Who should the Panthers hire to be their next GM? Here are candidates to target
Panthers owner David Tepper is looking for a new general manager.
The Panthers announced Monday that they fired Marty Hurney, two days after the Panthers lost their 10th game of the season. Hurney was in the final year of his contract.
There were a number of qualities Tepper said he was looking for in Carolina’s next general manager, including a collaborator.
“There has to be an alignment between the coach and the GM,” Tepper said in a video conference call. “Collaboration doesn’t mean you don’t have arguments about who you are picking. Somebody who is a good decision-maker. Somebody who is a good manager.”
Tepper told the team’s website that team needs a more “analytical data-driven evaluation.” That was something the strategies of Hurney and Tepper differed from each other. Tepper said Hurney leaned toward more “traditional techniques.”
The Panthers’ GM job could be an attractive one. Matt Rhule will be in his second year as the Panthers’ head coach next year, and Carolina is in line for a top-5 pick in the 2021 NFL draft. As of Dec. 21, the team is projected to pick fourth.
When asked when he hoped to make a decision, Tepper said “the earlier the better.” The Panthers are one of six teams currently seeking to fill their vacant GM positions.
The Panthers are allowed to interview candidates not employed by teams now, but must wait until after the season to interview candidates who are currently with other teams.
Here are some potential candidates:
Pat Stewart
Stewart was hired this past offseason to be the Panthers’ director of player personnel. He was formerly a national scout for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2018-19.
He began his NFL career in New England and served in a variety of scouting roles from 2007-2017. He won two Super Bowls in New England (2012 and 2017).
What makes him an attractive candidate for this position is his familiarity with Rhule. The two were at Temple together in 2006. Stewart was the assistant director of football operations, while Rhule was then the defensive line coach.
When asked about the possibility of hiring Stewart for the job, Tepper said, “at least in my mind, I would like to hold on to Pat Stewart in one capacity or the next.”
Samir Suleiman
Suleiman is the director of player negotiations and salary cap manager for the Panthers. He was previously with the Pittsburgh Steelers as the football administration coordinator from 2013-2019 and was hired this past January.
At Pittsburgh, he managed the salary cap, player negotiations and coordinated and arranged team logistics and scouting. The Steelers won three AFC North Division championships while he was there.
He also worked for the St. Louis Rams from 2000-09 working in various roles, including the director of football operations. And he spent two years in Jacksonville from 1998 to 1999.
Louis Riddick
Riddick has been a hot name for potential general manager jobs in recent years.
The former NFL safety worked as a scout for Washington Football Team from 2001-04, and then the team’s director of pro personnel from 2005-07. He worked in the same roles for the Philadelphia Eagles from 2008-13. The Eagles made the playoffs in four of the six seasons he was with the team.
Riddick is an NFL analyst for ESPN, and a broadcaster for Monday Night Football.
Reggie McKenzie
McKenzie, 57 and a former general manager with the Raiders from 2012-18, is a senior executive with the Dolphins.
The Dolphins have had one of the more impressive turnaround in recent years, going from 5-11 in 2019, to a 9-5 record with two games left this season. They are on track to make the playoffs.
With the Raiders, McKenzie was responsible for drafting Derek Carr, Khalil Mack and Amari Cooper. He was named the 2016 NFL Executive of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.
He also has two Super Bowls on his resume in 1997 and 2010 when he was with the Green Bay Packers in different roles.
Lake Dawson
Dawson, 48, is an assistant director of college scouting for the Buffalo Bills and has been in that role since 2017.
The Bills have made the playoffs in three of the past four seasons since 2017 and recently clinched the AFC East. Before Buffalo, he was the Vice President of Football Operations for the Tennessee Titans from 2011-15.
Dawson is also a former NFL wide receiver, where he played four seasons in Kansas City.
Jeff Ireland
Ireland, 50, is the assistant general manager and college scouting director for the New Orleans Saints and has been in that role since 2015.
Including this season, the Saints have been to the playoffs in four of the past six years since 2015.
Before joining New Orleans, Ireland held a variety of front office roles for different teams, including serving as the general manager of the Dolphins from 2008-2013.
Nick Caserio
Caserio, 44, is the director of player personnel for the New England Patriots.
He’s been in a variety of roles for the Patriots since the 2001 season, including a personal assistant, scout, director of pro personnel and director of player personnel since 2008.
The Patriots have won six Super Bowls in that span.
Marvin Allen
Allen, 55, is the assistant general manager with the Dolphins and in his first season in Miami.
Allen, a former NFL running back, served in a variety of roles with the New England Patriots from 1993-2008. During that span, they won three Super Bowls.
He was Kansas City’s Director of College Scouting from 2014-2017. Kansas City selected future 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes in the 2017 draft.
Allen was a national scout for the Buffalo Bills in 2018.
Brandon Hunt
Hunt is the pro personnel coordinator with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has served in that role with the Steelers since 2009, and has been mentioned as a potential successor to Steelers’ general manager Kevin Colbert.
The Steelers have the second-best record in the AFC at 11-2.
Hunt was also previously a pro scout with the Texans.
Adam Peters
Peters is in his fourth season as vice president of player personnel for the San Francisco 49ers. While the 49ers have struggled this year with various injuries, they were in the Super Bowl last season.
Peters was previously the director of college scouting with the Denver Broncos. Before the Broncos, Peters was a scouting assistant for the Patriots and was part of the team that beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII.
Peters played college football at UCLA, where his defensive line coach in 2001 was Rhule.
This story was originally published December 21, 2020 at 3:48 PM.
