Person on the Fitterer hiring process

[Mr. Scot]

Sounds like it was a bit of a ride...

...before even signing his contract as the Panthers’ new general manager, Fitterer already has a save with his new organization.

With Panthers owner David Tepper and head coach Matt Rhule unable to agree on a clear GM choice after interviewing a diverse group of 13 candidates last week, they added two more to the list — Steelers salary cap manager Omar Khan and Fitterer, Seattle’s vice president of football operations.

Fitterer and Rhule are both represented by Trace Armstrong, who negotiated Rhule’s whopping seven-year, $60 million deal last year that helped reset the coaching market. Armstrong also is the agent for 49ers vice president of player personnel Adam Peters, who was among the four finalists for the Panthers’ job and was thought by many to be the favorite because of his ties to Rhule.

But Fitterer impressed the Panthers enough during a Monday teleconference that two days later he was in Charlotte for an in-person interview. About 24 hours later, he had a job offer to succeed Marty Hurney, who was fired in December with two games remaining, and join Rhule’s Rhebuild.

Fitterer, 47, has worked for his hometown Seahawks since 2001, a long stretch that spanned parts of three decades and three head coaches. The 11 years Fitterer spent with Pete Carroll should come in handy in Charlotte, where the Panthers have a head coach who’s used to running things after having made the jump from college, just as Carroll did when he left Southern Cal for Seattle in 2010.

After moving on from Hurney, Tepper talked about identifying a data-driven successor who could collaborate with Rhule, who has insisted he doesn’t want control of personnel. But Rhule seemed to favor finding someone from a more traditional background, and the guy with six years and more than $50 million left on his deal appeared to get the final say: All four finalists came with lots of scouting roles on their resumes.

Scott Fitterer entered the Panthers search late but proved he was the one (subscription required)

[Growl]

this makes it sound like the hiring was a compromise, one where the sacrifice was the hire's ability as a talent evaluator was given ground on to ensure somebody was acquired who was great at math and knowing stats

[Khaki Lackey]

My theory is that Fitterer brought in a crockpot full of meatballs. It worked for Rhule. Dude does his homework.

[Davidson Deac II]

10 minutes ago, Growl said:

this makes it sound like the hiring was a compromise, one where the sacrifice was the hire's ability as a talent evaluator was given ground on to ensure somebody was acquired who was great at math and knowing stats

That is not what I read.  What I read was that they interviewed some candidates and couldn't agree on which one they liked.  So they interviewed a couple more candidates, and the liked Fitterer the best.  Maybe he blew them away with the interview, or maybe he was the one they could both agree on.  The article doesn't say one way or the other.

[Mr. Scot]

9 minutes ago, Growl said:

this makes it sound like the hiring was a compromise, one where the sacrifice was the hire's ability as a talent evaluator was given ground on you ensure somebody was acquired who was great at math and knowing stats

I've seen nothing to indicate Fitterer is much of a math guy. His resumé is all concentrated on talent evaluation.

Heck, his primary focus in college was being a baseball player.

[OldhamA]

If I'm Tepper some mofo is getting fired.

He has a major leak. 

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

That is not what I read.  What I read was that they interviewed some candidates and couldn't agree on which one they liked.  So they interviewed a couple more candidates, and the liked Fitterer the best.  Maybe he blew them away with the interview, or maybe he was the one they could both agree on.  

Pretty much.

It's also true that in the end, all the finalists wound up fitting the profile that Matt Rhule wanted.

 

[Mr. Scot]

1 minute ago, OldhamA said:

If I'm Tepper some mofo is getting fired.

He has a major leak. 

Eeehhh, it's not like any of this info could be used for anything.

[Growl]

11 minutes ago, Davidson Deac II said:

That is not what I read.  What I read was that they interviewed some candidates and couldn't agree on which one they liked.  So they interviewed a couple more candidates, and the liked Fitterer the best.  Maybe he blew them away with the interview, or maybe he was the one they could both agree on.  The article doesn't say one way or the other.

It's been reported frequently that the two have competing philosophies on the role the general manager of an NFL team should be doing, not just a simple matter of reactions to individual candidates and how well they prepared to answer stock questions

[OldhamA]

Just now, Mr. Scot said:

Eeehhh, it's not like any of this info could be used for anything.

No other GM search had a blow by blow account of where it was up to.

It might not be harmful NOW, but somebody is leaking info to the press. It's only a matter of time until they leak something valuable / damaging. 

[OldhamA]

1 minute ago, Growl said:

It's been reported frequently that the two have competing philosophies on the general manager of an NFL team should be doing, not just a simple matter of reactions to individual candidates and how well they prepared to answer stock questions

I wonder which candidate's biggest weakness is that they're a perfectionist. 

[AceBoogie]

I stopped reading when I saw him and Rhule have the same agent, looks like the only one winning these days is that agent. Gotta stop with this “he reminds me of me”, “I coached with him in college where we didn’t win poo” “we share the same agent” bs. Just make Rhule the damn owner of the team since we’ve seem to have handed him the damn keys to the whole organization. 

[Waldo]

I want to know who Rhule wanted. Twpper has shown zero football IQ to date. He hired Rhule for his interview. The guys Rhule has brought in has shown positive results, no sign of control issues. Could go either way but Rhule had a more impressive resume IMO. A patern of development and current success. The new hire was on a team's most impressive feat is a slow and not fast backslide from dominance. We literally were talking to the guy who's team dominated Seattle in recent years.

[Growl]

4 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I've seen nothing to indicate Fitterer is much of a math guy. His resumé is all concentrated on talent evaluation.

Heck, his primary focus in college was being a baseball player.

the presence of scouting jobs on his résumé is no doubt what made tepper feels this was an excellent compromise, but he hails from an organization that obsesses over data, no doubt a reasoning behind some of the ridiculous 1st round selections they've made, and in a role that is customarily affiliated with the more technical aspects of the job

in light of that and in light of person characterizing this the way he did, it's not a far leap at all to see what teppers likely thought process was

Tepper thought he could appease his coach and still get the breed of guy he wanted from the outset