The Carolina Panthers HC search is still on

You want to know a really good source for Panthers head coaching news? Panthers.com. They've got the database, man.

They've got the whole thing, the hub. We know who's interviewing. We know who's already interviewed. Apparently Kellen Moore is next. Sean Payton will be, I believe, on Monday of next week as the search continues for the next head coach.

Darren Gantt, you're not on the interview list. It's early yet. There's still time.

We'll see. Yeah, we've got the tote board for you. Put Kellen Moore's name on there. He had his in-person interview this morning, and so that makes nine. So Scott Bitterer's shortlist has grown. And, you know, I said this last week in our mailbag, which you are so very kind of reference, as often as you do, the difference in this search and the one that led to that rule is this is actually a process.

This is a search. This is a little more thorough, a little more deliberate, a little more considered. And, you know, I mean, we'll see. You never know how any of these things are going to work out. But I think when you go through a little more thorough process, it gives you a better chance to come to a good conclusion. All right.

So let me just peel that back a little bit. What was the last search? How did it how did it work? How did it end up where it was? Was it impulsive?

Is that what we're getting at? I don't know that it's impulsive, but I think, you know, Matt Rule certainly sold people on his ability, both this team and the New York Giants. You know, he kind of created, you know, almost a little bit of a bidding war and had a bunch of people interested in him. He was the hot candidate that moment. He was the flavor of the month, if you will. And, you know, had a lot of people interested in him because he was selling a vision of a thing. Now, we saw in hindsight that it didn't necessarily work out that way.

But when you get people when you play to people's emotions, when you are trying to sell them something, I think that's when the people around you have to be a little bit of a handbrake. I think that's why you talk to multiple people and go through a process where you talk to a whole bunch of dudes, just to just to make sure you're not falling into that same kind of trap where someone who has a great interview, you know, charms you and you end up in that situation. I mean, that's what you heard about Denver this time last year with Nathaniel Hackett. Oh, he killed the interview. He was great in the interview. How was he on the sidelines? Not too good. No, my read from a long way away was that they hired Nathaniel Hackett because they thought that was the key to getting Aaron Rodgers.

The Jets have interviewed Nathaniel Hackett for their offensive coordinator position because apparently they can't watch Denver Broncos football in central New Jersey. All right. Let me let me ask this question of Darren Gant at Darren Gant on Twitter. Ask the old guy the the process that you say is a process. Now, is this being driven by Scott Fitterer or what is the involvement of David Tepper in all of this? I mean, he's the owner. He's involved at the most intimate level. He's going to be the guy signing the check. So, yeah, he's involved in all of that.

And, you know, he should be. But Scott is kind of, you know, and I can tell you they've been working on this process and lining up candidates and figuring out who they want to talk to for months. So again, Scott has made sure that this is a little bit more deliberate, a little more thorough than than the last time. So and I think when you it doesn't take a long look at the list of candidates to see basically what they wanted to look at with Steve Wilkes versus all the offensive guys. And, you know, Steve's a little bit of a known commodity. You know exactly how he's going to handle certain situations. Now, I think they're reasonable questions to ask Steve in an interview about staffing and what does he want to do with coordinators? And what does he see as the direction of this thing? And what would he do offensively and stuff like that? But I think on the whole, you know, he he's one perspective.

So let's talk to everybody else with the other perspective. And they've heard from all the young offensive minds other than Ben Johnson, who decided not to be a part of this search after a while after he had interviewed for a couple of jobs. And I think, you know, I think it's probably I don't know a lot about Ben Johnson.

What I've heard is all positive. I saw what he did in Detroit this year, put up good numbers with an average quarterback and and did a lot of good things. But I think it's it's instructive that a young guy who probably could have had his pick of a couple of jobs, maybe checked himself a little bit and said, Oh, am I ready to do this or not? And because I think when you look at guys, I mean, Nathaniel Hackett's a good example. I think about what happened to Joe Brady. Here's our coordinator when that young guy goes too fast, too soon before he's ready to do it. It complicates his job chances in the future.

So I think it's probably a good idea on Ben Johnson's part if he wasn't 100 percent comfortable with where he was as a coach to not put himself in a position to set himself back. I don't want to ask you a question that's going to make you feel uncomfortable. So if you want to just sidestep this, that's fine.

Listen, I've already had dental work this morning and there's still a little lidocaine coursing through the left side of my face. So I think, you know, discomfort is relative at this point, Gold. All right, good.

Do you have a sense that they're going to go offense versus defense? I have no sense of that whatsoever. That ain't my call. Right. That's why I didn't want to put you in a position.

But Novocaine speaks. Yeah, no, it's yeah, I don't really know. I mean, there are about three people who know. There's actually one person who knows which way Dave's leaning. So and I'll leave that decision up to him. But again, I think when you look at this group, whether it's whether it's Steve or Sean Payton or Shane Steichen or any of the, you know, pull one of the young offensive coordinators out of a bag, there's certainly a better crop of candidates this time through. I mean, and last time through, it wasn't just Matt Rule and that didn't work out.

And that's why I'm saying it. I mean, look back when Josh McDaniels was the another one of those hot candidates that everybody couldn't wait to get to. So I think they've they've laid in enough foundation to have a chance to make a good decision either way. And I think, you know, certainly if it's Steve, I think a lot of people are going to respond positively to that, especially down in that locker room.

I mean, those guys made it clear throughout the second half of the season that they liked the way things were going. And, you know, I think it certainly offers you a shot at stability for sure. Now, do you are you catching up with the trend? Do you are you going along with the rest of the league and hiring a bright, young offensive man?

I don't know. We'll see how that works out. Again, every for every Sean McVeigh, there's a Nathaniel Hackett and, you know, another example of a guy that didn't work. So we'll see how it goes. But I'm not in position to to either know that or to decide that. So I'll let that one slide.

Yeah, look, we don't. It seems like every good hire has been somebody with some offensive background. But then you have Dan Campbell, who I'm not even sure. I know he was a tight end, but I don't think people look at Dan Campbell as a bright offensive mind. And I'm not trying to be disparaging here. Well, I think Dan Campbell is more of a leader.

Sure. And, you know, I mean, Dan, was Dan Quinn a good head coach in Atlanta? Yes, he was. He dragged an Atlanta Falcons team that, you know, everybody talks about the Panthers hadn't had back to back winning seasons. It took the Falcons 42 years to get there before Mike Smith did it.

And then they kind of cratered a little bit and Dan Quinn got him back into a good spot. He's a good coach. So I don't think you have to be an offensive guy to be a good head coach. Is Mike Tomlin a good head coach? Is Pete Carroll a good head coach? Of course they are. How about Bill Belichick?

Is he a good head coach? I think so. So I always, you may have found this out about me over the course of the years, but I always don't tend to follow herds. So it's a little bit difficult for me if everybody's saying, oh, it's got to be offense. Are you sure? Does it have to be really?

Does it? And the Panthers have never had an offensive head coach, right? Not once. Zero.

Not one time in 28 years. And again, and I don't mean this, this will sound like a shot at Matt Ruhle, but Matt Ruhle was really either one. He was neither offensive or defense.

Yeah. He was a former linebacker. Who's one year of NFL experience with coaching offensive line, but he was really neither an offensive nor defensive guy. All the rest of them were defensive coordinators. I mean, that was the platform Jay Richardson believed in and, and it worked out okay over the years for the Pittsburgh Steelers. So, um, it, it worked out okay for, for Dom Capers and John Fox and Ron Rivera to a lesser degree for George Seifert.

All right. Final thing for Darren Gant. And you can ask the old guy at panthers.com.

Uh, he is the best. The, the makeup of the roster, when you look at what they need coming out of this draft, first of all, if they end up, if they try to get Sean Payton giving up a first round pick, I wonder if you could ask Sean Payton, hey, would you give up the ninth pick for, uh, for Sean Payton? I think Sean Payton might say no to giving up the ninth pick for Sean Payton, even though that might stroke his ego a little bit. Yeah. And I think that would be counterproductive to Sean Payton's mission if he was the guy.

Right. So you're, if you're looking at what this team needs, we all know they need a quarterback. They need a number one quarterback.

At number nine, that guy, the, a slam dunk is probably not there. What are the other positions that they need to address in your mind for this team to take another step forward? Uh, I would do if I was the GM and thank goodness I am not, uh, but if I was the GM, I would be looking for a pass rusher first and foremost, because those guys are valuable and rare.

And if you can find one at nine who you can stand on the other side from Brian burns, you, you feel pretty good about things. But beyond that, uh, I just think they need, you know, what was it? Fitter said during his press conference the other week, he said it could be a sexier draft where they're looking at, they need playmakers on offense. And that could be a receiver. That could be a tight end. That could be a running back.

Let's be honest. I mean, at some point they've got to have guys on offense. You know, regardless what the quarterback market does, they've got to have guys around that quarterback who can score touchdowns. And they didn't have nearly enough of those guys. I mean, on offense, it's basically a line and DJ more. That's what they've got.

So, and I think they did a good job of the last year of stabilizing things up front. You know, obviously that lines in a little bit of flux because Bradley Bozeman's a free agent. Uh, he would like to stay. They have some interest in that too. Austin Corbett's coming off an ACL.

That's going to push him to the star of the regular season. So you, you like that you're deep there. You like that you've got more bodies and more talent there, but yeah, they've got to find some dudes who get in the end zone.

Yeah. Playmakers. That's the best way to put it on the offensive side of the ball. Uh, two wide receivers, a tight end, maybe another running back. A linebacker or two, and maybe a safety who can run around and make plays in the back. And, uh, maybe a cornerback opposite JC Horn. Uh, Darin Gantt. Well, now they do have Jontay Jackson and CJ Henderson coming back. You know, could be worse. Teams have worse groups of cornerbacks than those three guys. Yeah, well, I'm just going to go back and repeat. I think a cornerback opposite JC Horn would be fine.

Uh, but you know what they've got, they've got basically on lock as they have the old guy. Uh, at Darin Gantt on Twitter, two Ts for extra talent. Thank you very much, my friend. Appreciate your time. We'll check in again. Alright, stay tuned. You got it. And you can go to panthers.com.

They have the Panthers head coach interview tracker for you. Like, why not? It's their team. That's the way to do it. Good for them.