The Panthers made a push to hire Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson this offseason, but the rising play-caller withdrew his name from consideration for that job or other HC positions. Despite Johnson turning down the Panthers in January, the team will be prepared to see if it can change the second-year OC’s mind.
Rumored to once again be targeting a coach with an offensive background, the Panthers will have their sights set on Johnson. Following the quick Frank Reich ouster, the Panthers look to be more interested in Johnson than they were earlier this year, Jason La Canfora of the Washington Post notes.
Some around the NFL are convinced David Tepper will up the ante for the Detroit OC, La Canfora adds. Tepper’s increasingly polarizing reputation aside, the Panthers owner’s net worth sits behind only the Walton family in Denver among. Tepper made the comment about no salary cap being in place for coaches this offseason, when he added Ejiro Evero, Thomas Brown, Jim Caldwell, Josh McCown and Dom Capers to Reich’s staff.
But Johnson is on track to be a coveted commodity on the 2024 HC carousel. The Chargers have been linked to him as well, and he is expected to be interested in coaching Justin Herbert — a position expected to become available with Brandon Staley struggling in his third season — in 2024. Tepper’s reputation for impulsive decisions and meddling is also expected to make this search more complicated than those to replace Ron Rivera and Matt Rhule.
Tepper’s willingness to spend for coaches, as evidenced by Rhule’s seven-year deal worth $62MM, could certainly matter to a point. And a GM informed La Canfora the owner may be willing to keep GM Scott Fitterer on to help lure Johnson to Charlotte. Viewed as a GM not insistent on playing the lead role in personnel, Fitterer — who indeed operated as second-in-command during Rhule’s run — does not have experience working with Johnson. The latter has been with the Lions since 2019; he spent the previous seven years with the Dolphins.
It would certainly be interesting for the Panthers to keep a GM on staff in hopes he can lure a promising HC to town, and it would not exactly reflect well on the team’s situation for Johnson to turn the club down twice. Tepper hired Fitterer to work alongside Rhule, but a report last month suggested he joined Reich on the hot seat. With the Panthers starting 1-11, Fitterer receiving a fourth season in the GM chair might be a tough sell. But the Panthers are in an unusual spot, seeing their owner become the center of attention during this run of inconsistency on the sideline and at the quarterback position.
On the latter front, Bryce Young has continued to struggle, doing so as No. 2 overall pick C.J. Stroud has separated himself in the Offensive Rookie of the Year race. Tepper attempted to insist the Panthers were in full agreement regarding Young over Stroud, but the 5-foot-10 passer did not receive a good draw in Year 1. The Panthers have lost both starting guards for the season, and free agency additions Miles Sanders and Hayden Hurst — each securing the most guaranteed money at their respective positions this offseason — have not moved the needle much. These signings, of course, came after the Panthers included longtime No. 1 wide receiver D.J. Moore in the trade for the No. 1 pick.
Young’s rookie-year issues were evident early to some on staff, as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini adds multiple coaches on staff wanted to bench the former Heisman winner by Week 5 (subscription required). Viewing Young as requiring more coaching before he could be relied upon as a weekly starter, these coaches were ultimately overruled by a Panthers vision that placed a higher priority on long-term Young development rather than potential 2023 wins with Andy Dalton at the helm. The Panthers fired both McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley. Parks Frazier, who rose from assistant Colts QBs coach to offensive coordinator in the wake of Reich’s 2022 firing, is now coaching the Panthers’ QBs, the Charlotte Observer’s Mike Kaye tweets.
It is not known if McCown and Staley backed a Young benching, but Tepper has attempted to drive home the notion the staff was in agreement on the Alabama prospect. Reich was connected to being pro-Stroud early in the pre-draft process, though he said post-draft he was in alignment with Panthers scouts on Young. The Panthers remain hopeful regarding Young’s development, with one team staffer (via Russini) citing the shortcomings of the team’s offensive pieces around him.
Circling back to Reich, La Canfora offers one of the reasons Tepper cut the cord so early was the veteran coach’s lower-key demeanor. Reich, 61, is not known as an intense leader. Reich’s measured approach came up against two outspoken owners during his HC career, with Jim Irsay becoming increasingly involved as the former Super Bowl-winning OC’s Colts run progressed. Reich signed a four-year contract. While Rhule’s Nebraska contract moved the Panthers off the hook for much of the money remaining on his NFL contract, via offset language, Reich said he is likely headed toward retirement. In that event, the Panthers will be paying their former HC through 2026.
There are some bad owners, then there’s Tepper
To be fair, I would be fine being miserable for 10+/- months for +$20M guaranteed.
Lmao idiots
Their mistake was drafting young number 1 overall and and firing reich. No coaching candidate should even consider this job with a crappy owner
agreed. and signed one of the best backups for no reason
Run for the hills Ben! And by the Hills, take less money and coach the chargers. Also terrible owner but at least there’s talent there
I actually think he should take the Panthers job. He would secure a big pay day on a multi year deal and then get fired a year or two later and get to collect it all.
Say what you want about Dean Spanos but dude if anything is too patient.
I mean he gave Norv Turner 2 chances. Gave Mike McCoy too long. Gave Anthony Lynn too long. Gave Brandon Staley way too long.
Ben Johnson could have a decent gig got 4+ years
The funny thing about the Tepper types, it’s always someone else’s fault – and the next someone is always on a short leash. There’s seemingly no true, self reflection by the Owner, despite a parade of firings related to team underperformance.
Culture matters….
There’s one common denominator between Rivera, Rhule, Wilks, Reich.
Names starting after the letter Q?
Predictable result.
As much as Ben deserves to be a head coach, and outside of the chargers job (which is the best on paper) .. I’d love for Ben to stay a few more years as the lions O.C .. We are finally getting good and we don’t need to try and find a new one .. MCDC is as good as the staff around him .. no changes need to be made on that side of the ball ,
Stay the course and trust the process..
He’s only 39 so there is plenty of time to make his mark as a HC. In Detroit he can continue to build his resume while being part of an improving organization.
Welcome to the NFL, where fans don’t get a say and coaches often get one shot at finding the right HC position. The Chargers seem like that opportunity, and you never know what might happen the following year. Stock rises and falls based on a wide variety of factors.
I think the uncertainty factor you mention is all the more reason for Johnson to just stay there in Detroit for now.
Well, it’s his decision to make and, right now, his stock is high and few struggling teams come as well-stocked as the Chargers. I’m not a fan, but he’d be crazy not to kick the tires.
Bench Young? For what? What good does that do?
He actually played mostly well in the Bucs game, for what little his offense helped him. Mingo finally made a few plays, but he’s far from consistent, and Young was on his back for much of the has me. Benching him now probably only hurts what little confidence he has left. Despite his struggles, he is definitely respected by his teammates and looks to be trying on the field. In his case, he needs to play…and I’m not sure what is gained by benching him for what is the fault of the offense as a whole.
“Has me” is supposed to say “game”. God, I hate this new phone’s imbecilic autocorrect.
Turn off auto-correct, leave auto-suggest on. Auto-correct is a nightmare for anybody who writes anything besides “I’ll call you later” or “I’m on my way home honey with the shopping”.
If there was a more patient, semi-sane owner in Carolina- I’d be inclined to agree with you. Unfortunately, Reich and these other coaches knew they were coaching for their jobs on a rebuilding football team. I fully believe they didn’t even want Young, but he was thrown on them by Tepper. So what do you do? Dalton would represent their best chance at winning, however slim that chance may be.
The entire situation is a mess there, and as long as Tepper owns that team, it’s hard to see it ever getting better.
Whom they were drafting at 1 would have been a huge talking point for me. Frank should have plenty of cash. He’s been in the league since the 90’s. He could have easily been an OC for a year and see what opened up this year.
I have no idea who wanted Young vs Stroud. But if Tepper was adamant about Young, as reported, & Frank wanted Stroud, he should have declined the job.
Yeah, none of us know what was said behind closed doors. Tepper doesn’t strike me as a man of his word, though. I’m just of the belief, in that situation, if you’re Frank and/or his staff, you have to do what you feel is best for you. They obviously were shown no loyalty from Tepper.
Now as to if they even should have taken the job to begin with, you raise a ton of good points. I’d say no. At Frank’s age though, maybe he was of the mindset that it either would go well, or he’d pocket a lot of cash and enjoy an early retirement? But I’d imagine he would have preferred it went well.
The whole situation is just a mess there.
I agree with all that’s been said, but I have to think that Reich just had enough confidence in himself as a coach that he’d be able to at least do a decent job. I don’t think that he anticipated the depths of Tepper’s impatience and meddling.
I also am of the opinion that Stroud would have also had a rough year in Carolina. He’s been very good in Houston, but the Texans have given him much better weapons and protection than Carolina has, even as young and unproven as many of them were. Despite all of the Texans’ recent turmoil, the environment seems better too-at least this time around, management didn’t interfere with their coach. Ryans has built a great atmosphere for his players. I don’t get the impression that Reich was ever afforded that opportunity, and he certainly wasn’t given a quality cast of receivers or a franchise left tackle to help Young develop.
i get that benching a qb is seen as a big negative, but I wonder if maybe sometimes when a young qb is struggling, it would be good for him to sit a couple of games, to step away from the same routine every week and see things from a different perspective.
Panthers don’t have a 1st so they’ll probably target Higgins and Evans heavily in free agency.
I think Tampa tags Devin White (25) and let’s Evans hit the open market. David, Gaines, Winfield need new contracts too.
I think Cincy tags Higgins but wouldn’t be shocked if they don’t and draft a wr in the upcoming draft early given Burrows extension and chase needing an extension.
I agree. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Evans get tagged, but if they don’t come to an agreement to reverse course, I think that he’s lower on their list. White has regressed some in pass coverage grades, but he is the younger player on a team that, for the moment, has a defensive coach. Like I said, though, Tampa could hire a new regime that changes its mind. I think that you’re probably correct, though.
The Tee Higgins market is really heating up. Lots of teams think Higgins will be a value offer at WR as a free agent, as Cincinnati has underused Higgins. No way. Why would Tee Higgins accept anything less than his worth as a number one?
There’s only about WR who look better than Higgins, it just so happens teammate JaMarr Chase is one of them.
I agree with that. Unless Cincy tags him, though, I’m pretty sure he’ll be gone, probably on a dealing what you’ve referenced.
If I could start a GoFundMe to get me money to buy the Panthers, I would.
You could always try the “One Red Paperclip” approach. link to en.wikipedia.org
Don’t draft a jockey to be your QB.
Stick to the “rule” and don’t chase the “exceptions” to the “rule”.
Unless you’re the Colts or Broncos, in which case, giving the reins to a jockey would be acceptable.
Frank Reich is getting paid $25,000 every day for the next 3+ years to NOT coach Tepper’s team. Johnson would be a fool to pass up that kind of cash.
I disagree, largely because you’re talking about two guys at very different points in their lives. For Reich, yeah, take the money and enjoy your retirement. Johnson is young, however. I’m sure he has aspirations of achieving a lot of success as a HC of his own team one day. You don’t want the Tepper stench on your resume.
Fair, but given how Reich has seemingly disintegrated physically since taking that job, I’m not sure how much longer he’ll have to enjoy that retirement as opposed to before.
Poor Ben Johnson