Mr. Scot

Copied from a thread I started about Johnson back before Rhule was fired... Born in Charleston, South Carolina, Johnson attended high school in Asheville, North Carolina. Upon graduating, he became a walk on quarterback for the UNC Tarheels behind both TJ Yates and current Panthers receiver coach Joe Dailey. Yates would later play for the Miami Dolphins, along with former Panther QB Matt Moore, when Johnson was an assistant there. Also while at UNC, Johnson was a teammate to Hakeem Nicks, Brandon Tate, Cameron Thomas, former (temporary) Panther Hilee Taylor and Connor Barth among others. Looking at his college coaches, quarterback coach John Shoop had previously served on the offensive staff of the Panthers from their inaugural season through 1998. Retired former Colts coach - and Ron Rivera friend - Chuck Pagano was the Tarheels DC for one of his seasons there. Longtime NFL OL Coach (and also Rivera associate) Hal Hunter was on board for a bit as well. Hunter later coached in Cleveland alongside current Panthers ST coach Chris Tabor (Pep Hamilton was the OC at the time). Mind you, Tabor’s not the only Panthers staffer with a connection of sorts to Johnson. Others are, in fact a little more direct... Let's start with original Panthers head coach Dom Capers who was a defensive assistant last season in Detroit. Among current Panther staffers besides the aforementioned Dailey, quarterback coach Sean Ryan and DL coach Paul Pasqualoni each spent time on the Lions staff with him. Johnson even has a shirttail connection with Panthers assistant GM Dan Morgan via former Morgan colleague Joe Schoen who was in the Dolphins personnel department (as was former Panthers college scouting director Eric Stokes) for a few seasons while Johnson and now Lions head coach Dan Campbell were on the coaching staff. Said staff also included current RB coach Jeff Nixon and former Panthers player Mike Wahle. For what some might find the most "fun" connection though, you’ve gotta go back to Johnson’s very first coaching gig.. From 2009 to 2011, Johnson was a graduate assistant and later tight ends coach for a college football program in the Northeastern US. Specifically, Boston College. Those three years just happened to coincide with the college career of a certain former Panther who’s best known for playing linebacker. Yeah…that guy.

None that I've seen, with the exception that Johnson figured out how to beat a lot of the Fangio concepts that are currently being used all over the NFL.

McNair is the guy who used to listen to Jack Easterby. Now he's got Caserio. How I picture McNair...

Probably also worth noting that the lone retread we hired led us to one of our worst seasons ever.

Relevant to the conversation... (listen to the audio for more)

Unbelievably, Aaron Wilson makes it sound like Nick Caserio is safe despite his hiring of two head coaches who were both fired after a single season. McNair...

Between going to UNC and growing up in Asheville, he's definitely got history and connections here. He was even working as a coaching assistant at Boston College while Luke Kuechly was playing there, so there's a pretty decent chance they're acquainted.

All indications are he'll get an interview. Growing up in Asheville during the time he did makes me think he might have been a Panther fan. This might conceivably be his dream job.

Pretty much all of Johnson's pre-Lions resumé was spent with the Miami Dolphins. That is, except for three years (2009-2011) when he was working at Boston College. Some kid named Kuechly was on the roster there at the time.

Speculation is they want to bring Demeco Ryans back to the fold. However, at least one source has said that Ryans isn't willing to interview with them. Guess we'll see...

Several hours ago, actually

FYI:

Black Monday starts an hour early this year...

From the article... Reports out of Minnesota about Harbaugh's interview last year with the Vikings made Tepper wary, sources say. A lengthy interview between the Vikings and Harbaugh last January didn't result in an offer, and sources describe Harbaugh's behavior during the interview as "odd." From Jones on Twitter, linking this article... It's not happening

That's...not a good answer

From Breer's "coaching carousel" article... As for Carolina GM Scott Fitterer, I’ve heard he’s been involved in laying groundwork for finding the next coach, so I think Tepper will keep him (I know he likes him) and his personnel staff...

Kinda doubt it...

Potentially relevant... Staley is getting criticized all over the place for playing starters (who wound up injured) in a meaningless game. If the Spanos family wants to move on from him, this could be cited as justification.

Truthfully, that probably doesn't fly with most coaches. Hell, Murray and Kingsbury weren't exactly the best of friends.

Johnson definitely. Waldron pending tonight's result...

Reich is set to interview this week. So are Caldwell and Wilks. Johnson can be hired immediately, which at least potentially gives him a leg up on Steichen, Dorsey, Ryans, maybe Waldron pending tonight's outcome. General belief is this will be a "wide net" search so it could take a while. All indications are Harbaugh isn't in play for us, but is for the Broncos and Colts.

I lost his number

Said before, I like Caldwell. But yeah, this feels like a Rooney Rule interview.

Kinda think the "I don't need to study film" thing from Kyler Murray wouldn't fly with Payton.