Pep Hamilton Now Emerging as a Candidate for Panthers OC Position

Carolina is looking for a big name to lead its offense.

Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers continue their search for a new offensive coordinator this week and a new name has popped up - Charlotte native, Pep Hamilton. The Panthers are expected to ask the Texans for permission to speak with the Texans play-caller, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network.

Source: The #Panthers are expected to ask permission to speak to Pep Hamilton in Houston for their vacant OC job.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 10, 2022

Hamilton's experience in the NFL dates all the way back to 2003 when he was hired to be a quality control coach with the New York Jets. In 2004, he led the Jets quarterback and in 2005 he was in charge of the receivers. He also served stints with the 49ers (2006) and Bears (2007-09) before going down to the college level to be the offensive coordinator at Stanford. There, he did a tremendous job of developing Andrew Luck into a generational talent. One year after he was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts, Hamilton left Stanford to rejoin Luck in Indy where the two had a lot of success over three seasons.

In 2020, Hamilton was the quarterbacks coach of the Los Angeles Chargers where he helped Justin Herbert get off to a terrific start in his NFL career. Although this season with the Texans was a challenging one, rookie quarterback and 2021 3rd round selection Davis Mills played really good football down the stretch, throwing for 2,307 yards, 14 touchdowns, and five interceptions in the final 10 games. 

It's clear that Hamilton knows how to develop quarterbacks and get the most out of them, which is exactly what the Panthers need in Sam Darnold who has an $18 million price tag in 2022. Hamilton could solve a lot of problems on the Panthers offense.

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