Behind the scenes of the coaching search

[Mr. Scot]

Joe Person talks about the events that led up to the hiring of Frank Reich.

Behind the scenes of the Panthers coaching search - The Athletic (subscription required)

Excerpts:

During his end-of-season press conference at Bank of America Stadium, Fitterer told reporters it was “not going to be a large group” of candidates.

But as the Panthers went through the process — which spanned 18 days in two cities and was interrupted by the tragic death of Charlotte FC player Anton Walkes — the Panthers wound up talking to nine candidates as the list kept expanding. 

...

Reich separated himself during his second interview, which took place at Tepper’s home in the tiny Quail Hollow neighborhood. Tepper, the hedge-fund billionaire, liked Reich’s plan for his staff and his overall vision for the franchise Reich helped launch as the first quarterback to take a snap during the Panthers’ inaugural 1995 season.

“He’s a man of incredible integrity, an incredible family man, a person we could tell has great process and a great way of doing things,” Tepper said at Reich’s introductory press conference. “A guy that basically checks all the boxes, and a guy you really want to help build a culture and help lead a team, hopefully for the next few years and beyond.”

...

Fitterer told reporters that Nicole Tepper, the owner’s wife and team’s chief administrative officer, would be part of the search. Assistant GM Dan Morgan and vice president of football administration Samir Suleiman also were on the search committee. Panthers president Kristi Coleman sat in on the second round of interviews.

...

When the Panthers were looking for Ron Rivera’s successor in 2020, they met with just four candidates — Rhule, Eric Bienemy, Mike McCarthy and Kevin Stefanski. They canceled a scheduled interview with Josh McDaniels after locking in on Rhule, who had drawn strong interest from the Giants.

McCarthy was the only candidate to interview twice, although his second meeting was one-on-one with former GM Marty Hurney. Tepper was committed to a more thorough search.

...

“I’ll self-admit, we could’ve run a better process last time. And I am learning. And with all humility, I could have done better,” Tepper said last week. “I’m not saying Rhule wasn’t a good coach. Please don’t interpret it that way. I’m saying I could have run a better process last time.”

Tepper said he was present for every interview this time, adding that he, Fitterer and others talked to a range of people familiar with the candidates while reviewing the analytics relevant to them.

...

During his Jan. 10 interview, Wilks laid out his offensive plan, which included pursuing Eagles quarterbacks coach Brian Johnson as his offensive coordinator, according to sources familiar with the talks. But given the disparity between the number of offensive- and defensive-minded coaches in the search, Wilks seemingly faced tough odds.

“He had a legitimate shot,” Fitterer said. “You have to give him respect for what he did for this team during the year. He did a heck of a job leading us. He’s a great man. I’m not going to compare Frank to Steve or anyone else. Frank during the interview process really separated himself at the end.”

...

Reich had time to start preparing for his next job, which Tepper and Fitterer indicated was evident during his first interview.

Each of the Panthers’ offensive-leaning candidates had coached quarterbacks. All but Caldwell also played the position. Though Reich started only 20 games over a 13-year career, he directed two historic comebacks in both college and the NFL, which Tepper said showed “personal grit.”

...

Tepper, who was said to be enamored with Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, described another benefit in targeting an offensive-minded head coach.

“Every year they put some new rule to benefit the offense, every single year. And it’s never gonna end,” he said. “And the reason is scoring brings eyeballs. That’s what the league’s about — getting eyeballs to watch the thing.”

...

Fitterer believes offensive coordinators-turned-head coaches might have an edge in game management — interesting, given that fans were critical of Wilks’ conservative approach at times.

“If it’s fourth-and-3, you’re starting to see that a lot more — guys (going for it) on their own side of the field,” Fitterer said. “An offensive coach knows what he has on the field, and might feel more comfortable going for it in that situation.”

...

The Panthers wrapped up the first week with a virtual interview with Steichen, whose Eagles team had a bye during wild-card weekend. The Panthers also had their first rejection when New England linebackers coach Jerod Mayo declined an interview request, a decision that coincided with the Patriots starting extension talks with him.

A day earlier, an interview with 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was scrapped due to logistics. With the Panthers’ contingent preparing to head to New York for the second week of interviews, they opted against flying to the Bay Area to talk to Ryans, who was preparing for the Niners’ wild-card game against Seattle. It’s unclear why the Panthers didn’t arrange a virtual interview with Ryans, who last week was named the Texans’ head coach.

...

Many in league circles believed the Lions’ Johnson was the favorite for the Panthers’ job. Johnson, a native of Asheville, N.C., and former North Carolina walk-on quarterback, had never called plays before 2022. But the 36-year-old quickly made a name for himself with his creative schemes and play designs, which Tepper referred to as “razzle dazzle.”

But Tepper never had the chance to meet with Johnson, who removed himself from consideration from other job opportunities to remain in Detroit. Johnson had interviewed with Houston and Indianapolis, and there were rumblings that he needed more experience. But a source familiar with Johnson’s thinking said Johnson believed he had unfinished business with the Lions, who jumped from the 22nd-ranked offense in 2021 to No. 4 in his first season as coordinator.

...

Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero had met with the Panthers’ decision-makers on Thursday in New York, where Tepper founded his Appaloosa Management hedge fund in 1993. Evero’s interview went well, which became evident Sunday when the Panthers agreed to terms with him to be Reich’s defensive coordinator.

In addition to Evero, the Panthers talked to a defensive coordinator candidate in New York, and were scheduled to meet with former Saints coach Sean Payton and Moore there later in the week.

But the Panthers’ brass returned to Charlotte on Thursday after learning that Walkes, a defender for the MLS team owned by Tepper, had died following a boat crash in Miami. The Panthers postponed the interviews with Payton and Moore as Tepper grieved with Charlotte FC players at a vigil outside the stadium Thursday evening.

...

Tepper and his team conducted the rest of the search from Charlotte, where Nicole Tepper had to go through the NFL-required, diversity hiring training. CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones reported Jan. 19 that Nicole Tepper had not done so before the search started, and should not have been participating in the interviews. By Friday she had finished the virtual training, which takes less than an hour, according to two league sources familiar with the program.

The Panthers conducted a pair of virtual interviews over the weekend with Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey and Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, scheduling them around their teams’ divisional-round games. While Fitterer, Morgan and Suleiman continued to do background work on the candidates, the Panthers prepared for what would be a big week.

...

Payton was the biggest name in the hiring cycle, but would require the biggest investment — in terms of salary expectations (as much as $20 million a year) and the draft capital required to trade for a Super Bowl-winning coach still under contract with the Saints. The Saints likely would have asked for more from the Panthers to trade Payton within the division.

But Tepper likes making a splash, whether it be pursuing Deshaun Watson or resetting the market with a seven-year, $62 million contract for a college coach with almost no NFL experience. If Tepper was excited about meeting with Payton at the start of the third week of the search, Fitterer and Morgan presumably were less so, considering Payton would want a big say in personnel.

...

The Panthers finished their interview with the 34-year-old Moore before 11:30 a.m., so the Teppers could attend the public memorial for Walkes that afternoon. The boyish-looking Moore was impressive during the abbreviated sit-down, and the Panthers asked him to stay in Charlotte an extra night so they could continue meeting Wednesday.

Following the service for Walkes, the search committee reconvened at the Teppers’ home (previously owned by former Panthers coach John Fox) for a second interview with Wilks. The 53-year-old Wilks might have forced Tepper to remove the interim tag had the Panthers beaten Tampa Bay in Week 17 and gone on to win the division. Instead, Tom Brady led the Bucs back from a 14-0 hole to eliminate the Panthers from playoff contention. In what may have been an ominous sign, Tepper did not attend Wilks’ final game as interim coach the following week in New Orleans, as first reported by NFL.com’s Jim Trotter.

...

Moore was first up Wednesday morning, followed by Reich, whose level of detail during his second interview had the Panthers’ attention. During his first meeting, Reich had three or four possibilities for the coordinator positions, as well as names for the position coaches. During the two-week interval, Fitterer said Reich added to the list, with ideas for roles such as player development.

“The first time he came in, he was dialed in, laid out his plan,” Fitterer said. “Then when he came back in the second time, he took that plan and went deeper, went to a different level.”

Reich offered the Panthers a chance to hire an offensive-oriented coach with more experience than the young coordinators. And unlike Payton, Reich would not insist on having control of the 53-man roster. That would go to Fitterer, who lacked that authority with Rhule (though Fitterer said having final personnel say is an overblown NFL narrative).

...

By the end of Reich’s second interview, it was becoming clear he was the choice. The Panthers offered him the job Thursday and began negotiations on a four-year deal (three shorter than Rhule’s) with his agent. Moments before the Panthers announced Thursday afternoon they had agreed to terms with Reich, Tepper called Wilks to tell him they were going in a different direction, according to sources with knowledge of the situation. 

Edited February 6, 2023 by Mr. Scot

[HPPantherzfan]

Admitting you made a mistake and learning from it.  I like it, I like the process as described here and LOVE the fact that Tepper personally called Wilks to let him know vs having someone else do it.

[Mr. Scot]

Pertinent to Steve Wilks...

Fitterer believes offensive coordinators-turned-head coaches might have an edge in game management — interesting, given that fans were critical of Wilks’ conservative approach at times.

“If it’s fourth-and-3, you’re starting to see that a lot more — guys (going for it) on their own side of the field,” Fitterer said. “An offensive coach knows what he has on the field, and might feel more comfortable going for it in that situation.”

 

[Martin]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Pertinent to Steve Wilks...

Fitterer believes offensive coordinators-turned-head coaches might have an edge in game management — interesting, given that fans were critical of Wilks’ conservative approach at times.

“If it’s fourth-and-3, you’re starting to see that a lot more — guys (going for it) on their own side of the field,” Fitterer said. “An offensive coach knows what he has on the field, and might feel more comfortable going for it in that situation.”

 

I think this was a major sticking point against Wilks. He didn’t go for it in a must win game.

Also, the Athletic version of Joe Person is a very good writer 

[Tr3ach]

Its interesting Tepper apparently wasnt at all the coaching interviews last time.   Maybe he wasnt quite as meddling as we assumed.  Also like Ive said all along, he took ownership of the mistake and basically said it was all on him.  People in new jobs are likely to make mistakes.   Its human nature.  What matters is what you do after the mistakes.  If you learn from them and fix your mistakes you can definitely become good at your job.   Im not saying he definitely WILL become a good owner but i do think that he definitely CAN become a good owner.  Anyone that has already thought that he couldnt had their mind made up anyways

[PanthersGTI]

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

 

The Panthers finished their interview with the 34-year-old Moore before 11:30 a.m., so the Teppers could attend the public memorial for Walkes that afternoon. The boyish-looking Moore was impressive during the abbreviated sit-down, and the Panthers asked him to stay in Charlotte an extra night so they could continue meeting Wednesday.

 

Why they have to do Moore like that lol? Outta nowhere. 

 

Thanks for posting this, very insightful. I like the Reich coming in with a real plan on player development. THAT is exciting. Outside of Campen I cannot remember the last time we felt like our staff could mold a young player all the way to potential. 

[thefuzz]

45 minutes ago, Tr3ach said:

Its interesting Tepper apparently wasnt at all the coaching interviews last time.   Maybe he wasnt quite as meddling as we assumed.  Also like Ive said all along, he took ownership of the mistake and basically said it was all on him.  People in new jobs are likely to make mistakes.   Its human nature.  What matters is what you do after the mistakes.  If you learn from them and fix your mistakes you can definitely become good at your job.   Im not saying he definitely WILL become a good owner but i do think that he definitely CAN become a good owner.  Anyone that has already thought that he couldnt had their mind made up anyways

You misspelled infuriating.

He allowed perpetual F Up Marty Hurney to run the show.  Think about how braindead that is.

[Mr. Scot]

Albert Breer tells the story from his perspective...

If you want to know why the Panthers hired Frank Reich, you can actually go back to the fourth-and-3 that the Eagles converted early in the NFC title game. On the play, from the Niners’ 35, you’ll remember Philly held nothing back—Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ended up escaping to his left, and launching the ball against his body to an open DeVonta Smith inside the 10. The ball was in range, Smith’s effort was spectacular and the chains moved.

Whether Smith actually caught it is immaterial to this discussion.

What matters, in this case, is that Philly took that chance, something that illustrated the advantage that the Panthers thought hiring an offensive coach would give them. Where a defensive coach, in that spot, might throw at the sticks, or run a draw, or punt, Carolina saw an offensive coach more willing to take the sort of chance Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen did, for a variety of reasons, and make Philly tougher to defend and more likely to convert.

Reich, by the way, is Sirianni’s mentor. And Reich actually wasn’t even part of the Panthers’ initial group of candidates. But when it came down to it, the Carolina brass leaned on what they learned from 12 games with Steve Wilks as interim coach, and tacked on that feeling they had all along—that they wanted a guy with an offensive background, and Reich is where they landed.

Here’s a snapshot look at how they got there …

• Through the fall, owner David Tepper’s research, as we’ve written in this space, focused largely on innovative offensive minds in general and young ones in particular. With 12 weeks of runway, the Panthers’ first list was short, and that was by design, with five names on there—former Lions and former Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Giants OC Mike Kafka, Eagles OC Shane Steichen and the incumbent Wilks.

• Wilks had at least made the Panthers think about pivoting, and the biggest reason why was because of how he’d been able to capture the locker room in an adverse situation and turn the ship by creating a very real identity. The biggest question coming out of that related to the sort of staff he’d be able to assemble. My understanding is Eagles QBs coach Brian Johnson was part of Wilks’s preferred group as offensive coordinator.

• So Reich wasn’t on that first list. But there was a television report late in the season that he’d be considered for the Panthers job, which caused Carolina to double back on the work it had done on the former Colts coach, whom the search committee liked. GM Scott Fitterer pulled on his connections to Indy’s front office, including ties to GM Chris Ballard and assistant GM Ed Dodds (his former Seattle coworker), and those guys told him, “No, you gotta talk to him. He’s a legit guy.” At that point, the Panthers’ thinking basically was, Why wouldn’t we talk to him?

• Because of the rules regarding coaches in the playoffs, Reich wound up being the third coach the Panthers talked to. And the command, presence and maturity both he and Caldwell showed in the process pushed the Panthers back to what they’d learned with Wilks as their interim coach—and it made some of the younger coaches seem green.

• Through the first round of interviews, which, again, was intentionally small, Tepper—still relatively new as an owner, and having run a truncated process that became a pursuit of then Baylor coach Matt Rhule on his first swing—noticed something. He was learning a lot about his own organization, and other organizations, through a grueling first round. So he decided to open it up to some new names and brought in Sean Payton with a second group, including Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Bills OC Ken Dorsey and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore.

• Moore made an impression at the wire, in part because he had to wait for Dallas’s season to end to interview. The Panthers offered to do it with him over Zoom after the Niners eliminated the Cowboys on Jan. 22, but Moore said he really wanted to come in. So that Tuesday, Carolina squeezed him in for an interview from 9 to 11 a.m., so Tepper and his wife would be done in time to prepare for the memorial service for Charlotte FC defender Anton Walkes (who’d died suddenly days earlier) that afternoon.

• Moore really impressed the Panthers. They had some of the same concerns with him they’d had with the other young offensive coaches, but they’d seen and heard enough to want to bring him back. So they called Moore, who was in a car on the way to the airport, and asked him to come back Jan. 25 to continue the conversation.

• At that point, Wilks had already had his second interview. Reich came in for his after the continuation of the Moore interview on the afternoon of Jan. 25. Where the first round included Tepper and wife, Nicole; Fitterer, assistant GM Dan Morgan; and lead negotiator Samir Suleiman, the second round looped in team president Kristi Coleman. And it turns out Coleman’s presence in the interview helped separate Reich from the pack—his big-picture vision for the football operation (everything from his coaching staff to player engagement to how the equipment room would work) impressed her, as it had the rest.

• Tepper, as he had after the first round of interviews, asked everyone to rank their top five candidates, abstaining from the vote (so as not to influence anything). Reich was first on everyone’s list. From Nos. 2 to 4, the lists varied, making Reich a pretty clear-cut choice—and leading to Reich’s hire, made official Jan. 26.

So the Panthers have a new coach, Reich has a second shot, and, it seems, Tepper feels like his organization, and everyone in it, is better for having gone through the process.

 

[Jon Snow]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Albert Breer tells the story from his perspective...

If you want to know why the Panthers hired Frank Reich, you can actually go back to the fourth-and-3 that the Eagles converted early in the NFC title game. On the play, from the Niners’ 35, you’ll remember Philly held nothing back—Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ended up escaping to his left, and launching the ball against his body to an open DeVonta Smith inside the 10. The ball was in range, Smith’s effort was spectacular and the chains moved.

Whether Smith actually caught it is immaterial to this discussion.

What matters, in this case, is that Philly took that chance, something that illustrated the advantage that the Panthers thought hiring an offensive coach would give them. Where a defensive coach, in that spot, might throw at the sticks, or run a draw, or punt, Carolina saw an offensive coach more willing to take the sort of chance Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen did, for a variety of reasons, and make Philly tougher to defend and more likely to convert.

Reich, by the way, is Sirianni’s mentor. And Reich actually wasn’t even part of the Panthers’ initial group of candidates. But when it came down to it, the Carolina brass leaned on what they learned from 12 games with Steve Wilks as interim coach, and tacked on that feeling they had all along—that they wanted a guy with an offensive background, and Reich is where they landed.

Here’s a snapshot look at how they got there …

• Through the fall, owner David Tepper’s research, as we’ve written in this space, focused largely on innovative offensive minds in general and young ones in particular. With 12 weeks of runway, the Panthers’ first list was short, and that was by design, with five names on there—former Lions and former Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Giants OC Mike Kafka, Eagles OC Shane Steichen and the incumbent Wilks.

• Wilks had at least made the Panthers think about pivoting, and the biggest reason why was because of how he’d been able to capture the locker room in an adverse situation and turn the ship by creating a very real identity. The biggest question coming out of that related to the sort of staff he’d be able to assemble. My understanding is Eagles QBs coach Brian Johnson was part of Wilks’s preferred group as offensive coordinator.

• So Reich wasn’t on that first list. But there was a television report late in the season that he’d be considered for the Panthers job, which caused Carolina to double back on the work it had done on the former Colts coach, whom the search committee liked. GM Scott Fitterer pulled on his connections to Indy’s front office, including ties to GM Chris Ballard and assistant GM Ed Dodds (his former Seattle coworker), and those guys told him, “No, you gotta talk to him. He’s a legit guy.” At that point, the Panthers’ thinking basically was, Why wouldn’t we talk to him?

• Because of the rules regarding coaches in the playoffs, Reich wound up being the third coach the Panthers talked to. And the command, presence and maturity both he and Caldwell showed in the process pushed the Panthers back to what they’d learned with Wilks as their interim coach—and it made some of the younger coaches seem green.

• Through the first round of interviews, which, again, was intentionally small, Tepper—still relatively new as an owner, and having run a truncated process that became a pursuit of then Baylor coach Matt Rhule on his first swing—noticed something. He was learning a lot about his own organization, and other organizations, through a grueling first round. So he decided to open it up to some new names and brought in Sean Payton with a second group, including Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Bills OC Ken Dorsey and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore.

• Moore made an impression at the wire, in part because he had to wait for Dallas’s season to end to interview. The Panthers offered to do it with him over Zoom after the Niners eliminated the Cowboys on Jan. 22, but Moore said he really wanted to come in. So that Tuesday, Carolina squeezed him in for an interview from 9 to 11 a.m., so Tepper and his wife would be done in time to prepare for the memorial service for Charlotte FC defender Anton Walkes (who’d died suddenly days earlier) that afternoon.

• Moore really impressed the Panthers. They had some of the same concerns with him they’d had with the other young offensive coaches, but they’d seen and heard enough to want to bring him back. So they called Moore, who was in a car on the way to the airport, and asked him to come back Jan. 25 to continue the conversation.

• At that point, Wilks had already had his second interview. Reich came in for his after the continuation of the Moore interview on the afternoon of Jan. 25. Where the first round included Tepper and wife, Nicole; Fitterer, assistant GM Dan Morgan; and lead negotiator Samir Suleiman, the second round looped in team president Kristi Coleman. And it turns out Coleman’s presence in the interview helped separate Reich from the pack—his big-picture vision for the football operation (everything from his coaching staff to player engagement to how the equipment room would work) impressed her, as it had the rest.

• Tepper, as he had after the first round of interviews, asked everyone to rank their top five candidates, abstaining from the vote (so as not to influence anything). Reich was first on everyone’s list. From Nos. 2 to 4, the lists varied, making Reich a pretty clear-cut choice—and leading to Reich’s hire, made official Jan. 26.

So the Panthers have a new coach, Reich has a second shot, and, it seems, Tepper feels like his organization, and everyone in it, is better for having gone through the process.

 

Matt Rhule? WTF?

[Tbe]

This is key:

Tepper, as he had after the first round of interviews, asked everyone to rank their top five candidates, abstaining from the vote (so as not to influence anything). Reich was first on everyone’s list. From Nos. 2 to 4, the lists varied, making Reich a pretty clear-cut choice—and leading to Reich’s hire, made official Jan. 26.
 

It wasn’t just a Tepper decision to move away from Wilks. Everyone wanted Frank.

[Proudiddy]

12 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Albert Breer tells the story from his perspective...

If you want to know why the Panthers hired Frank Reich, you can actually go back to the fourth-and-3 that the Eagles converted early in the NFC title game. On the play, from the Niners’ 35, you’ll remember Philly held nothing back—Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts ended up escaping to his left, and launching the ball against his body to an open DeVonta Smith inside the 10. The ball was in range, Smith’s effort was spectacular and the chains moved.

Whether Smith actually caught it is immaterial to this discussion.

What matters, in this case, is that Philly took that chance, something that illustrated the advantage that the Panthers thought hiring an offensive coach would give them. Where a defensive coach, in that spot, might throw at the sticks, or run a draw, or punt, Carolina saw an offensive coach more willing to take the sort of chance Nick Sirianni and Shane Steichen did, for a variety of reasons, and make Philly tougher to defend and more likely to convert.

Reich, by the way, is Sirianni’s mentor. And Reich actually wasn’t even part of the Panthers’ initial group of candidates. But when it came down to it, the Carolina brass leaned on what they learned from 12 games with Steve Wilks as interim coach, and tacked on that feeling they had all along—that they wanted a guy with an offensive background, and Reich is where they landed.

Here’s a snapshot look at how they got there …

• Through the fall, owner David Tepper’s research, as we’ve written in this space, focused largely on innovative offensive minds in general and young ones in particular. With 12 weeks of runway, the Panthers’ first list was short, and that was by design, with five names on there—former Lions and former Colts coach Jim Caldwell, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Giants OC Mike Kafka, Eagles OC Shane Steichen and the incumbent Wilks.

• Wilks had at least made the Panthers think about pivoting, and the biggest reason why was because of how he’d been able to capture the locker room in an adverse situation and turn the ship by creating a very real identity. The biggest question coming out of that related to the sort of staff he’d be able to assemble. My understanding is Eagles QBs coach Brian Johnson was part of Wilks’s preferred group as offensive coordinator.

• So Reich wasn’t on that first list. But there was a television report late in the season that he’d be considered for the Panthers job, which caused Carolina to double back on the work it had done on the former Colts coach, whom the search committee liked. GM Scott Fitterer pulled on his connections to Indy’s front office, including ties to GM Chris Ballard and assistant GM Ed Dodds (his former Seattle coworker), and those guys told him, “No, you gotta talk to him. He’s a legit guy.” At that point, the Panthers’ thinking basically was, Why wouldn’t we talk to him?

• Because of the rules regarding coaches in the playoffs, Reich wound up being the third coach the Panthers talked to. And the command, presence and maturity both he and Caldwell showed in the process pushed the Panthers back to what they’d learned with Wilks as their interim coach—and it made some of the younger coaches seem green.

• Through the first round of interviews, which, again, was intentionally small, Tepper—still relatively new as an owner, and having run a truncated process that became a pursuit of then Baylor coach Matt Rhule on his first swing—noticed something. He was learning a lot about his own organization, and other organizations, through a grueling first round. So he decided to open it up to some new names and brought in Sean Payton with a second group, including Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Bills OC Ken Dorsey and Cowboys OC Kellen Moore.

• Moore made an impression at the wire, in part because he had to wait for Dallas’s season to end to interview. The Panthers offered to do it with him over Zoom after the Niners eliminated the Cowboys on Jan. 22, but Moore said he really wanted to come in. So that Tuesday, Carolina squeezed him in for an interview from 9 to 11 a.m., so Tepper and his wife would be done in time to prepare for the memorial service for Charlotte FC defender Anton Walkes (who’d died suddenly days earlier) that afternoon.

• Moore really impressed the Panthers. They had some of the same concerns with him they’d had with the other young offensive coaches, but they’d seen and heard enough to want to bring him back. So they called Moore, who was in a car on the way to the airport, and asked him to come back Jan. 25 to continue the conversation.

• At that point, Wilks had already had his second interview. Reich came in for his after the continuation of the Moore interview on the afternoon of Jan. 25. Where the first round included Tepper and wife, Nicole; Fitterer, assistant GM Dan Morgan; and lead negotiator Samir Suleiman, the second round looped in team president Kristi Coleman. And it turns out Coleman’s presence in the interview helped separate Reich from the pack—his big-picture vision for the football operation (everything from his coaching staff to player engagement to how the equipment room would work) impressed her, as it had the rest.

• Tepper, as he had after the first round of interviews, asked everyone to rank their top five candidates, abstaining from the vote (so as not to influence anything). Reich was first on everyone’s list. From Nos. 2 to 4, the lists varied, making Reich a pretty clear-cut choice—and leading to Reich’s hire, made official Jan. 26.

So the Panthers have a new coach, Reich has a second shot, and, it seems, Tepper feels like his organization, and everyone in it, is better for having gone through the process.

 

Wow.  First I've seen anything about Tepper holding a vote.  That is an incredible detail...  it also gives me a much different perspective on Tepper now as well.  I'm impressed. 

I wasn't excited about the Reich hire.  I wasn't necessarily disappointed either.  It just seemed very safe, I guess was my initial impression.  But, I'd be lying if, now about 2 weeks into it, I said I wasn't excited about what is taking form here now...  I'm excited for the first time in a long time - the Evero hire, the tidbit in Scot's first post in this thread from Person detailing that the organization clearly saw the pitfalls of defensive-minded coaching biting us in the ass just like it did in Tampa at the end of the season and hiring an offensive coach was the only way moving forward (implying we will be much more aggressive moving forward), etc.  And now, this tidbit revealing it wasn't a unilateral choice from Tepper.  Sure, we knew there was a committee ans all that jazz, but we still didn't know who really made the final decision.  Now we do.  The committee.  That gives me even more confidence in the hire.  

[UNCrules2187]

Not to rag on Joe, but I learned way more from Breer's report than I did Joe's. Joe's was essentially a summary of the process that didn't really have any true insight/nuggets? All of the things in that article were already reported by others. It was basically an aggregation of previous reports with some on the record quotes interspersed.

Breer's had real insight into the process, like how the initial list of candidates after Rhule was fired were Caldwell, Johnson, Kafka, Steichen, and Wilks. Very interesting that Kafka and Johnson were already on Tepper's radar that early and that some sort of TV report is what made the Panthers put more work into looking into Reich. It was also interesting to read that having interviewed Caldwell, Wilks, and Reich first, the young OCs appeared to be really green and made Tepper doubt his initial inclination to go with a hot shot young coordinator. That Tepper held a vote and abstained to see if his inkling on Reich was where everyone else was leaning. Great tidbits.

Edited February 6, 2023 by UNCrules2187

[Mr. Scot]

Notes from Breer's article...

- When Scott Fitterer initially said the list wasn't long, he wasn't lying. The Panthers had just five candidates in their original plans, and Frank Reich wasn't one of them.

- That initial list consisted of Steve Wilks, Ben Johnson, Shane Steichen, Mike Kafka and Jim Caldwell. Interesting to note here that would mean Caldwell wasn't just a Rooney Rule interview as many of us thought.

- Wilks performance over twelve games definitely made them think, and he was seriously considered, but a big part of what sunk him (besides the previously mentioned thoughts about his tendencies as a defensive coach) was concern about his ability to build a great staff.

- Breer confirms that one of the names on Wilks' list was Eagles QB Coach Brian Johnson. We also know Wilks wanted to keep Al Holcomb as his DC, but Breer doesn't name any others.

- As crazy as it might sound, what made them double back and look at Reich again was a TV report incorrectly saying that Reich was expected to be considered for the job

- The search committee had initially liked Reich...a lot. Just not as much as the other five on their list. The TV report gave them pause though, so they started rethinking their position on him.

- Scott Fitterer is acquainted with Colts GM Chris Ballard and had worked with Assistant GM Ed Dodds in Seattle, so he called them to talk about Reich. They called Reich "a legit guy" and told Fitterer "you gotta talk to him"...and so he did.

- Reich was very impressive in his initial interview, as was Jim Caldwell. The air of authority that the two of them brought made the younger guys seem "green" and caused the Panthers to rethink the plan of going young. This also was a factor in the team deciding to interview Sean Payton, something they originally had not planned to do.

- The search process itself served as a "teachable moment" for David Tepper. He felt like he was learning a lot about his own organization, other teams and his previous mistakes (including the 'first swing" hire of Matt Rhule).

- That's what led to more candidates, including Payton and now Panthers DC Ejiro Evero, being added. Again, this confirms that like Caldwell, Evero also wasn't a Rooney Rule interview.

- Among that added group was Kellen Moore, who according to Breer impressed the Panthers more than the other young guys they'd interviewed. He was actually driving to the airport to go back to Dallas when the Panthers called and asked him to stick around a little while longer.

- Interestingly enough, Steve Wilks had already had his second interview before they called Moore back.

- The original round of interviews had been conducted by Fitterer, Dan Morgan, Samir Suleiman Tepper and his wife. For the second round, they brought in team president Kristo Coleman. As it turned out, the addition of Coleman would actually prove to be an important part of the process.

- Coleman found Reich's "big picture ' plan equally as impressive as the others had and that helped Reich pull away from the other candidates into the lead. Breer's description of that "big picture" is as follows:

"everything from his coaching staff to player engagement to how the equipment room would work"

- In a pivotal moment, after the first round was finished, Tepper asked all those involved to list their top five candidates. He himself, however, did not submit a list. The reason? He didn't want to influence anyone else's choices.

- Once the lists were submitted, there was disagreement on some lists from two to five, but number one was the same on every single person's list. 

it was Frank Reich.

...

 And thus, here we are...

Breer adds As a final note that he feels like this process helped make the team better because of what they learned.

I'm all for that

Edited February 6, 2023 by Mr. Scot

[Mr. Scot]

40 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

Matt Rhule? WTF?

I didn't even notice that.

I'm gonna guess he edits that at some point