Carolina Panthers GM search: 8 potential candidates that could be on the radar
This morning, the Carolina Panthers fired general manager Marty Hurney. Now, the search for his replacement begins.
At this point, nobody knows who team owner David Tepper is actually going to hire, but we asked around the network to try to find potential candidates in other front offices. With the help of some other editors around the NFL Wire network, here’s a list of people who could be on Tepper’s radar to fill the post.
Ravens Director of Player Personnel Joe Hortiz
Few teams have been more successful over the last two decades than the Ravens. With a strong core of Lamar Jackson and a studded defense, Baltimore should continue to be a problem in the AFC for years to come. One of the key guys who's assembled this perennial contender is Director of Player Personnel Joe Hortiz. Baltimore has often been the league's go-to for front-office executives and you'll find plenty of former scouts heading up teams right now. That automatically makes Director of Player Personnel Joe Hortiz an attractive option for any team wanting a football brain as a general manager. Hortiz has been with the Ravens for more than two decades now, working his way up the ladder as a scout and currently functioning as one of two leading men in Baltimore under general manager Eric DeCosta. All of the Ravens' excellent draft picks and their ability to bring in veteran talent through free agency and trades in recent years? Yeah, Hortiz had a hand in it. -Matt Stevens, Ravens Wire
Cardinals: Assistant Pro Personnel Director Quentin Harris, Director of Pro Scouting Adrian Wilson
One of the league's up-and-coming franchises is in Arizona, where they're starting to assemble a promising team around Kyler Murray. Poaching some talent from the Cardinals might not be a bad idea. Arizona has two potential candidates of color who might appeal to Tepper: assistant Pro Personnel Director Quentin Harris and Director of Pro Scouting Adrian Wilson. Harris has been in the Cardinals front office for 17 years, working his way up the ladder. He began in the scouting department, then was Assistant Pro Personnel Director, then Director of Pro Scouting. In 2019, he became GM Steve Keim's No. 2, being named Director of Player Personnel. He oversees both the pro and college personnel departments and assists Keim in contract negotiations. Wilson is a former Cardinals star who chose to work in the front office after his playing career. He first was a scout. He then had an untitled role where he did a little of everything. Former Cardinals head coach Bruce Arians used to call Wilson "Vice President of Stuff." He has worked on college and pro scouting. He can be seen on the sideline in practice sometimes. He played a role in the Cardinals' coaching seaches. He is now the Director of Pro Scouting and it appears he is being groomed to become a GM. He would be following in the steps of former Cardinals great Larry Wilson, who went from the playing field to eventually general manager. -Jess Root, Cards Wire
Bills: Assistant General Manager Joe Schoen, Senior Personnel Adviser Brian Gaine
Hurney's' firing was another sore reminder that the Panthers had a fantastic candidate waiting in the wings who got poached by Buffalo a while ago. Brandon Beane and Sean McDermott have assembled an AFC East champion and legitimate playoff contender in the Bills. Picking off one of Beane's assistants could help get Carolina back some of the magic they lost when he left. The Bills also have two potential candidates: assistant General Manager Joe Schoen and Senior Personnel Adviser Brian Gaine. Joe Schoen (pronounced 'Shane' like the name) : He's Buffalo's assistant GM and has been here for the entirety of GM Brandon Beane's tenure, and he's done some good work clearly. I know Scheon does some scouting, previously he was in a college scouting role with the Dolphins. One cool curveball for you on him: Scheon's "NFL career" began as a ticket office intern in 2000... with the Carolina Panthers. Brian Gaine was pretty much let go because of Bill O'Brien. He was fired just over a year into his job and in that season the Texans were 11-5. I mean, doing so seems like a guy didn't even really get a shot to assemble anything. But he seems to have a good track record because he was with the Texans and then the Bills poached him in 2017, then the Texans poached him back, and then the Bills brought him back again once he was fired. - Nick Wojton, Bills Wire
Free agent: Louis Riddick
There are also a couple of quality GM candidates who are not currently working for an NFL team. Perhaps the hottest name on the market right now is Louis Riddick, who has been doing exellent work on ESPN's Monday Night Football broadcasts this season. Riddick is of course far more than just an analyst. He also has extensive experience in personnel. Riddick served as a pro scout for Washington from 2001-2004 before being promoted to Director of pro personnel. From 2008-2009 he worked his way up the chain with the Philadelphia Eagles and had a four-year run as their Director of pro personnel. If the Panthers are interested, they'll have plenty of competition. Riddick has been connected to the GM openings for both the Houston Texans and the Detroit Lions. The Jacksonville Jaguars are also reportedly interested.
Free agent: Thomas Dimitroff
This one would qualify as quite the curveball, but don't be shocked if it turns out that former Atlanta Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff is one of the names in the hat. Dimitroff was fired by Falcons owner Arthur Blank in October along with head coach Dan Quinn and the team has been significantly more competitive since then. While things didn't end well for Dimitroff's run in Atlanta, he showed a talent for managing the salary cap and finding gems in the later rounds of the draft. He was responsible for picking both star defensive tackle Grady Jarrett and versatile defensive back Damontae Kazee in the fifth round. Dimitroff was far from a perfect executive, but Atlanta's failures the last few years had a lot more to do with Quinn. Before Dimitroff's 12-year tenure as the Falcons GM, he put in time with Bill Belichick's New England Patriots when they were peaking early last decade. Dimitroff was New England's director of college scouting from 2003-2007. Detroit is also planning to interview Dimitroff.
In-house candidate: Patrick Stewart
There's always a possibility that the Panthers might already have Marty Hurney's replacement in-house. While we don't have the access to even pretend that we know what goes on behind the scenes, one of the front office's most promising executives appears to be Pat Stewart, who is currently serving as the team's Director of Player Personnel. Stewart came to Charlotte via Philadelphia, where he worked as a National Scout from 2018 until the Panthers hired him. Before that, Stewart spent the previous 10 years as a scout for New England. Stewart's influence is already abundantly clear. Carolina has added several former Philadelphia players this season, including cornerback Rasul Douglas, defensive tackle Bruce Hector and wide receivers Marken Michel and Shelton Gibson. Stewart was only hired back in May to fill his current role, but he seems like the kind of candidate who can rise fast. He might just be the right captain to turn this ship around. [vertical-gallery id=631972]
