Panthers hire a familiar face to be next GM, and owner David Tepper may not be done adding to front office

The Carolina Panthers have hired a familiar face for their next general manager, and they may add to the front office, as well.

Assistant general manager Dan Morgan, a former Pro Bowler for the franchise in the 2000s, is the team’s new president of football operations/general manager. This comes after a search, led by team owner David Tepper, that involved more than 10 candidates and stretched across two weeks.

Eagles assistant GM Alec Halaby and Giants assistant GM Brandon Brown were both finalists for the Panthers GM position, sources say.

According to sources, Tepper captained the search for his next GM along with his wife, Nicole, team president Kristi Coleman, Panthers senior assistant coach and longtime NFL head coach Jim Caldwell and Mike Forde, who heads the search firm Sportsology.

Morgan has been the assistant GM in Carolina since 2021. Before that, he served as director of player personnel in Buffalo, going to Western New York after nearly a decade working his way up the ranks with the Seahawks.

His personnel career followed a playing career where he was drafted in the first round of the 2001 NFL Draft. He set a Super Bowl record with 25 tackles in Carolina’s 2003 run that culminated in Super Bowl XXXVIII. But ankle injuries and concussions shortened Morgan’s career.

Morgan has his work cut out for him in his new role, taking over a team that had the lowest offensive output in the league in 2023. He takes over for Scott Fitterer, whom Tepper fired a day after the season.

Fitterer came from Seattle to Carolina in the 2021 offseason to work with then-head coach Matt Rhule, who had control over football operations and the draft until his firing during the 2022 season. Fitterer had a more traditional GM role when paired with Frank Reich, who lasted 11 games as the head coach before Tepper moved to fire him this season.

Fitterer worked with Morgan for most of the 2010s…

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/panthers-hire-a-familiar-face-to-be-next-gm-and-owner-david-tepper-may-not-be-done-adding-to-front-office/

Author : Jonathan Jones

Publish date : 2024-01-23 00:02:17

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