Mr. Scot

I get that, but I'm still of the opinion that letting a head coach pick the GM is an ass backwards approach. If you want to replace Fitterer, fine, but It should be the GM picking the head coach. An employee choosing their boss is just not a great idea.

As part of an article covering several Panthers related topics, Charlotte Observer Panthers writer Mike Kaye offers opinions on the coaching search, the need for outside help and more... Excerpts below, starting with... What people are saying Several people whom Kaye reached out to said the Panthers need a "program builder" type, but Kaye himself isn't so sure... Following Reich’s dismissal last week, I reached out to roughly a dozen sources who work in various jobs around the NFL for their opinions on the Panthers’ current situation. While some chose to simply pile on with quips about the notion of owner David Tepper’s heavy hand in football operations, others shared their takes on the future. The majority of the sources I spoke with believe the Panthers need to go in the direction of a proven program-builder to replace Reich. Some specifically mentioned Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh as a potential solution. A couple of them mentioned looking for a Belichick-type enforcer — though Belichick is really in his own category at this point, and it’s unclear whether the Patriots will actually make him available. The logic of the “program-builder” is that the head coach would have a say in personnel and the clout to tell Tepper “no” without repercussions. On the surface, that’s an interesting outlook. But it also seems like a lame approach for ownership to hire a dictator to simply distance themselves from involvement. On board with Tepper needing outside help Sounds like Kaye has come around to the idea that Tepper needs to bring in a consultant type to guide the operation. From the outside looking in, it feels like hiring a president of football operations above a head coach and a general manager would accomplish a similar goal without the weirdness of a “my way or else” leadership presence. Look, the whole “diversity of thought” strategy didn’t float, but a true partnership among a team president, GM and head coach has been a successful strategy in the NFL for decades. The team president can serve as a go-between with Tepper and the football people and help the owner make educated decisions that go beyond his knowledge. With that sort of strategy, the Panthers would be free to find the best coach for them. Some within the league have pushed back at the notion of a young, first-timer taking over as head coach, simply because of Tepper’s nature of being heavily involved. A team president can hedge that involvement and create a healthier and familiar ecosystem for a younger head coach. That president, with a background in football, could also mitigate a quick trigger if it takes time for the young coach to find success. The methodology of the search Not exactly news to say that what's been done so far hasn't exactly worked (to put it mildly). A bit of a simplistic take here but basically correct... ESPN has reported that Tepper is likely to go after a young offensive play-caller. CBS Sports has also brought up the notion of Harbaugh being a legitimate candidate this offseason after flirting with Carolina last season. From this beat writer’s point of view, the interview process should be vast. It shouldn’t be limited to coaching archetypes. The college success story of Matt Rhule didn’t work here. Neither did the retread in Reich. Heck, Ron Rivera — an NFL lifer — didn’t have staying power under Tepper, either. It’s time to just hire the right candidate — not the box someone fits in. It’s the same as scouting a draft prospect for traits — take a look at the Panthers’ depth chart and tell me that’s a sound strategy. The case for Frank Smith In the end, it sounds like Kaye believes Frank Smith might be a more ideal (and possibly realistic) head coaching candidate, in part because he's not a playcaller. A name that has come up multiple times in my conversations over the past week is Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith. While Smith isn’t the Dolphins’ primary offensive play-caller, he does handle a lot of the background material during the practice week, a league source said. The same source raved about Smith’s intelligence and humble, down-to-earth nature. Teams want to hire offensive play-callers as head coaches to curb the potential of losing a talented offensive coordinator after the first hint of success. But one could argue that the Panthers need to just get points on the board at this point. And if Smith hires a play-caller who gets plucked, well, the Panthers will have probably had their first sparkle of success under Tepper. That seems like a win-win. Offensive coordinators with the Detroit Lions, (Ben Johnson), Philadelphia Eagles (Brian Johnson) and Houston Texans (Bobby Slowik) should have plenty of options this offseason because of their play-calling abilities. Smith, though, because he is more of a behind-the-scene technician, might fall between the cracks of the coaching carousel and that could be to the Panthers’ advantage. _______________________ So to sum it up, Kaye agrees the best route forward is to get someone in place who can stand up to Tepper, but he doesn't believe that should be the role of the head coach so a Harbaugh / Belichick type isn't necessarily the answer. A team president type would be more ideal, with that person then guiding the head coaching choice. And although it isn't spoken about, it's kind of implicit that this person would also have a say in the GM spot. I'm pretty much on board with all of this.

Context to the clip: Breer's speculation here doesn't directly say that Fitterer is in danger of getting fired just because. He interprets his "no" answer as being because he thinks David Tepper is going to "prioritize the head coaching position", meaning that if a head coaching candidate wants a certain GM, he'll be willing to sacrifice Fitterer to get that candidate. Basically the answer is "no, if this happens". Mind you, Fitterer could still be fired depending on a lot of other things, but this particular answer should be understood in proper context.

My top choices are people we probably won't get Ben Johnson or Frank Smith for head coach. If Fitterer is fired, Will McClay or Brandon Hunt for GM.

He's right, though. Protection's been terrible. Doesn't mean Bryce is without fault, but it's objectively true.

Aggressiveness is only good if you know what you're doing.

There is a part of me that wonders whether Frank letting everyone know about the weekly meetings played a part in his firing. It certainly has drawn a lot of negative press.

So is Brenton Bersin.

...and Bill Cowher

Also... Sooo...about those final two playcalls

In other news, here's a clip of the shot that got Burns ejected

But hey, there's this...

...or the Jim Harbaugh crowd

"All this meddling talk is overblown."

I'm waiting for the phase where he figures out he's the problem. Not holding my breath...

Here's where I think the ultimate bottom line is for us... The word is out all over the league on David Tepper. No good coach is going to come here if they have to submit to weekly meetings with the owner. No good GM candidate is going to come here if they expect that the owner is going to meddle in their decisions.f So if we really wants to get a good candidate, David Tepper is going to have to make radical changes in the way he operates. Candidates could conceivably even ask him to agree in writing to stay out of things. It's just that bad

Tepper Is the problem.

I get that, but I don't know that any of us would feel different having to deal with Tepper. Hell, a good portion of us dislike him intensely without ever having met the man.

It's a Tepper team, Bryce or not

He's not wrong, though. (not even a little)

From the latest FMIA... Tepper Troubles It wasn’t particularly surprising that Carolina owner David Tepper fired coach Frank Reich last Monday. It’s Tepper’s M.O. In the last 48 months, Tepper has fired three full-time head coaches in mid-season. After 28 games of ownership, he dismissed Ron Rivera. He fired Matt Rhule 38 games into his seven-year contract. Now he fired Reich after just 11 games. Tepper also owns the MLS franchise Charlotte FC, and in its two years of existence, he has fired both head coaches. This means: None of Tepper’s five head coaches has lasted as long as 2.5 seasons. His five head coaches in two sports have lasted an average of 29 games under his ownership, which began in 2018. Tepper willingly sold the farm to draft quarterback Bryce Young in April, then fired the two coaches in place to nurture and develop him, Reich and QB coach Josh McCown, after 10 months on the job—even though Young liked and trusted both coaches in the midst of a disastrous season marked by one of the leakiest offensive lines in football. An owner whose tutelage in the game involved nine years as a minority owner of the Steelers has now forgotten everything he saw in Pittsburgh. Tepper has employed three head coaches and three interim coaches in the past four calendar years. The Steelers have employed three head coaches in the last 54 years. Tepper is Carolina’s biggest impediment to success. It’s easy, and justifiable, for an owner to be impatient and angry at being 1-10 after trading up to pick a quarterback with the top pick in the draft. But intelligent people who understand the market and world they’re living in should understand what it takes to succeed in it. Tepper doesn’t. His kneejerk reaction is: We stink, and the quarterback we passed on is setting the league on fire, and our quarterback looks like he’s a JV player. Heads must roll. The specter of C.J. Stroud’s overwhelming success in turning around Houston overnight after Young went one and Stroud two in the draft should have zero to do with Carolina’s decision-making. But let’s be real. An emotional owner like Tepper has to find the juxtaposition between his QB and Houston’s unacceptable. So Reich walks the plank. The Panthers won five of their last eight games last year, which led some in Carolina to think the franchise, with some good defensive pieces, was just a quarterback away from contention. Let’s look how they won those five games. Carolina rushed for an average of 226 yards per game in those five wins, an astounding 5.1 yards per rush—after trading Christian McCaffrey. More astounding: Carolina had a fifties-era run-pass ratio of 69-31, crazy at a time when the average rushing rate is about 41 percent per game. The Panthers didn’t trade a huge ransom to be a counter-culture running team. Changing to a passing team, particularly after trading the number one receiver as part of the package to draft Young, wasn’t going to happen overnight. Changing a football philosophy takes time. Chuck Noll was 1-13 his first year in Pittsburgh, Bill Walsh 2-14 in his first year in San Francisco, Jimmy Johnson 1-15 in his first year in Dallas. They went on to win 10 Super Bowls, total, with those teams. Not saying Reich would have won anything, but how can you know, 10 months into his tenure? (In Detroit, Dan Campbell in his first 11 games was 0-10-1; he’s 20-14 since.) Young hasn’t played well overall. But he’s also been under significant pressure consistently. Over his first 11 games, he’s the only regular starter this year to have faced pressure on at least a third of his pass-drops each game, per Next Gen Stats. Not healthy for a good passing game, particularly after trading your best receiver. One more Next Gen negative: Carolina left tackle Ikem Ekwonu has allowed the fourth-most pressures (62) among all offensive linemen—and center Bradley Bozeman is worst in the league at his position in sacks (eight) and pressures (40) allowed. There’s one other thing, as told to me by one NFL offensive coach with a long history in the league: “One thing these owners who fire people quickly don’t understand is what it takes to build a team, particularly a team with a rookie quarterback. The quarterback comes in his first year after the draft, and it’s a short offseason, and if he’s going to start right away, it’s an accelerated process. So you go through that first year, and you’re looking forward to correcting all his mistakes and continuing to build him up in a full off-season in year two. So you fire his head coach who I’m sure was pretty hands-on and his quarterback coach in the middle of his first year, and he works with other people for the rest of that year, and then everybody gets fired, and then there’s a third group that comes in to coach the young quarterback. I mean, maybe they’ll keep the coaches who stayed after Reich, but I doubt it. So the young quarterback getting coached by three different sets of people in his first 12 months as your franchise quarterback. How is that healthy?” It isn’t. It’s lunacy. What is bothersome about Tepper is he camped out in Matt Rhule’s driveway in Waco, Texas, waiting for him to come back from vacation with his family in January 2020, just so he could get the first shot at hiring him. He gave Rhule a rich seven-year contract, and fired him a month into the third season. He hired Reich, who taught Carson Wentz in his best year in Philly, who was hands-on with Nick Foles in the Super Bowl year, who had playoff years with Andrew Luck and Philip Rivers in Indy, and then he got dumb in his first 10 months in Carolina. How does Tepper entrust him on a clear rebuild with a patchwork offensive line and after trading the number one receiver—and then fire him when the team is awful three months in? I feel for the fans in Carolina. The Panthers will have to either franchise or overpay their best player, edge rusher Brian Burns, a free agent in March, to stay on this sinking ship. After dealing McCaffrey and D.J. Moore in the last 14 months, they’ve got massive offensive holes and their only proven, reliable receiver, Adam Thielen, will be 34 next opening day. The way to not fix things is with impatience, which is Tepper’s best trait. The Panthers are miles from hopelessness, and the captain of the ship leads the league in panic. He’s Steinbrenner without the winning. Now the question is: Is there anyone in his life, or in the Panthers’ organization, who can keep David Tepper from driving this franchise off a cliff?

I don't really think we have much chance of getting Ben Johnson. I'd be good with getting Frank Smith, though.

I don't have that much of a problem with it once we get this far into the season. Guys like this might not have a full year in them but sometimes they've still got enough left to play five or six games.

I don't believe either of the Teppers are actually making deals or closing transactions directly or anything of that sort. With Dave though, I think he expresses preferences over players he wants, players he doesn't care for, how he wants things done, etc. That's really all the meddling he or any owner has to do to royally screw things up.