The Panthers are the second NFL team to make a coaching change. Frank Reich was let go Monday after just 11 games, one of the shortest tenures for a head coach in league history. Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will be the team’s interim coach, which we’ll get to in a moment.
Just as we did when the Raiders parted ways with Josh McDaniels, we’ll come up with a curated list for the Panthers, peeling from my inventory of nearly 100 up-and-coming coaches that I wrote about earlier this year. Oddly enough, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero was a candidate some important folks in the industry viewed as a “lock” for a head coaching job in 2024. Now, he is not even the interim head coach for the Panthers.
To me, this speaks to a sort of mismanagement of assets. For example, Thomas Brown, the team’s on-again, off-again and now on-again play-caller, would seem like the perfect fit for an interim job but was instead reinstalled as play-calling offensive coordinator. The interim role would have suited his strengths; those who know Brown had always expected him to rise much like Mike Tomlin, riding the strength of his personality and leadership capabilities over his schematic abilities (this is not to say that Brown and Tomlin are bad play-callers, but when you are in a dire situation, don’t you want to maximize everyone’s best strengths?). Similarly, Evero, who will probably get head coaching interviews this offseason, deserves a full-time audition, even if Panthers owner David Tepper ignored Steve Wilks’s stellar audition in that role last year after he fired Matt Rhule.
Anyway, I would imagine the Panthers will be hiring a coach with an offensive background. I would also imagine that—like the Rhule deal—Tepper will have to offer an unconventional six-year contract because this roster is an absolute mess. A new coach is going to have to calm and rejuvenate Bryce Young, and deal with the growing pains of a bad offensive line, a depleted secondary and a roster full of mismatched parts.
With that in mind, here’s who we would consider a good fit.
Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, Detroit Lions
It was no secret that Tepper was infatuated with Johnson during the hiring cycle last year and that Johnson was his top choice. Johnson wisely returned to Detroit, where he spent the year refining his abilities both as a play-caller and as someone who could observe and interpret game management decisions. His learning from Dan Campbell, one of the league’s most authentic and aggressive head coaches, will be an incredible asset for Johnson. The 37-year-old was born in South Carolina, was raised and played high school football in Ashville and went to college at North Carolina, where he walked on to the football team. In terms of a sensible hire, this is overwhelmingly the way to go for the Panthers. And, no doubt, Tepper needs a slam dunk here.
