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Two weeks after hiring general manager Dave Gettleman from the New York Giants’ organization, the Panthers could pluck an assistant coach from there, as well.
Giants defensive assistant Al Holcomb was in Charlotte on Thursday interviewing for the linebackers post, a source with knowledge of the situation said.
Holcomb, who has spent the past four seasons in low-level positions on the Giants’ defensive staff, is the third known candidate to meet with Panthers coach Ron Rivera. Rivera spoke to former Auburn and Atlanta Falcons defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder and Bill Davis, the Panthers’ linebackers coach under Dom Capers, in Mobile, Ala., this week while there for Senior Bowl practices.
Holcomb, a 1993 graduate of West Virginia, was a defensive coach at several small colleges in Pennsylvania before joining the Giants. He had stops at Lafayette, Kutztown University and Bloomsburg, which played for the Division II national championship in 2000 when Holcomb was its linebackers coach and special teams coordinator.
Holcomb worked minicamp and training camp with the Jets in 2007 as part of the NFL’s minority internship program.
Rivera fired linebackers coach Warren Belin and two other assistants this month – receivers coach Fred Graves and running backs coach John Settle. Former offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski left to become Cleveland’s coach, and two staffers went with him – offensive quality control coach Scott Turner and defensive assistant Bobby Babich.
Of the five hires Rivera has made, four have been in-house. He promoted quarterbacks coach Mike Shula to offensive coordinator and filled the quarterbacks job with pro scout Ken Dorsey.
Rivera also made Ricky Proehl the receivers coach after the former Panthers wideout assisted Graves for two years, and removed the “interim” tag from special teams coordinator Richard Rodgers’ title.
The only external hire was a coach familiar to the Panthers. Running backs coach Jim Skipper, a Carolina assistant for nine years under John Fox, was re-hired following two seasons with the Tennessee Titans.
