guys they liked seemed like they would be available in the third and fourth round.  They took a DT in the second round and Sheila noticed they deviated from what they told her.  I can't imagine how Tepper would have reacted.  Brad took the time to explain to her why they took the guy they took, that the new plan was to go WR in the third or fourth round and showed her the list of guys they were targeting specifically.  She quickly understood and didn't challenge them on it.  The WR they ended up with was Amon-Ra St Brown.  So to say what has already been said.  Its easier to trust as an owner when the first time you might have doubted them ended up in a home run.

So are you seriously saying you think Tepper would not have listened when the competent front office people told him why they changed the plan to take a DT? You think he would have protested when they showed him why it was a better value? You think he would have forced them to take a WR in the second round? 

35 minutes ago, Wes21 said:

Not really.  Sheila is around the team and up to speed on everything Dan and Brad are doing.  But she doesn't make decisions or lead them down a particular road.  One benefit of having her around is it keeps Dan and Brad on track when the live bullets are flying.  They explain their draft plan ahead of time.  If they deviate, she doesn't pull rank.  She just mentions that they are doing something different than they said they would do.  Then they will explain why they are deviating from the original plan.

Another thing that happens alot is the coaches and staff give Sheila credit for things that had nothing to do with her.  So it makes it seem like she is "doing" more than she actually is.  BUT, one HUGE difference between Tepper and Sheila is that Sheila is willing to be patient and stay the course.  Frank Reich started 1-10 and got fired.  Dan Campbell started 0-10-1 and Sheila came out and publicly addressed the fans.  She told them she was as frustrated as anybody, but there is a plan in place and the team will reward their patience.  After winning only 3 games the first season, Dan started out 1-6 the following season.  Tepper fired Matt Rhule after a 1-4 start.  At 1-6 Sheila once again addressed the fans, preaching patience and allowing Dan and the staff time to show the fruits of their labor.  The team caught fire and finished the season 8-2.  The rest is history.

Agree to disagree on this one.

Not sure how I feel about Vrabel. He had issues working with the new GM in Tennessee, talked bad about him to the owner etc. He could have had legit ish reasons, but not impressed with how that went down.

5 minutes ago, Jay Roosevelt said:

From a WOMAN, you say?!?

I know, he must have been shocked.

The rest of us, not very surprised.

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Getting the impression from what I've read that some of what he was wanting might have scared them off.

That's mostly speculation though.

Most, if not all, teams have moved away from giving all control to the HC these days. So I think you are spot on.

I found it really funny that this was the example, someone doing exactly what Dave and Nicole does. The difference is that she got somewhat lucky with her hires. Otherwise exactly the same.

4 minutes ago, rayzor said:

y'all need to get used to the idea that we aren't going to interview anyone else aside from these three because most won't consider this to be a good option. Slowik is likely going to take the Ben Johnson route and stand pat for another year while Ben Johnson and other guys have better situations interested in them.

True, there's nothing flashy about guys like Evero, Canales, and Morris, but they could all easily be, in their own rights, better than what we've had in years. All three are good about getting a lot out of their players. Canales would probably be a lot more useful to us as far as getting a QB ready to be a winner here, but i think all of them are definitely respectable. 

we aren't the cool catch that can get any hyped up HC we want, so we have to set the bar at respectable. 

And we’ve seen many times before that “second tier” candidates do really well and even better that the cream of the crop ones. But we’ll see.

28 minutes ago, thefakemjl said:

The Falcons have requested a second.

https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profootballtalk/rumor-mill/news/report-falcons-request-second-interviews-with-aaron-glenn-ben-johnson

And the Commanders are flying to him

https://commanderswire.usatoday.com/2024/01/24/washington-commanders-set-to-travel-and-interview-ben-johnson-lions-head-coaching-search/

 

Meanwhile we are going to announce Canales today, because Tepper.

Got you. We’ve been fairly tight lipped about this so I’m not sure if we have one or not. But maybe he said no thanks. If we have one, I think we’ll hear about it the same day.

Im curious about Slowik as well, has he done any second interviews?

2 minutes ago, thefakemjl said:

There hasn't been a single report that we are attempting to get a second interview with BJ. I'm 99.9% sure he politely told us to kick rocks after our virtual meeting.

I haven’t heard anything about second interviews for him with anyone. Any other teams we know of that I’ve missed?

From what I’ve read Canales is a great communicator and leader, potentially the culture setter we need in top of being a good offensive mind. Anyone hear anything about Slowik and Johnson in that regard?

1 hour ago, NJPanthers12 said:

I like the idea of canales, but the one thing that would scare me is no one else is interviewing him. Seems strange Carolina is the only one who identified him unless I’m missing something.

i said before the process started these are the only acceptable options in order:

1. Ben Johnson

2. Bobby Slowik

3. Dave Canales

4. Mike Macdonald

and I can be sold on evero if you can’t get one of the above.

The more I think about it I’m a bit torn on Ben Johnson, his oline is very very good, so would he struggle without it? Some of the best plays from the Lions are slower developing because the line gives Goff plenty of time. But maybe I’m overthinking it?

34 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Couple of notes from Joe Person in The Athletic (link)

Dan Morgan's status

As the Carolina Panthers’ simultaneous searches for a head coach and general manager move into the next phases, it’s looking more and more likely that assistant general manager Dan Morgan has a good chance of sticking with the organization in a high-ranking role.

Who's doing the interviews 

In addition, the 45-year-old Morgan and two other members of the personnel department have been a part of the Panthers’ head coach interviews, league sources told The Athletic. The fact owner David Tepper has included Morgan in the process — along with vice president of player personnel Adrian Wilson and director of player personnel Cole Spencer — would seem to suggest Tepper is considering keeping at least some members of the front office during the transition.

Morgan's connections

Morgan has close ties to two of the Panthers’ head coach candidates. He was in Seattle when Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn and Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales were on Pete Carroll’s coaching staff.

Brian Johnson out

The Panthers appear to have quietly moved on from Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, whom they had previously requested to interview. The Panthers have announced their completed interviews on their website or social media platforms, which they had done with 11 of the 12 known candidates — everybody but Johnson.

And with the Panthers now starting second interviews, Johnson apparently won’t get a first one. (A league source confirmed Johnson is no longer expected to interview with Carolina.)

I do like that two former players in Morgan and Wilson are part of the group interviewing the HC group. They will certainly look for some things from a players perspective including leadership qualities,

The pick is the big issue. The trade and taking Stroud is very different from the trade and taking Bryce. Trade + Bryce is an F.

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I'm not surprised he's getting some love. I mean, Jake Browning looked like Joe Burrow lite out there and no one would've predicted that.

And Browning is a FA. Would be perfect to challenge Bryce.

Callahan is intriguing, the more I hear the more I like him as an option. Has been around football his whole life.