The Carolina Panthers seemed destined to be the first team to fire their head coach last season. That projection didn’t fail given they continued struggling under Matt Rhule, who was forced to leave after a 1-4 start. Although they are still searching for his replacement since Steve Wilks remained as the interim coach the rest of the year.
It was a lost season even if there where plenty of games left, but at least they improved as the year went by even after trading star RB Christian McCaffrey and releasing quarterback Baker Mayfield. They ended up with a 7-10 record just one match behind the NFC South champions Tampa Bay.
Their roster has enough young talent to think they can be near the playoffs soon, especially because the Panthers are in one of the worst divisions of the NFL. The main issue will be figuring out what to do at the QB position, although their next thing to solve is who will be their head coach.
What are the candidates to be the head coach of the Carolina Panthers?
One of the names that floated around was Jim Harbaugh. The head coach of the Michigan Wolverines reportedly talked to team owner David Tepper following their elimination from the college playoffs. Although that possibility now doesn’t look very probable.
There are other candidates that the Carolina Panthers requested to interview. Those are Eagles OC Shane Steichen, Giants OC Mike Kafka, and Lions OC Ben Johnson, per Ian Rapoport and Tom Pelissero.
It’s not a surprise that the vacancy could be filled by one of those offensive coordinators. The Panthers have been mostly incompetent on that side of the ball, so it makes sense to focus on that part of the game. They have all been very successful this season helping their quarterbacks make substantial leaps. Seeing the progress made by Jalen Hurts in Philadelphia, Daniel Jones in New York, and Jared Goff in Detroit, it should be something they must look to replicate.