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Jason LaCanfora: Where do Panthers go from here

TheSpecialJuan

By TheSpecialJuan,
in Carolina Panthers

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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First, let’s address the Payton rumors. Based on conversations with multiple NFL executives and coaches, including several who have ties to Tepper, league insiders don’t see this as a fit. Many who know Payton well don’t believe he and Tepper would be a match, and the Carolina job comes with several red flags. There is no quarterback on the roster that coaches are eager to work with and no trove of 2023 draft picks.

The Panthers have talent on defense, but the roster needs work. Tepper has no track record of winning, and the facilities aren’t special. Oh, and facing the New Orleans Saints twice a year would be a little awkward for Payton, who coached the franchise to its only Super Bowl title. The odds of Saints exec Mickey Loomis dealing Payton, who is under contract to the Saints through 2024, to a division rival are bleak. “That’s only an attractive job if you have a chance to get a quarterback,” one NFL general manager

Another GM said: “Tepper isn’t afraid to throw money around, but this won’t happen. [Loomis] wants to trade [Payton] to an AFC team. I can’t see Sean in Carolina, and he’s going to be able to speak with any owner [with a coaching vacancy] he wants.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2022/10/11/carolina-panthers-next-head-coach/

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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Don’t rule out interim coach Steve Wilks getting a real chance to impress his new boss. Numerous people who have insight into the Panthers’ front-office dynamic, but aren’t permitted to discuss it publicly, believe that when Wilks — a former member of the Panthers’ coaching staff held in high regard there — left his job as defensive coordinator at Missouri to join Rhule’s staff as a secondary coach, it was for this exact scenario. Wilks was the head coach in Arizona for a year, and he has a close bond with Steven Drummond, the Panthers’ vice president of football operations, who has essentially become Tepper’s primary resource and most influential internal confidant, according to numerous people aware of that dynamic but precluded from commenting on it by their contracts with other NFL teams.

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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Another NFL executive likened the power and influence of Drummond within the Panthers to that of beleaguered Texans executive Jack Easterby, who also doesn’t have a personnel or football operations background per se but holds considerable sway with ownership and is consulted on and included in all key matters. “It’s the same dynamic as Easterby; it just doesn’t get as much attention,” that executive said. Perhaps Wilks can string together some wins and make enough of an imprint to keep the job. “He is in a position to be in consideration for the position,” Tepper said of Wilks on Monday, saying he could get the position if he does “an incredible job.”

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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Multiple general managers suggested to me that, should Wilks not win the job, Carolina General Manager Scott Fitterer would strongly endorse Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Fitterer and Quinn worked together at the height of the Seahawks’ reign and share a strong relationship, and Quinn, the former head coach in Atlanta, has helped create a dominant unit in Dallas. However, those same GMs believe Quinn will have better options than Carolina.

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TheSpecialJuan Grand Master

TheSpecialJuan

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There has been considerable league buzz about another young coordinator who wasn’t remotely on any head coaching radars at the start of the season — and who doesn’t have a PR campaign or a mega agency pushing him to media or owners. Ben Johnson wasn’t viewed as a hotshot fast-riser when he was named the Detroit Lions’ offensive coordinator in February, but arguably no coach has raised his profile more in the first third of the season. Tepper chasing someone like Johnson hardly seems out of the question.

“The more I study him, the more I like,” said one longtime NFL executive who has been involved in multiple successful coaching hires but who cannot speak publicly about potential candidates. “Pay attention to how his players talk about him. Look at the film and what he’s doing — not just with [quarterback Jared] Goff but that entire offense. It’s pretty special.”

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“You can’t bring in the defensive coordinator at Missouri in the offseason to replace your $10 million head coach,” as one rival executive put it, “but if he wins a few games as the interim guy, it’s a much easier sell. I think he ends up getting the job. I truly believe he was brought in with this in mind. Nothing that has happened there has surprised me to this point.”

This would be a disaster. 

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