ProcessBlue2

https://x.com/tompelissero/status/1742959072444285385?s=46 NFL PA had players rate the coordinators they play for. Thomas Brown and Chris Tabor finish 2nd for OC and STC. Interestingly no Ben Johnson in the top 5.

Tepper going to hire him just so he can said he fired Bill Belichick

HCs have pressers after the game on Sunday, Mondays, Wednesday, and Fridays. Coordinators have pressers on Thursdays. Been this way for a while.

I think it’s just the regular coordinators press conference day

I have a hard time imagining that. Charlotte and the surrounding area is growing at rapid speeds. The smart move would have been the Rock Hill project and eventually built his own “Jerry World” there while keeping BOA for his beloved FC, concerts, and other events events like fan fest but he ruined that. I don’t think the NFL lets him leave and if they do, they will have a 5-10 year plan to put another team here whether it’s through expansions or moving an existing team. As much of a failure as he has been as an owner, it’s just a matter of time before he figures it out. Dan Snyder was a special kind of evil owner, Tepper is just incredibly inept. He will eventually get bored and hand it over to football people or get so ego bruised that he does it. Whether that’s now or 10 years is the real question.

The ghost of Jerry Richardson has a huddle account

Oh yeah I wasn’t arguing that. I just brought it up because i don’t think some people realize that role already exists and somebody is in it.

I keep seeing stuff like this posted. Everyone here knows the Panthers already has a Team President right?

She’s technically already the Chief Administrative Officer.

Ain’t gonna lie, most accurate throw by a Panther all day.

Article from the future April 2024- New Panthers HC Thomas Brown talked to the media today and shared his thoughts on the Panthers trading their 25’ and 26’ 1st round picks to move into the 22nd pick of this months draft. A bold but head scratching move from David Tepper who has stepped in as GM after the dismissal of Scott Fitterer and Dan Morgan and promotion of Samir Suleiman to Assistant GM. Brown, who was selected to be the Panthers next HC despite only being a play caller for half a season hired Matt Canada as OC to assist in running the Carolina offense. Ejiro Evero was not retained by the Panthers who looked to replace him with a familiar face- Eric Washington. Washington will also have Brian Burns to lean on this season after the Panthers made him the highest paid edge in the NFL and also extended Jaycee Horn. Derrick Brown was traded for two 4th round picks in an effort to save cap space after the addition of big name WR Curtis Samuel rejoining the Panthers last month.

I'm not going to be upset if we don't get Johnson. Honestly, there is so much hype around him it makes me nervous that he will end up being a bust. The main reason I don't mind if we don't get Johnson is we really need a culture-setter type. We can't seem to do anything right, have zero discipline, get pushed around, hell we only have like 2 guys who has actually seen a winning season in a Panthers' uniform. Need a culture reset big time. That's why I don't really care if we get a Belichick, Harbaugh, or Quinn for 2-3 years. Build a culture and learn to do the basic things right and then go get the next Ben Johnson, because there will be one. I think Campbell is that guy in Detroit, I don't think he is going to take them far in the postseason. He is that bridge that is going to connect the old Lions to this more refined Lions team that will attract a candidate that will take them there in a year or two.

Scott Chinnerer.

I think he would bring in Greg Roman. Roman "stepped down" after last year and has taken this year off. He was Jim's OC in San Francisco from 2011-2014 and John's from 2019-2022 and was on the staff in 2017 and 2018 as well. He was also Carolina's Asst. OL coach from 95-01.

Threw my little chart together. Gimme the Jags 23-21 in another close one.

They have covered the last two weeks. I wouldn't be shocked, I've seen it at -7 some places.

He also has a Masters in Sports Management

Just in case anyone missed the 12, here is the list: 1. Frank Smith 2. Jim Harbaugh 3. Ben Johnson 4. Bobby Slowik 5. Dan Quinn 6. Kellen Moore 7. Brian Callahan 8. Ejiro Evero 9. Chris Tabor 10. Shane Waldron 11. Mike Macdonald 12. Brian Johnson I will probably throw together one more thread after this within the next week and look at all the potential openings for HCs. Once the season ends, I'll probably build a thread and we can rank all of the openings and discuss the best possible HC matches once all the firings/retirements have happened. Thank you all for your kind words regarding my medical issue on the other thread. I broke a femur and while it is healing and I am recovering well, the time confined to the house is actually the most painful part, so it is nice to have something like this to share and exchange thoughts and opinions. Honorable Mentions Bill Belichick, HC- New England Patriots: I really don’t think this is going to happen but man… I can’t rule it out. I can totally see some universe where Carolina is left with the “bottom-of-the-barrel” type candidates and Belichick is just sitting out there. Like the only two people on the floor without a dance partner looking across at each other… I think I would just retire if I was Bill though. Really though, bringing in Bill would still be Tepper’s best hire so far. We would probably get a Bill O’ Brien/ Bryce Young reunion (Yay, I guess) and we would probably get about two. 500 seasons before Bill went on his way. BUT I do think there would be some benefit there. I think he can bring a lot of guidance to the front office on how to not look like rodeo clowns. I do think he would break through this pervasive layer of softness we see among the players. (The past few years have yielded some of the softest Panther teams I’ve ever seen). The social media team would probably get knocked down a notch or two as well. I don’t see Bill letting them run up likes and inflate the value of a player because he has some cool saying if he is trying to mentally beat into submission. Overall, it may not be that bad. He would be trying to break Shula’s record as fast as possible so he can go rest on a hill somewhere (He will be 72 next season) so there would be motivation. Jim Caldwell, Actual OC- Carolina Panthers: Yeah, I said it. You all know it too; you just don’t want to discredit Thomas Brown. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that the offense started changing as soon as Caldwell could touch it. Before you say it, yeah, I know- Thomas Brown was probably at the mercy of Frank’s scheme (even though Brown assembled the playbook- wink wink). It’s okay though, Frazier and Brown are learning under Caldwell and I am sure they have something to do with the improvements too… Anyways, I must throw Jim’s name in the HMs because well it is possible. I think Tabor and Evero have better chances of those on the staff even though Jim has a 62-50 NFL record and conference championship (Yeah, I know his QB was Peyton Manning). Caldwell will be 69 in about 3 weeks and while I don’t see him becoming the HC anywhere, I wouldn’t rule out him staying in the league in some type of capacity- Maybe a similar role as what he started the season as. Mike Kafka, OC- New York Giants: Kafka interviewed with the Panthers for the job last offseason. After the Giants had a surprising introductory season with its new staff, Kafka was on a few radars. He’s from Andy Reid’s tree, in his 30s, and is a former NFL QB, so he checks the boxes. However, after this embarrassing season from the Giants, it may do him good to sit this cycle out since I am sure interest has dropped since last year. He is also one of those I was talking about that may do themselves a favor by leaving to be the OC somewhere else. Daboll calls the plays in New York so Kafka could be open to joining a different staff as the play caller. Then on the other hand, waiting until he is a hot commodity may not be the smartest decision. I took Kafka out of the main 12 when Macdonald started climbing up the betting odds ladder. If I had to throw one back in, it would probably be Kafka. (I really considered putting him in over Brian Johnson as well). Todd Monken, OC- Baltimore Ravens: Monken is an interesting candidate. The 57-year-old is having some success in his first year as OC for the Ravens, ranking 5th in total offense, 21st in passing, and 4th in rushing. For those unaware, he was the OC at the University of Georgia the last 3 years prior to joining the Ravens in 2023. He also has been in a few different OC roles in the NFL- some play calling, some not. He is also somebody that I think needs to possibly have another season. I could also see people just simply not being as interested because he is pushing 60. His only time as a HC came from 2013-2015 at Southern Miss and uh, it wasn't too good. While I think he will get some looks this year, I imagine next season is when he will really be the top of some lists- IF he can duplicate his success. The Not Happenings Eric Bienemy, OC- Washington Commanders: I know there are so many people pulling for Eric, I am one of them. He is not the guy to come down here and fix the Panthers. Call it what you want, but him leaving Reid and going to the Commanders was supposed to showcase his ability as an actual play caller and it has done the opposite. I would rather go with whatever Caldwell/Brown has cooked up the last few weeks than what he has to offer. I do hope he gets another chance in an OC role though. Who knows, it may be in Carolina? But it won’t be in Carolina as Head Coach. Nick Saban, HC- Alabama Crimson Tide: There is a small group out there screaming for Tepper to pay Nick Saban to come to the Panthers and fix Bryce Young. You have a better chance of convincing Bill Cowher to come out of retirement in my opinion and thinking he would leave Alabama to come work for Tepper is truly outrageous. Lincoln Riley, HC- USC Trojans: This is about like the above. Riley isn’t coming to the Panthers, maybe he flirts with the idea of the NFL with some other team like the Chargers, but I doubt it. Ron Rivera, HC- Washington Commanders I know one of y’all is going to bring it up. No, just no.

*Tepper enters press conference* "Damn it, I meant the other Johnson"

Brian Johnson, OC- Philadelphia Eagles I am not going to write a ton about Brian Johnson because he barely made it out of the Honorable Mentions. He barely edges out Kafka in the main 12 and only because he does actually call plays in Philadelphia. The 36-year-old was born in Barrett Station, TX. He played QB for the Utah Utes where he backed up Alex Smith and had a fairly successful college career once Alex moved on to the draft, finishing with a 26-7 record which made him the winningest QB in Utah’s history. Johnson spent time as QB coach and Offensive Coordinator for a few different schools since 2010: 2010-2011- University of Utah- QB Coach 2012-2013- University of Utah- OC & QB Coach 2014-2016- Mississippi State- QB Coach 2017- University of Houston- OC & QB Coach 2018-2019- University of Florida- QB Coach 2020- University of Florida- OC & QB Coach In 2021, when Sirianni took over as the Eagles HC he hired Johnson as his QB Coach. Johnson worked under OC Shane Steichen in 2021 and 2022 before taking over as OC in 2023. Despite being ranked 8th in total offense, 14th in passing, and 6th in rushing, he is quite disliked by the fan base… like a lot. There were high expectations for Johnson and the first-year play caller has been criticized for his situational play calling and blocking schemes. Many attributes the Eagles offensive success to OL Coach Jeff Stoutland and Passing Game Coordinator Kevin Patullo (Who I think is a major OC candidate for teams this year). Johnson’s stock has definitely fallen since the start of the season, but it’s difficult to see how much of it is actually his fault and how much of it is just teams understanding the Eagle’s offensive tendencies better. Eagles fans are known to be a bit dramatic. Unfortunately for this guy, I feel like he will get many false interviews just to satisfy the “Rooney Rule” for many teams. While I don’t think he is hottest or most likely candidate on the list, I do think he gets an interview and that’s call Kellen Moore needed with this front office to move all the way to runner-up last year, despite losing his job weeks earlier.

Macdonald was originally going to be one of my honorable mention candidates but after climbing up to 2nd on the betting odds for the next Panthers HC, I pushed him into main 12. Mike Macdonald, DC- Baltimore Ravens At 36 years old, Macdonald is the youngest candidate in this group of 12 (Bobby Slowik is a whopping 2 weeks older). He was born in Boston, MA but attended High School in Roswell, GA where he played football and baseball. He attended the University of Georgia and obtained a degree in finance and graduated summa cum laude. While in college, he coached football at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, GA during his Junior and Senior year at Georgia. In 2010, he was a Graduate assistant for the University of Georgia (Mark Richt’s tenure) and would later serve as a Defensive quality control assistant from 2011-2013. In 2014, he was hired by the Baltimore Ravens as a coaching intern. In 2015-2016 Macdonald was promoted to a Defensive assistant role. He would earn his first position coach role in 2017 taking over as Defensive Backs coach for that season. During this season the Ravens’ secondary would finish 2nd in the NFL in best Defensive Passer Rating and finished with 22 interceptions. In 2018, Wink Martindale was promoted to Defensive Coordinator and the Linebackers Position coach role was given to Macdonald. Macdonald stayed in this role until 2021 when Jim Harbaugh (John’s brother for those that never put that together) offered Macdonald the Defensive Coordinator role at the University of Michigan. During this season Michigan’s defense became the nation’s 8th best scoring defense, it finished 20th in ypg- allowed, and 11th in redzone efficiency. (Before you scoff, remember there are a lot more than 32 teams in the NCAA). The group finished with a National Ranking of 3rd in total defense. In 2022, Martindale and John Harbaugh “mutually” agreed to part ways after the Ravens finished 25th in total defense and Martindale joined Daboll as DC for the New York Giants. Macdonald was brought back to the Ravens as DC for the 2022 season. In 2022, the Ravens finished 10th in total defense, ranking 26th against the pass and 3rd against the run. Currently in 2023 the Ravens rank 12th in total defense, ranking 6th against the pass and 12th against the run. All together I think Macdonald will be hired this cycle. I am unsure why Macdonald has shot to the top of the Panthers betting odds, not because he isn’t a good coach or something but because he is a young defensive coordinator with not many offensive connections. The Panthers have a pretty decent defensive coordinator on staff now that could be a head coach, so I don’t know why they would go this direction. To be fair, Evero’s defense is concealed well behind a stat curtain. While it ranks 5th in the NFL that is mostly due to the success against the pass. Evero’s defense ranks 21st against the run, 32nd (last) in sacks, 32nd (last) in takeaways, and 30th in points allowed. So perhaps the Panthers aren’t as afraid of losing Evero as originally thought. I have a hard time seeing a scenario where the Panthers hire Macdonald. The only way I see it happening is if Tepper is being guided to do so by a consultant or advisor and it is a move for a full-blown culture reset. Harbaugh has had one of the most consistently successful teams in the NFL for the last 16 years so it would make sense to bring somebody in who has been there for majority of it. I don’t really know what the plan for the offense would be in this scenario unless it was to keep Caldwell/Brown out of the sake of familiarity with Bryce or attempt to scoop up a Kellen Moore type who likely will fall through the HC search cracks. Perhaps they would be able to convince a coordinator who is not a play caller to join the staff or grab Bienemy from Rivera’s dispersed staff. (Although he has been quite unimpressive away from Reid this season). I don’t think Macdonald to Carolina would be a terrible hire, but a head scratcher for sure. We have seen weirder things like oh I don’t know- camping out in a Big 12 coach’s driveway and hiring him while Mike McCarthy has interviewed twice. Or you know that one time an interim coach brought you one game away from the playoffs after you fired your coach mid-season and you replaced him with a coach that just got fired mid-season. So on second thought, maybe this is possible.

Sure thing. I had him as an honorable mention but with the recent movement, I think that pushes him into the Top 12.

I haven't forgotten about him. Shane Waldron, OC- Seattle Seahawks Waldron received some HC candidate attention after Geno Smith’s break out year. He is a 44-year-old Oregon native who played college football at Tufts as Long Snapper and TE until his graduation in 2002. After college, he served as an Operations Intern and then Operations Assistant from 2002-2004 for the New England Patriots. Following this, he spent time as a Graduate Assistant on Notre Dame’s coaching staff from 2005-2007 (you guessed it, Charlie Weis). In 2008, he was hired as an Offensive Quality Control Coach for the Patriots and promoted to Tight Ends coach in 2009. However, his career would hit a ditch and in 2010 he was shipped to Europe where he coached the Hartford Colonials before falling to the high school ranks at BB&N as Offensive Coordinator. He would spend 2012-2015 at UMASS coaching TEs a couple of years followed by the Offensive Line for a couple of years before finally getting another shot at the NFL in 2016 when Redskins’ OC Sean McVay gave him a shot as Offensive Quality Control Coach. McVay liked Waldron enough that he brought him to LA the following year to serve on his staff after being named the new HC of the Rams. In LA, Waldron served as Tight Ends Coach in 2017 and Passing Game Coordinator from 2018-2020 before getting his current role of Offensive Coordinator with Seattle in 2021. During his time in Seattle his units have ranked and are currently ranked: 2021 Overall-20th Pass-23rd Run- 11th 2022 Overall- 12th Pass- 12th Run- 18th 2023 Overall-22nd Pass-15th Run-29th It was reported that Wilson wanted Waldron due to his success with McVay’s system in LA following the termination of former Seahawk’s OC Brian Schottenheimer. However, Wilson would be catapulted out of Seattle the following season. One potential positive from Waldron is that he does have experience calling plays, this will be his 3rd consecutive season. Some Seattle fans want him to take the reins once Carroll retires. Others would enjoy running him out of town yesterday and consider his success with Geno last year a fluke. I imagine his stock has went down some from last season, but I think he will still get a fair amount of interest from a HC needy cycle. He doesn’t have any overlap with Fitterer in Seattle (which is a good thing) and coached alongside Ejiro Evero in LA which may convince him to potentially stick around on his well-paid DC contract should his HC search not yield results. Overall, I don’t view Waldron as a horrible candidate. I have him ranked in my “tier two” section. There is just a lot of gray with Waldron. For example, he could have HC consideration, he could sit in place and take over for Carroll (should he retire), he could be cast away if Carroll’s team is dissolved following retirement and need work as an OC- just a lot of gray. Regardless of here or somewhere else, I’ll be interested to see just what his next 2-3 years look like. He gives me the impression of a guy who can be an overnight sensational HC or a guy coaching TEs again somewhere. Hi all, I have 3 posts left. Parts 11 and 12, and then I will finish up with an Honor Mentions/Predictions post. I have been out of work on medical the last few weeks and doing this has kept me sane. I appreciate those of you that have taken the time to read these and collaborated. I obviously don’t do this for a living, but with my ability to move being temporarily limited I have needed this to occupy my mind and I appreciate you all letting me do this. Thanks Again.

Other than reminding me of Jon and Jay Gruden’s potentially lost cousin, Tabor reminds me of my uncle. So happy-go-lucky and positive, I really miss seeing him around holidays like these. While I think his chances are slim, I think there is a fraction of a chance. So let’s look at it. Chris Tabor, Interim HC/STC- Carolina Panthers Chris Tabor was born in 1971 in St. Joseph, MO. He was the son of a high school football coach and would play QB for Benedictine College just a few miles from his hometown. His brothers: Donnie, Matt, and Michael would also play football for Benedictine College. He would coach a season at his alma mater, Benton High School and then Hutchinson Community College for a year each. He would then go to Central Methodist for two years as OC before a 4-year stint at Missouri. In his time at Missouri he would spend 3 years as a Graduate Assistant before moving to Running Backs and Special Teams Coach in his final season. In 2001, he would be named Head Coach for Culver-Stockton College in Canton, MO where he would lead them to a 6-5 record. From 02-05 Tabor called Utah State home, where he coached various positions along with Special Teams and would serve as Assistant Head Coach for a stint. In 06 and 07 he would coach Running Backs and Special Teams at Western Michigan before getting his NFL break. He was hired in 2008 by Lovie Smith to be the Assistant Special Teams Coach under Dave Toub for the Chicago Bears. For those unaware, Dave Toub is arguably one of the best ones to coach STs and has spent the last 10 or so years in Kansas City with Andy Reid. He would spend 3 seasons with Toub in Chicago before getting hired by Pat Shurmur in Cleveland as Special Teams Coordinator. During his time in Cleveland he would be retained by 3 new Head Coaches following his initial hiring by Shurmur in 2011- Rob Chudzinski, Mike Pettine, and Hugh Jackson. In 2018, he left Cleveland to return to Chicago as Nagy’s Special Teams Coordinator until the staff was fired following the 2021 season. During the 2021 season he served as interim HC for Nagy during a loss against the 49ers. Matt Rhule hired Tabor going into 2022, and he was retained under new HC Frank Reich going into 2023. With 6 games left in this season, he was named Interim HC after Reich’s firing. The thing about Tabor is there has been a noticeable change. Almost immediately the offense was opened up some and there is somewhat of a run game. After this past week, Bryce looks like he is getting the guidance he needs and there are some signs of growth. I would dare say the team itself appears to be more motivated at 2-13 than it was at 0-0. So, what are his odds at HC? Well... there’s a small shot. In a few other write-ups I have talked about the scenario where the good candidates get missing early in a cycle with more teams than usual needing a HC. During this scenario where you have to pick between Kellen Moore, Bobby Slowik, or a guy on your staff already. Do you just go with your guy? Well, I think so. Most of these coaches are still under contract, there may be another season of Scott Fitterer, and there isn’t a 1st round pick to look forward to. If you finish the season with some momentum, why not give your guy a shot going into a year with depleted resources? I know, I know- you’re thinking well why wouldn’t you give it to Evero? Well, who’s to say he wants it, especially in some Tepper gamble year where he has Fitterer walking hot coals inside the halls of BOA stadium each day. Besides, Tepper may just choose Tabor anyways to let the coordinators focus on their jobs and redeem their sins from this past year. I never said it was likely, but it is an option and I’m not shocked if he gets an interview out of respect at the least. I am also not going to be surprised if he stays in his same role for a new coach. I debated on whether or not to include him in the 12, and after thinking on it I decided to add him. Simply because I think he has about the same odds as Evero.

Yeah we got a Patriots practice squad guy there now with Thurman and Tuttle is just a rotational guy really.