Coaching and GM Candidates (Broad List)

[Mr. Scot]

Not a whole lot of research involved here, just some names I pulled from recent articles about hot head coaching and GM prospects. Some of them have links attached if you wanna do your own reading.

Consider this just a general list for the moment. There won't ultimately be anywhere near this many serious candidates for either spot but there's not enough info available yet to accurately narrow the lists. What you've got here is basically pretty much anyone who might be a possibility next season.

Let's start with the coaches. I've put 'em into categories to be helpful and added my own thoughts and analysis in green.

GUYS WITH PANTHER CONNECTIONS

GREG ROMAN
Offensive Coordinator, Baltimore Ravens; Age 47

Roman would be a popular choice. He's also going to be a popular candidate, so if the Panthers want him, they may have to move quickly and be ready to pony up some cash. He spent several years working his way up with the Panthers but that was under Jerry Richardson. While he has no connection to David Tepper that I know of, Tepper may know him by reputation from his time in Pittsburgh.

ASSISTANT HEAD COACHES

DAN CAMPBELL
Assistant Head Coach / TE Coach, New Orleans Saints; Age 43

DAVE TOUB
Assistant Head Coach / Special Teams Coordinator, Kansas City Chiefs; Age 57

Campbell and Toub have both had multiple head coaching interviews and it's generally only considered a matter of time before both get jobs. Campbell is my top choice. I've read plenty on him. He has good coaching philosophies and his time serving with guys like Sean Payton and Bill Parcells certainly helps. Toub would be an outside the box hire as an ST coach, but so was John Harbaugh.

OFFENSIVE COACHES

BRIAN DABOLL
Offensive Coordinator, Buffalo Bills; Age 44

ERIC BIENIEMY
Offensive Coordinator, Kansas City Chiefs; Age 50

KEVIN STEFANSKI
Offensive Coordinator, Minnesota Vikings; Age 37

NICK SIRIANNI
Offensive Coordinator, Indianapolis Colts; Age 38

Daboll has a "sort of" Panthers connection in that he works with Sean McDermott and Brandon Beane in Buffalo. Bienemy is a popular guy right now though possibly waning somewhat. Personally, I'm not a fan of Andy Reid assistants. Stefanski and Sirianni strike me as reaches in the "next Sean McVay" mode.

DEFENSIVE COACHES

ROBERT SALEH
Defensive Coordinator, San Francisco 49ers; Age 40

KRIS RICHARD
Passing Game Coordinator for Defensive Backs, Dallas Cowboys; Age 40

MATT EBERFLUS
Defensive Coordinator, Indianapolis Colts; Age 49

Saleh is arguably the top candidate in the league at the moment but I'm not up for another defensive coach.  Ditto Richard and Eberflus. 

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

So those are the coaches. Let's look at the GMs.

FYI: Many teams don't have online bios for front office staff. I've added other links for a few that had them.

Starting with...

GUYS WITH CONNECTIONS TO DAVID TEPPER

KEVIN COLBERT
General Manager, Pittsburgh Steelers; Age 62

OMAR KHAN
Vice President of Football & Business Administration, Pittsburgh Steelers; Age 42

BRANDON HUNT
Pro Scouting Coordinator, Pittsburgh Steelers

Colbert is reported to be a close Tepper confidant, as is Khan.  The situation in Pittsburgh may have both men on the outs though. Colbert is speculated to be on the hot seat due potentially to differences with Mike Tomlin, who is said to now have more power in Pittsburgh than Colbert (a possible reason why Colbert declined the last extension offered). It's generally believed that Tepper would offer him absolute power to remake the Panthers as he wished.  As to Khan, he's been a "bridesmaid" in several seasons and many expected if Colbert retired that Khan would ascend, but that's changed. Word now is that the Steelers are looking at Brandon Hunt as Colbert's heir apparent (though he could be available if that doesn't pan out). The problem with Khan is that he's not really a talent evaluator but more of a contract negotiator. In that role, he's generally considered the best in the league, and would be an asset if he were to follow Colbert to Carolina.

GUYS WITH CONNECTIONS TO THE PANTHERS

RYAN COWDEN
Vice President of Player Personnel, Tennessee Titans
Panthers Area Scout, Assistant Director of College Scouting, 2001-2016

TRENT KIRCHNER
Co-Director of Player Personnel, Seattle Seahawks
Panthers Pro Scout, 2002-2010

LAKE DAWSON
Assistant Director of College Scout, Buffalo Bills; Age 47
Previously interviewed twice for Panthers GM job

DAN MORGAN
Director of Player Personnel, Buffalo Bills; Age 40
Panthers player, 2001-2007

KEVIN ABRAMS
Assistant GM, New York Giants
Works under prior Panthers GM Dave Gettleman

Cowden and Kirchner were believed to be candidates for the Panthers GM job when Marty Hurney was only the interim (more on that later). Dawson actually did get an interview (and a second one, when Hurney was embroiled in a scandal thanks to his ex-wife) and is currently a colleague of former Panthers exec Brandon Beane. Morgan is considered something of a rising star in the personnel world. Abrams, like Omar Khan, is more contract negotiator than talent evaluator and his Panthers connections are really only "shirttail".

PRIOR PANTHER INTERVIEWEES

JIMMY RAYE
Senior Personnel Executive, Detroit Lions; Age 51

MARTIN MAYHEW
Senior Personnel Executive, San Francisco 49ers; Age 54

GEORGE PATON
Assistant General Manager, Minnesota Vikings

Along with Lake Dawson, Raye and Mayhew were interviewed to satisfy the Rooney Rule. Team owner Jerry Richardson had intended to simply leave Hurney with the "interim" title perpetually so that he wouldn't have to interview anyone else. When complaints were lodged that Richardson was violating The Rooney Rule, the Panthers went overboard to make a show of interviewing minority candidates. It was generally believed to be a sham, confirmed when Hurney got the job anyway. Paton was interviewed during the cycle theat eventually saw Dave Gettleman hired. In recent years, he's been known to turn down interview offers, with speculation being that he's waiting to take over the Vikings from Rick Spielman once he retires.

POPULAR CANDIDATES

ED DODDS
Assistant General Manager, Indianapolis Colts

MIKE BORGONZI
Director of Football Operations, Kansas City Chiefs

JOE HORTIZ
Director of College Scouting, Baltimore Ravens

SCOTT FITTERER
Co-Director of Player Personnel, Seattle Seahawks

Fitterer shares an odd "co-chief" arrangement with Trent Kirchner.  Dodds is a name on the rise thanks to his work under Colts GM Chris Ballard.  Borgonzi and Hortiz are also risers in their respective team offices. Borgonzi is said to be a guy who gets promoted almost annually and Hortiz will likely be popular thanks to the Ravens success (among other things with choosing Lamar Jackson). Truthfully, these are guys that I'm including right now for the sake of being thorough. They might be worth a deeper look if they materialize as real possibilities.

LESS LIKELY CANDIDATES

NICK CASERIO
Director of Player Personnel, New England Patriots; Age 43

WILL MCCLAY
Vice President of Player Personnel, Dallas Cowboys; Age 53

TERRY FONTENOT
Director of Pro Scouting, New Orleans Saints

ELIOT WOLF
Assistant General Manager, Cleveland Browns

ANDREW BERRY
Vice President of Football Operations, Philadelphia Eagles

LOUIS RIDDICK
ESPN Commentator, Former NFL Executive; Age 50

Caserio was said to have the Texans GM job before the Patriots apparently blocked it.  It's believed he'll join the Texans in some capacity next season after his contract expires.  McClay and Wolf are longtime candidates whose stars may have faded somewhat with their teams taking a downturn.  Fontenot and Berry are "future" prospects. Riddick is a source of speculation on an annual basis but nothing's come of it yet.
 

RETREADS

JOE DOUGLAS
General Manager, New York Jets; Age 42

JEFF IRELAND
Assistant General Manager / College Scouting Director, New Orleans Saints; Age 51

JERRY REESE
Former General Manager, New York Giants; Age 56

REGGIE MCKENZIE
Senior Personnel Executive, Miami Dolphins; Age 56

Douglas is an interesting case in that he technically has a job but might not at season's end because the Jets are performing poorly. He was speculated to be a potential candidate for the Panthers job last year also but it didn't come available (his time with the Ravens and Eagles hold him in good stead). Of the rest, Ireland is still remembered as the guy who asked "that question" of Dez Bryant. McKenzie was actually doing a half-decent job in Oakland but was forced out by Jon Gruden. As to Reese, it's said that several league executives really want to see him get another shot as a GM. That's fine, but I''m not up for it happening with us.

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Reminder: The jobs still aren't officially available just yet.  There's that expectation, but these things are very, very fluid, and even if both jobs are open the ultimate candidate lists will be significantly smaller.

But for now, speculate away

[4Corners]

Next coach will be Mike Tomlin. That is 100%. 

[Ivan The Awesome]

I was waiting for this list. I was actually going to ask you when you were going to drop it. lol. 

 

My wet dream would be an OC because for the love of god I want to be able to score!!! Especially with this crop of talent they have. Assuming that Cam is still here, I'd like to see what a fresh pair of eyes can do with Cam, CMC, Moore, etc. 

 

If they go Defensive minded coach again, I wouldn't mind Saleh from SF. The dude is always fired up and I'd welcome someone with that intensity to light a fire up players asses. 

[Adb6368]

Will he be crazy enough to go after the college football scene? Harbaugh, Riley, the guy from Baylor ? All will be popular candidates

[Mr. Scot]

33 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

Next coach will be Mike Tomlin. That is 100%. 

Highly unlikely, and not just because Tepper was said to be one of the people trying to get him fired.

Word out of Pittsburgh is that final say on personnel matters no longer belongs to Kevin Colbert, but to Tomlin. Seems there may have been a bit of a power struggle in the offices up there, and Tomlin won it.

His power, and connection to the Rooneys, are apparently at an all time high, so no real reason to expect he'll be heading elsewhere at any point in the near future.

Also worth noting that "The Steeler Way" which David Tepper knows so well doesn't hire retread head coaches.

[Moo Daeng]

7 minutes ago, 4Corners said:

Next coach will be Mike Tomlin. That is 100%. 

zero chance

[Mr. Scot]

Here's a little tinfoil hattery that some may appreciate...

Let's say we get Kevin Colbert (known friend of Tepper, believed to be on the hot seat, and not under contract after this year).

Colbert has spent the entirety of his GM career in what division? The AFC North.

Who else is in the AFC North? The Baltimore Ravens.

Who's a popular head coach candidate from the Ravens with prior Panther connections?

That'd be Greg Roman.

I've said before that my preferred combo is Kevin Colbert and Dan Campbell, but looking at the tea leaves, a Colbert / Roman duet seems like a real possibility.

[Ivan The Awesome]

I just hope they do due diligence in this next search. Also that they are selective on who they hire. Be capricious about the hire. The next Coach and GM should come from solid organizations, not be retreads and if they are, they better have a good track record. Mediocrity shouldn't be in their resumes. Instead back to back winning seasons and maybe even a SB win. Which I know slims down the search a bit. The bottom floor should be a consistent contender with back to back winning seasons, Ceiling obviously SB winner(s) in the last 10 years. 

 

I hope Tepper has that mind set. 

[Moo Daeng]

Greg Roman was highly criticized in SF. He's killing it this year but need to see more than one year.

[ellis]

Great stuff, Scot

[Mr. Scot]

3 minutes ago, Moo Daeng said:

Greg Roman was highly criticized in SF. He's killing it this year but need to see more than one year.

I'm not as big a fan as others. Campbell's got a better record in my opinion.

People point to him not being a coordinator but forget he was an interim head coach for twelve games.

2 minutes ago, ellis said:

Great stuff, Scot

I'm guessing you like the conspiracy theory posted above

[Mr. Scot]

Speaking of conspiracy theories, one of the things I wonder about with Greg Roman is whether people believe that he'll reach out to a former pupil of his, a certain 32 year old guy who's been out of football for a while.

There was word that Baltimore was willing to take a look at him previously but it never materialized because said player's girlfriend got into an online tiff with Ravens legend Ray Lewis and things kinda soured.

Me personally? I think Roman would probably go get his own guy, but ya never know.

[Ivan The Awesome]

11 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Here's a little tinfoil hattery that some may appreciate...

Let's say we get Kevin Colbert (known friend of Tepper, believed to be on the hot seat, and not under contract after this year).

Colbert has spent the entirety of his GM career in what division? The AFC North.

Who else is in the AFC North? The Baltimore Ravens.

Who's a popular head coach candidate from the Ravens with prior Panther connections?

That'd be Greg Roman.

I've said before that my preferred combo is Kevin Colbert and Dan Campbell, but looking at the tea leaves, a Colbert / Roman duet seems like a real possibility.

 

Shoot, I wouldn't be mad at that Combo. The only thing I'd "gripe" about is  Colberts age, but even then, he has a great track record and knows talent when he sees it. 

 

Is it bad to be fantasizing over possible GM/Coaches before the season ends? 

[kungfoodude]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Speaking of conspiracy theories, one of the things I wonder about with Greg Roman is whether people believe that he'll reach out to a former pupil of his, a certain 32 year old guy who's been out of football for a while.

There was word that Baltimore was willing to take a look at him previously but it never materialized because said player's girlfriend got into an online tiff with Ravens legend Ray Lewis.

Me personally? I think Roman would probably go get his own guy, but ya never know.

Who are "people?"