Consistent with a report that surfaced in the immediate aftermath of head coach Frank Reich‘s dismissal, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com says that the Panthers will be targeting an offensive-minded coach when they conduct a search for Reich’s full-time replacement this offseason. Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson — who had emerged as the frontrunner for the Carolina HC post during the 2023 hiring cycle before he withdrew his name from consideration — is likely to be on owner David Tepper‘s short list once again, per Schefter. Ditto Eagles OC Brian Johnson.
Schefter’s ESPN colleague, Dan Graziano, agrees that Tepper’s search will lean towards a coach with an offensive background given the franchise’s investment in Bryce Young (subscription required). However, both Graziano and fellow ESPN scribe Jeremy Fowler believe that a candidate’s leadership abilities could be more critical than their offensive acumen. After all, new Texans HC DeMeco Ryans is a defensive-oriented coach, but his club — guided by rookie QB C.J. Stroud — boasts one of the league’s most prolific offenses. Likewise, the defensive-minded Steve Wilks led the Panthers to a 6-6 finish as interim head coach in 2022, but Tepper elected to move on from Wilks and chose not to aggressively pursue Ryans.
Regardless of which qualities Tepper prioritizes in the upcoming cycle, it remains to be seen if he will be able to land his top choice, thanks to his growing reputation as an impatient and meddlesome owner. According to Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk, Tepper’s comments at a press conference in the wake of Reich’s firing will not help his cause.
During that presser, Tepper noted that the decision to select Young over Stroud in the 2023 draft was unanimous, though Florio finds that hard to believe. That is not because he is looking at the matter through a revisionist lens skewed by the two players’ performances in their rookie campaigns, but rather because the sheer number of people involved in such a franchise-defining choice is almost guaranteed to generate contrasting viewpoints. So even though Tepper says the call was unanimous, Florio believes the reality is that any Stroud supporters realized that Tepper preferred Young and ultimately chose to side with their employer.
Indeed, while all owners natually have the power to veto any decisions made by their staff, Tepper drove that point home when reporters asked him about the Young-Stroud issue.
“The process was done the way the process was done,” Tepper said. “And again, even though if there was a process with five people in the room and the way the votes came in it was Frank was the first choice [as head coach], I always could veto that choice. And even if [it[ was Bryce [as the first overall pick] and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could have vetoed that choice.”
In Florio’s view, the fact that Tepper openly avowed that he wields veto power even if there is unanimity among his football staff is telling. It also underscores his willingness to meddle, which could drive away candidates that might otherwise be interested in the Carolina HC gig. Dianna Russini of The Athletic, who says that Stroud’s success was a key factor in Tepper’s decision to fire Reich, also reports that some members of the organization have been texting Ben Johnson to tell him how “complicated” it is to work for the Panthers at the moment (subscription required).
Another high-profile target is Jim Harbaugh, but as Tony Pauline of Sportskeeda recently observed, Tepper’s propensity to drive decision-making obviously would not be appealing to a candidate like Harbaugh, who will likely want a high degree of autonomy over football operations. Plus, as a source told Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, “[Harbaugh’s] just as mercurial as Tepper. You want a coach that way, too?”
That said, other sources have told Jones that Harbaugh is a legitimate candidate for the job. While Harbaugh and Tepper did speak about the position in late December 2022/early January 2023, that conversation did not evolve into an interview. According to Jones, Tepper — who had recently fired Matt Rhule — did not want another coach who ran the entire football operation, but it sounds as if he may be more amenable to a Harbaugh hire this time around. And no matter how Tepper may be perceived around the league, Jay Glazer of Fox Sports makes it clear that there will be plenty of coaches who will want the Panthers’ post (video link).
Of course, there may be a new voice in Tepper’s ear when the calendar flips to 2024. GM Scott Fitterer is reportedly on the hot seat, and while Schefter reports that Carolina may prefer to retain him, he has been given no assurances about his future with the club.
I’m glad I’m not a Carolina fan. Dude sounds as bad as Synder was.
Yeah our only hope here is that he sells the team relatively soon. His best move is probably to bail on the situation considering how miserable the product has been on field, in the clubhouse, and in the community (particularly the practice facility situation). He doesn’t have a ton of friends left here in Carolina
Snyder wasn’t as bad as Tepper. Snyder’s biggest mistake was getting lured into a dependent relationship with a toxic GM in Bruce Allen, who is truly bad news. Allen had Redskins history on his side (George Allen, father). If Snyder had ended up with a better GM, the Redskins probably would have been fine. Snyder was at least a genuine football fan, and not just an irate, capricious billionaire (Tepper).
It’s a contest though, between these two.
From google: Under Snyder’s ownership, the team had a regular season record of 164–220–2 with a post-season record of 2–6.
He was a terrible owner & is a terrible person. He didn’t care one bit for the franchise, less the profits. His record reflects that. Dan was so bad, I stopped following the team. He’s was that miserable.
Daniel Snyder cared about the ‘Skins alright by milking it for money at every turn.
The strike against David Tepper is his impulsive way of replacing coaching staffs both with the Panthers and MLS club Charlotte FC. CBS ran a graphic to that effect during the Panthers’ loss in Tampa.
Snyder’s awfulness is exaggerated. NFL owners from Robert Kraft, to Jerry Jones, to Cal McNair to David Tepper are a pretty unsavoury lot.
Bruce Allen’s awfulness cannot be exaggerated. Spiteful, unkind, cruel, barely competent professionally. Ultimately, it’s Snyder’s fault for hiring Allen and keeping him.
WOW!!! You have people who work for Carolina texting a guy and essentially telling him not to take a job there?
Yeah. Problems.
IF Ben Johnson is as smart as he appears to be, I’m sure he didn’t need assistance to figure out the Carolina HC position isn’t exactly a plum assignment. 🙂
Completely agree… I’d guess this just comes into play if he was on the fence…
This guy is an “I” burger with “me” sauce. Who in their right mind would coach there if there were other opportunities?
I’d rather stay as a coordinator on another team than be the HC in Carolina. Great money and it’s always more fun to win than lose.
Reich is going to retire and collect the remainder of his contract dollars from Tepper. Not a bad thing for less than a year of work
Probably twenty years of stress, though.
This may be the fastest route to NFL retirement for anyone considering taking this job
Johnson clearly didn’t want the job when it was, arguably, slightly more appealing. Why on Earth would he want the job when it is very clearly even less appealing now?
Tepper’s comments speak volumes. He’s ultimately going to make the major decisions. As a HC, you’re going to do what he wants; then when it doesn’t work, you’re going to take the blame for it.
Exactly. Especially after they fired Duce too. He isn’t going there.
A lot is made about Belichick’s awful coaching tree, but even worse is the Rooney’s owner tree.
Former Steeler minority owners go on to be the worst owners not named Snyder…Tepper and (even worse) Haslam.
As far as I know, Tepper is not an actual unindicted felon as Haslam is, at least, so he’s got that going for him.
I do think he should hire a management team that knows not to draft a jockey as their QB, though.
Tepper clearly needs to let someone who knows what they are doing choose the next head coach.
That person would need to be a firewall between the owner and coaches, but, based on Tepper’s previous actions, his ego is too big to allow that to happen.
Can we veto Florio’s name ever appearing in an article here. Main reason I read this site is to not hear anything from that blithering wind bag.