Greg Auman
NFC South Reporter
The Panthers have taken the first step in their leadership reboot, promoting Dan Morgan to be their president of football operations and general manager, with their head coach job remaining one of five spots still unfilled across the league.
Morgan, 45, has spent 15 years working his way up NFL front offices and had been Carolina’s assistant GM since 2021. He’s a nod to the franchise’s past as well: The Panthers drafted him in the first round in 2001, and the linebacker played his entire seven-year career there. When Carolina lost to the Patriots in the Super Bowl in the 2003 season, Morgan had 18 tackles, still a Super Bowl record.
“Dan has a thorough knowledge of our football personnel and a clear vision to take us where we all want to go,” Panthers owner David Tepper said in a statement announcing the hiring. “We know he will attack this opportunity with the same intensity he did as a Panthers player.”
It seems counterintuitive to promote from within after a 2-15 season that got both head coach Frank Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer fired. Tepper has churned through coaches and GMs in his six years as Carolina’s owner, and the goal here is to find the right hire to end that cycle, to bring back continuity as the Panthers work to end a six-year playoff drought.
The NFL hiring cycle can pick up pace as more teams and candidates are eliminated from the playoffs. Three teams have hired head coaches, with the Raiders (Antonio Pierce) and Patriots (Jerod Mayo) promoting from within, and the Titans hiring Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, who had done a virtual interview with the Panthers. Carolina is now competing directly against Atlanta, Seattle, Washington and the Chargers, in many cases for the same candidates.
The Falcons, as division rivals, have been more ambitious in pursuing the most experienced candidates available, with two interviews with Bill Belichick and…
Source link : https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/will-new-panthers-gm-dan-morgans-seahawks-roots-shape-head-coaching-hire
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Publish date : 2024-01-24 15:59:39
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