Why Now? Questioning the Timing of the Panthers' Head Coaching Hire
When you fire two coaches in two years and three over a span of five years, it makes it incredibly difficult for your organization to draw real interest in the head coaching position. It's even less appealing when you inherit a 2-15 team with no first-round pick.
The Carolina Panthers interviewed 11 candidates for the job before making the decision to hire Dave Canales, a young, offensive-minded coach who has just one year of play-calling experience.
I understand that the relationship between new GM Dan Morgan and Canales likely had a big part in the timing of the hire but it also could be revealing how little interest there was in the job. Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Houston offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, two of the most talked about candidates this cycle, interviewed with Carolina just once. The same can be said for each of Baltimore's coordinators, Todd Monken and Mike Macdonald.
Carolina planned for a second interview with Brian Callahan, but took the Tennessee job before the Panthers were able to meet with him again. The other finalists for the job were Raheem Morris and Ejiro Evero, both defensive-minded coaches.
My question is, why not wait a week to make the hire?
Canales wasn't being pursued by any other franchise for a head coaching job, so the Panthers didn't have to worry about someone else coming in and scooping him up. Did the Panthers know that Johnson wanted another job and felt they had no chance?
Regardless, it's hard to justify the timing because they could have went through a deeper second round of interviews. I find it hard to believe that Monken, Macdonald, and Slowik would have turned down the opportunity to meet about the job again.
David Tepper and Dan Morgan may have felt like Canales was their top guy and wanted to go through a more extensive search for confirmation, but could have been pressured to get it done early due to the Chicago Bears hiring Seattle's Shane Waldron as offensive coordinator.
Why does this matter?
Canales and Waldron could be fighting to land some of the assistants who were on Pete Carroll's staff in Seattle. Assuming Canales pitched a certain plan for piecing together his coaching staff, I'd imagine many of those names would have been tied to the Seahawks' organization. If a couple of Canales' top targets on the offensive side of the ball follow Waldron to Chicago, then that changes things.
We'll be able to know more about the timing of the hire when Tepper officially introduces Canales and Morgan as the Panthers' head coach and GM in the near future.
You can follow us for future coverage by liking us on Facebook & following us on X:
Facebook - @PanthersOnSI
X - @AllPanthers_ and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.
