UNCrules2187

While I wouldn't have been upset with Payton in Carolina, he does seem to get a lot of hype for a coach that's gone 5-7 in the playoffs since the Super Bowl run *checks notes* 14 years ago.

Josina Anderson tweeted that Fangio has (had?) offers from Atlanta, Carolina, and Miami and that he's expected to meet with the 49ers as well. I think the 49ers will probably end up getting him and the Wilks and Chris Harris requests are merely to satisfy the Rooney Rule (as that applies to coordinator roles now as well).

LOL

Even though the 49ers trade for Trey Lance was aggressive and looks like a bust, in the end, given the strength of the 49ers roster, it ended up not amounting to super high draft capital: 49ers trade: 2021 1st (#12), 2022 1st (#29), 2022 3rd (#94), 2023 1st (#30) 49ers receive: 2021 1st (#3) On the face of it, it looks like the 49ers sent out an enormous amount of draft capital, but in reality, they didn't trade what I would consider to be premium picks even though they've gotten next to nothing out of the guy they did take.

This is supposedly what approximates the pick values NFL teams have used recently: https://www.drafttek.com/NFL-Trade-Value-Chart-Rich-Hill.asp?RequestTeam=car Based on this, Arizona's #3 pick is worth 514 points. A "fair/even" trade would be our first and the 49ers 2nd (#61) and 3rd round (#93) picks (515 points). That would leave us with #3 for a QB and #39 for an edge rusher/WR/S (along with the rest of our picks). That said, seems like trading up into the top 3 tends to carry a premium rather than just what would be "fair/even", so may have to part with the higher of the 2nds or do #9 and #93 and next year's first instead.

Guessing it was Fangio

Honestly, agree with all of these. I might put Corbett as OPoY as he played nearly every snap at a fairly high level in his first year with the team.

If Fangio pivots and goes to SF after allegedly shopping the Panthers offer to the Dolphins and then agreeing (or his reps agreeing) to terms with Miami, that's not going to reflect especially well on him. I get it, he's in demand and several teams chasing, but not a great look.

For sure - I understand football head coaching interviews isn't the same thing as hiring for a corporate role, but there's definitely parallels where you have a resume in front of you and think this person is a frontrunner for the role based on their experience, then they get in front of you and totally bomb the interview or come off unprepared. Not saying that's what happened with Steichen, but if for whatever reason the interview didn't go well, and you can't interview the guy again in person until 1/30 at the earliest, sometimes you have to make the decision on whether or not you want to give that person a second chance in person or pivot to someone who aced the interview. And yes, acing the interview isn't the only thing that matters, but for god's sake interviews exist for a reason. If it was just as easy as hiring the top coordinators from the top teams year in and year out, there wouldn't be any HCs that flame out.

I have some issues here with how Billy specifically is taking some tweets or incomplete intel as stated fact. He's taking Ben's report that Steichen didn't interview well over Zoom and lambasting Tepper for not interviewing him in person/eliminating him as a candidate, but then taking another report from Jeremy Fowler that DeMeco felt like Carolina didn't seriously pursue him so he didn't interview rather than Ben's report that Carolina wanted to interview Ryans and he just wasn't interested in the job (a report I take more stock in given he pulled himself out of the Colts and Cardinals HC searches as well). Or somehow insinuating that Ben Johnson pulled out of the coaching search because of something he didn't like about the organization - if that was the case, he could've kept himself as a candidate for the Indy and Houston gigs and just pulled out of Carolina, but he didn't. He decided for whatever reason that he didn't feel he was ready to be a HC and got a fairly sizeable raise to stick in Detroit and get some more seasoning. Then flaming Tepper for not closing the deal with Fangio over $ when Josina Anderson clearly reported that Carolina made Fangio an offer that would make him the highest paid DC in the league and he took that back to Miami and asked them to match. Sometimes you get played for leverage to get what you want from where you really want to go (allegedly given he hasn't even signed that contract with Miami yet). Look, Tepper has made more than his fair share of mistakes over his 5 years owning this team, but I don't think you can take everything that's gone wrong in Carolina and put it all at his feet and not give him any credit for things that do go according to plan.

Glad to see Campen and Tabor staying, especially Campen. Giving the OL continuity in staff should pay dividends.

Feels like a done deal

I can't be mad at Tepper and co here. They were told Fangio needed to be paid, offered to make him the highest paid DC in the league, he took the offer back to Miami and got them to match. He's gonna spend a few years in South Beach - can't blame him for wanting to do that. I think either of Richard or Manuel would be good DCs here. I think I'd prefer Richard over Manuel, but wouldn't hate either. As for OC, I think that one will take some time to play out - think it's going to be someone who's on the Eagles staff, whether that's Brian Johnson, Kevin Patullo, or Jason Michael.

I mean, can't blame him if he wants to spend a couple years in South Beach if Miami upped their offer

Would Quinn accept if offered by Denver now? Otherwise the only other known candidates that are free at the moment are Shaw, Morris, and Caldwell, right?

I like the part where Tepper told Reich "let's go build a great staff" - sounds like he'd be willing to spend to get a guy like Fangio onboard if Reich wants him

I would say "a lot" and "pretty good success" is quite the stretch:

If they can't convince Fangio to come (and he's likely to have his pick of options, including potentially SF or Philly depending on if one or both of their DCs get HC gigs), I wouldn't be surprised to see Kris Richard be hired as the DC here. Reich interviewed him after Eberflus got the Bears job and ultimately went with Bradley, but I would think Richard runs a similar system given they both coached in Seattle and the front office has already interviewed him. If they want to get a leg up and finalize staff prior to other teams even hiring head coaches, I could see them scooping up Richard if Fangio wants to wait it out or if he goes elsewhere.

Do I think Steve Wilks can be a good, even great, "CEO" of a football team? Yes. Honestly, if the Panthers had at any point over the past 5 years had at least an intriguing potential long-term answer at QB, I think Steve Wilks would have gotten the full time job. But those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it. We paired a generational offensive talent in Cam Newton with a "hard-nosed" defensive-minded head coach and watched that talent consistently capped before it finally withered away. I fear the same is happening in Buffalo honestly - McDermott, like Rivera before him (and like Wilks would be, just my opinion) is relying on the talent of his QB to prop up his offense rather than employing someone who can maximize that talent. So while Reich may not be a sexy pick, a home run hire, I think at this critical juncture in the Panthers franchise history, it was time to bring on an offensive mind (and a former QB) to be the "head of the snake" to hopefully nurture and develop that answer at QB. Your offensive mind/playcaller can't be poached if he just so happens to be your HC too. And also, let's be honest - if Wilks went 6-6 but while competing in the 2021 NFC South rather than the 2022 NFC South (i.e. no shot at a division title or playoffs), I highly doubt anyone would be so up in arms about not making him the permanent head coach. Don't let how putrid the NFC South was for one year cloud your judgement for the next 5 years - the division will not be that bad again, even next year.