Coaching Notes: Texans, 49ers, Bengals, Panthers
DeMeco Ryans was a popular name on the head coach market before ultimately landing with the Texans. The now-former 49ers defensive coordinator also generated strong interest from the Broncos, but the coach admitted that his choice to join Houston instead of Denver wasn’t all that difficult.
“When it came down to it, there was no place I wanted to be any more than H-Town,” Ryans said earlier this week (via NFL Network’s Bridget Condon on Twitter). “…It was a no brainer.”
While Ryans’ comments could certainly be interpreted as shade being thrown at the Broncos, his comments were more about his connection to Houston and the Texans organization. Ryans was selected by the Texans in the second round of the 2006 draft, and he proceeded to spend six years with the organization. While the Texans were able to lure their favorite for the job, the Broncos had to pivot to Sean Payton, who was ultimately dealt from the Saints to Denver.
With Ryans now in the building, the focus shifts to the rest of the coaching staff. Naturally, the coach will be looking to some of his former peers for positions, as we previously heard that 49ers passing game coordinator Bobby Slowik as well as 49ers defensive quality control coaches Andrew Hayes-Stoker and Stephen Adegoke are candidates to join Ryans in Houston. Matt Barrows of The Athletic adds another name to the list of targeted 49ers coaches, noting that Ryans leaned heavily on safeties coach Daniel Bullocks when he was in San Francisco. Barrows described Bullocks as Ryans’ “eyes in the coaches’ booth,” so it wouldn’t be a huge surprise if the head coach recruits his confidante to Houston.
More coaching notes from around the NFL…
- Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher interviewed for the Buccaneers offensive coordinator job before Cincinnati ultimately signed him to an extension. However, the new contract hasn’t stopped teams from inquiring on his availability. Bengals head coach Zac Taylor indicated that “there’s still interest from other teams” in adding Pitcher to their staff, per ESPN’s Ben Baby on Twitter. Pitcher became the club’s quarterbacks coach in 2020, and his work with 2020 No. 1 overall pick Joe Burrow over the past few years is starting to pique the interest of other organizations.
- It’s been a bit since we heard that the Commanders requested an interview with 49ers assistant head coach/running backs coach Anthony Lynn for their offensive coordinator vacancy. Earlier this week, Josina Anderson passed along (via Twitter) that Lynn had follow-up and informal conversations with the Commanders to determine “if there is mutual interest.” It’s uncertain if the two sides decided to move on with a formal interview.
- Commanders defensive backs coach Chris Harris interviewed for the 49ers defensive coordinator vacancy earlier this week. If Harris doesn’t land the gig, he’s most likely going to end up on the Titans coaching staff, per Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com (via Twitter). We heard last month that Harris was set to join the Titans as their their defensive pass game coordinator and cornerbacks coach. However, no deal was finalized, and Harris was clearly waiting out the 49ers’ search before fully committing to Tennessee.
- The Panthers are searching for new coordinators on both sides of the ball, but it sounds like their special teams coordinator will be sticking around under new head coach Frank Reich. According to Joseph Person of The Athletic, general manager Scott Fitterer and owner David Tepper encouraged head coaching candidates to retain ST coordinator Chris Tabor and offensive line coach James Campen for next season. Following a four-year stint as the Bears special teams head, Tabor joined the Panthers last offseason, with Reich describing the unit as “really strong.” Campen has bounced around a bit in recent years before landing in Carolina for the 2022 campaign.
2023 NFL Cap Space, By Team
Earlier this week, the NFL revealed its 2023 salary cap. Teams can now budget for their offseasons, knowing a $224.8MM ceiling is in place. This year’s nonexclusive franchise and transition tag numbers also emerged, giving teams more clarity on those fronts as well. With that in mind, here is where every team stands in terms of cap space:
- Chicago Bears: $90.91MM
- Atlanta Falcons: $56.42MM
- New York Giants: $44.28MM
- Houston Texans: $37.56MM
- Cincinnati Bengals: $35.55MM
- New England Patriots: $32.71MM
- Seattle Seahawks: $31.04MM
- Baltimore Ravens: $26.87MM
- Las Vegas Raiders: $19.78MM
- Arizona Cardinals: $14.47MM
- Kansas City Chiefs: $13.96MM
- Detroit Lions: $13.83MM
- Indianapolis Colts: $12.59MM
- Denver Broncos: $9.07MM
- San Francisco 49ers: $8.28MM
- Washington Commanders: $8.24MM
- Philadelphia Eagles: $4.24MM
- Pittsburgh Steelers: $1.03MM
- New York Jets: $1.31MM over the cap
- Dallas Cowboys: $7.18MM over
- Carolina Panthers: $8.94MM over
- Los Angeles Rams: $14.19MM over
- Cleveland Browns: $14.64MM over
- Miami Dolphins: $16.45MM over
- Green Bay Packers: $16.48MM over
- Buffalo Bills: $17.88MM over
- Los Angeles Chargers: $20.38MM over
- Jacksonville Jaguars: $22.35MM over
- Minnesota Vikings: $23.43MM over
- Tennessee Titans: $23.67MM over
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers: $55.03MM over
- New Orleans Saints: $60.47MM over
These figures (courtesy of OverTheCap) will change dramatically in the coming weeks, but this is where each team stands ahead of Super Bowl LVII. After that point, cap-casualty cuts can begin taking place. Restructures, extensions and trades will commence as well, with the Saints of recent years doing well to prove there are a few roads to cap compliance.
While New Orleans is in its usual February place, the team actually was further over the 2021 and ’22 caps at this point on the NFL calendar. Using void years to load up its roster during Tom Brady‘s three-year stay, Tampa Bay has seen much of that bill come due. If Brady does not re-sign a procedural deal, which would allow for the Buccaneers to spread out his dead money, the team will be hit with a $35.1MM dead-cap charge this year.
The Browns led the league by a wide margin in cap carryover from 2022, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets. Cleveland carried over $27.6MM in cap space. The Browns paced the league in cap space throughout the 2022 season, bracing for the Deshaun Watson contract’s spike. As of now, Watson’s cap figure will balloon from $9.4MM to $54.9MM. No NFL player has ever played a season on a cap number higher than $45MM.
The Panthers, Broncos, Bears and Raiders rounded out the top five in carryover dollars, ranging from $10.8MM to $6.7MM. Chicago ate considerable dead money via the Khalil Mack and Robert Quinn trades. The rebuilding team is still paying most of Quinn’s salary, doing so in order to secure a better draft pick from the Eagles. The Bears will have quite the opportunity to bolster their roster in Ryan Poles‘ second year in charge, leading the league by a massive margin and holding the No. 1 overall pick. The Falcons still have $12MM-plus in Deion Jones dead money on their 2023 payroll, but the team is rid of Matt Ryan‘s record-setting dead-cap hit ($40MM).
Baltimore will have a major decision to make in the coming weeks. GM Eric DeCosta said he has not decided if the team will place the exclusive or nonexclusive tag on Lamar Jackson. Even the nonexclusive number — $32.42MM — will dramatically change the Ravens’ budget ahead of free agency. The exclusive tag, which prevents other teams from submitting an offer sheet to Jackson, is expected to come in just north of $45MM.
Panthers To Hire Duce Staley, Request OC Interview With Jim Bob Cooter
The Lions will lose a key assistant to Frank Reich‘s new Panthers staff. Detroit running backs coach Duce Staley will rejoin Reich in Carolina, Dan Graziano of ESPN.com tweets.
Reich and Staley worked together with the Eagles from 2016-17, and while Staley was under contract with the Lions, they chose not to block the maneuver. The Lions will let Staley out of his contract, Justin Rogers of the Detroit News reports, so he can move closer to his mother. Staley’s mother, whom Rogers adds is battling health issues, lives in South Carolina. Staley grew up in Columbia, S.C.
Staley, 47, had been on Dan Campbell‘s staff for the past two years, moving to Michigan after 10 seasons in Philly, his primary team during his playing career. The former Eagles running back worked as their running backs coach from 2013-20. Staley has interviewed for the Eagles and Giants’ OC positions during the late 2010s and took over as Philly’s HC temporarily in 2020, during a Doug Pederson COVID-19 spell, but it does not appear Staley is joining Reich’s staff in a coordinator role.
Staley’s role is uncertain, but he stands to be one of Reich’s top assistants. The Lions made a surprise playoff push during the season’s second half, and Jamaal Williams provided an equally stunning performance to help drive it. Williams finished with the league lead in rushing touchdowns (17) and smashed his previous career yardage high with 1,066.
The Panthers are moving forward on their OC search, requesting to interview Jaguars passing-game coordinator Jim Bob Cooter, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets. As he was with Tampa Bay, Cooter is believed to be Carolina’s first interview request for this job.
Reich has not committed to calling plays just yet. Despite David Tepper coming out against CEO-type coaches, Reich noted a recent trend of HCs not calling plays in indicating (via ESPN.com’s David Newton) he has not made that decision. The Cowboys, Eagles and Giants represent recent examples of offense-oriented HCs ceding play-calling duties to lieutenants, though Mike McCarthy will go the other way — intending to call plays after dismissing Kellen Moore — in 2023. It will be interesting if Reich, the Colts’ play-caller throughout his tenure, follows suit. That will make the OC position a more prominent role in Carolina.
Cooter, 38, also has experience in Detroit; his Lions stay doubles as his most relevant NFL work. The Lions promoted their then-31-year-old staffer to OC during the 2015 season. Cooter stayed in that role through the 2018 slate, keeping the gig for a year despite the Lions firing Jim Caldwell. Cooter and Reich were each on the Colts’ staff from 2009-11, with Reich coaching Indy’s QBs and wideouts and Cooter starting out as an offensive assistant. Cooter’s past with Pederson, who hired Reich as Eagles OC in 2016, also could check a box here.
Given Trevor Lawrence‘s second-year production, teams have wanted to speak with Cooter. The Buccaneers have not made a decision about their OC yet, so Cooter is now in play for two positions. He has not been a coordinator since the Lions let him go four years ago.
Matt Rhule Sues Panthers
As they move into the Frank Reich era, the Panthers have not fully transitioned from their Matt Rhule contract. Rhule hit the Panthers with a lawsuit recently, Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports.
The two-plus-season Panthers HC filed an arbitration suit last week, seeking severance money he alleges the team is refusing to pay. Rhule is seeking offset money from the Panthers, with Jones adding $5MM is believed to be in dispute here.
Now the coach at Nebraska, Rhule landed on his feet quickly. His deal with the Big Ten program is believed to offset much of the remaining money the Panthers owed him as part of their seven-year, $62MM contract agreed to in 2020. Roughly $34MM remained on Rhule’s Panthers contract at the time he was fired. Rhule signed an eight-year, $74MM deal with Nebraska in November.
Rhule’s Cornhuskers accord spikes in pay, going from $5.5MM in Year 1 up to $12.5MM down the road. His Panthers deal paid $8.5MM in each season, per Jones, who adds the Panthers are expected to argue Rhule’s Nebraska contract violates the NFL’s anti-tampering policy by including increases — between the base salary and other benefits — of more than 20%.
The policy stipulates such an increase would affect the Panthers’ offset payment. The NFL’s policy does not address college jobs, but the Panthers may be set to use this clause in an effort to avoid paying Rhule the approximately $5MM he seeks. It is not clear how much money the Panthers have paid Rhule to date, but Jones adds this matter is expected to be resolved in a few weeks’ time.
Panthers owner David Tepper, who is currently under investigation by the York County (South Carolina) Sherriff’s Office regarding the scrapped Panthers practice facility project, said this week he made a mistake hiring Rhule.
“I made this mistake,” Tepper said. “I think it’s a mistake to have a CEO-type head coach. OK? That’s a mistake, just in general. That’s what I kind of believe. So I think you want to get somebody who’s really good on offense or really good on defense.”
49ers To Interview Steve Wilks For DC
DeMeco Ryans is now the Texans’ head coach. The 49ers had long prepared for the scenario in which Ryans departs, and they are moving ahead in this direction.
The 49ers requested an interview with former Panthers interim HC Steve Wilks for the likely soon-to-be-vacant defensive coordinator position, Aaron Wilson of KPRC tweets. Wilks was a finalist for the Panthers’ HC job, but Frank Reich ended up as Carolina’s hire. Wilks is prepared to coach elsewhere in 2023. He will move forward with a 49ers interview Monday, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com tweets.
Carolina still has Wilks under contract, Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweets, but after the team hired Reich, it seems a separation is imminent. The Panthers interviewed Wilks and Reich twice, but the team was long expected to hire an offense-oriented HC. Wilks made the process more difficult, clearly, as he went 6-6 as Carolina’s interim boss. But his second stay with the Panthers will likely be capped at one year.
Re-emerging as a key NFL name after a two-year hiatus — one of those seasons spent as Missouri’s DC — Wilks oversaw one of the better interim efforts in a long time by guiding the Panthers, who were 1-4 under Matt Rhule, to a 7-10 mark. The Panthers vied for the NFC South lead in Week 17, but a loss to the Buccaneers ended their rally. The Tampa Bay defeat, in which Tom Brady torched Carolina’s secondary, likely affected Wilks’ chances of having his interim tag removed. The Panthers rehired Wilks — a Ron Rivera assistant from 2012-17 — as their secondary coach last year, and David Tepper promoted him to steer the ship post-Rhule.
Wilks is part of the Brian Flores-led discrimination lawsuit against the NFL and multiple teams, and his attorney expressed disappointment shortly after the Panthers went with Reich. But Wilks released a statement thanking the Panthers in the wake of their Reich hire, potentially signaling he will move on with his career over adding the Panthers to the suit.
The 49ers had Vic Fangio on their radar as a Ryans replacement, but the former San Francisco DC is taking over as Miami’s defensive leader. The 49ers have lost their past two DCs — Ryans and Robert Saleh — to HC jobs. Wilks is 9-19 as a head coach, with his one-year Cardinals stint leading to the sub-.500 record. But he improved his stock this past season in Carolina. The Charlotte native does not have a history with Kyle Shanahan, but he has been an NFL assistant since 2005.
Latest On Eagles QBs Coach Brian Johnson
The Eagles have made it to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in franchise history this season in large part due to the jump in production seen from quarterback Jalen Hurts. To little surprise, his positional coach is drawing interest during this year’s coordinator cycle. 
[RELATED: Eagles, Hurts To Discuss Extension]
Brian Johnson began his coaching career at the college level in 2010. Over the course of the following decade, he spent time with four different programs, working as QBs coach and/or offensive coordinator at each stop along the way. That landed him his Eagles post in 2021, his first foray into coaching in the NFL.
This season, his second as a full-time starter, Hurts has taken a substantial step forward. The former second-rounder led the Eagles to the NFC’s No. 1 seed, putting himself in the MVP conversation along the way. That earned Johnson considerable praise alongside the other key members of the Eagles’ offensive staff, particularly OC Shane Steichen. It has not, on the other hand, resulted in much in the way of interviews so far.
The only meeting Johnson reportedly took was with the Rams prior to their decision to hire Mike LaFleur for their OC position. Contradicting that, CBS Sports’ Jonathan Jones writes that Johnson has yet to take part in any interviews. Part of the reason for that, he adds, is the possibility that he could be waiting to see if the Eagles’ OC role becomes vacant after the season with Steichen being hired elsewhere. If that were to take place, Johnson, 35, would represent a logical candidate to be promoted.
In any case, ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler names Johnson and Kevin Patullo as names on Philadelphia’s staff to watch closely as teams fill out their OC positions (Twitter link). One such team is the Panthers, who have Frank Reich in place as their new head coach but plenty of uncertainty with respect to the rest of his staff. A push from Carolina to hire Johnson for the role is “probably coming,” per Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. Breer adds that Johnson would have also been the preferred candidate for Steve Wilks, had he been given the full-time HC position with the Panthers.
With five OC spots still yet to be filled, plenty is still to be determined in the coming weeks as the coaching cycle plays out. Regardless of the outcome of the coming Super Bowl, though, Johnson will figure to be on the radar in 2023 and beyond.
Cowboys To Interview Jeff Nixon For OC Vacancy
For the first time in Dak Prescott‘s career, the Cowboys are on the lookout for a new offensive coordinator. With Kellen Moore headed to Los Angeles, their search for his replacement is set to begin. 
Dallas is set to interview Panthers running backs coach Jeff Nixon for the OC position, reports Joe Person of The Athletic (Twitter link). The 48-year-old began his NFL coaching career with the Eagles in 2007, spending time there as an assistant on both offense and special teams. That led him to the Dolphins, where he took on the familiar role of exclusively coaching running backs.
Nixon spent four years in Miami, then one in San Francisco before working alongside Matt Rhule at Baylor. He joined the latter in Carolina upon his hire in 2020, and has been with the Panthers since. Nixon has once again been primarily working with the team’s running backs, but he also took over the interim OC role in 2021 following the dismissal of Joe Brady. In 2022, Nixon maintained senior offensive assistant as part of his title.
This past season saw the Panthers’ ground game lose its most potent weapon after Christian McCaffrey was traded to the 49ers midseason. In spite of that, the team still finished 10th in the league in rushing, averaging 130 yards per game on the ground. That element of their offense – driven by D’Onta Foreman and Chuba Hubbard following the McCaffrey deal – helped keep Carolina in the hunt for a playoff spot deep into the season despite their disastrous start under Rhule.
Nixon (who also interviewed for OC vacancies with the Jaguars and Raiders last offseason) is also a candidate to remain on staff in Carolina under new head coach Frank Reich. Should he depart, though, he could take on a sizeable role in a Cowboys offense which impressed in the regular season but fell short in the playoffs during Moore’s tenure. Dallas’ hire to fill the vacancy will not call plays, though, as head coach Mike McCarthy is reportedly set to assume those duties.
Another, internal, option for the Cowboys to consider is Brian Schottenheimer. The veteran staffer has OC experience with the Jets, Rams and Seahawks and served as a consultant in Dallas this past season. Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer names the 49-year-old as a candidate to watch as the Cowboys’ search for Moore’s replacement starts to take shape in the coming days.
Latest On Panthers’ DC Search
Today marks the first official day at work for new Panthers head coach Frank Reich, the first domino to fall in the 2023 HC cycle. Much remains to be seen with respect to his staff, including coordinators on both sides of the ball.
On defense, it became clear that Reich’s preference for his new DC was Vic Fangio. The 64-year-old agreed to terms yesterday on a deal with the Dolphins which will see him become the league’s highest-paid coordinator, however, leaving Carolina to look elsewhere to fill the position. A pair of finalists remain in the running. 
Those two are Saints co-defensive coordinator Kris Richard and Jets safeties coach Marquand Manuel. Those two are the only candidates other than Fangio to have interviewed for the position, so it comes as little surprise that they remain in the running. Joe Person of The Athletic notes that Carolina has “moved on” to Richard and Manuel as it pertains to the DC opening, with the latter seeming to be in the lead (subscription required).
Josina Anderson of CBS Sports also reports (via Twitter) that Manuel remains the subject of considerable interest from Carolina. The 43-year-old has two years of DC experience, dating back to his time with the Falcons in 2017 and 2018. That post came between tenures in Seattle and Philadelphia prior to his current one in New York. Neither he nor Richard, who has multiple stints as a defensive coordinator on his resume, have experience working with Reich, though they have ties to general manager Scott Fitterer dating back to their shared time with the Seahawks.
Anderson adds that the Panthers could have competition in the form of the Texans for Manuel’s services. Houston is thought to be a potential destination for him in the (expected) event that 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans is hired as the team’s new head coach. Especially if that were to happen, attention could shift once more towards a staffer who does have experience working alongside Reich.
Person names Colts DC Gus Bradley as someone who has been “mentioned” as a candidate to follow Reich to Carolina. As he notes, however, an interview request as not yet been submitted. Anderson tweets that Reich brought up the possibility of hiring the 56-year-old, something ownership was not in favor of. It was then that Fangio was pursued, to the point where the Panthers were willing to give him the league’s largest coordinator contract (Twitter link).
With Reich expected to call plays on offense, the team’s ultimate choice at the DC spot will go a long way in determining their success on that side of the ball. Steve Wilks, who guided Carolina to an impressive run at the end of the season filling in for Matt Rhule, remains on staff for now, but he is likely to head elsewhere with new faces coming in on the Panthers’ sidelines.
Frank Reich Targeting Vic Fangio For Panthers’ DC Role
The Falcons interviewed Vic Fangio for their defensive coordinator job but went in another direction. The Panthers look to be planning a stronger push to bring in the acclaimed defensive mind.
Frank Reich is targeting Fangio to be his DC in Carolina, Josina Anderson of CBS Sports reports (on Twitter). While Fangio has also met with the Dolphins and may have a 49ers return in his back pocket, Anderson adds momentum is building toward a Fangio-Reich partnership. Fangio, 64, interviewed with the Panthers last week.
This would be a reunion for Fangio, who was the Panthers’ first DC back in 1995. Reich was on that roster, serving as the team’s starting quarterback for its first three games before moving into a backup role behind then-rookie Kerry Collins. Fangio stuck around in Carolina longer than Reich the first time around, lasting in that DC position through the 1998 season.
Reich and Fangio have otherwise not overlapped, and given the interest in the veteran coordinator, Anderson adds it could take making him the league’s highest-paid DC to finalize this reunion. After the Broncos fired Fangio last January, he has re-emerged as one of the most sought-after coordinator candidates. It will be interesting to see if the well-traveled defensive boss will accept a Carolina offer or wait for one of the other DC jobs — potentially San Francisco’s or with one of the teams still searching for a head coach — to open up.
Prior to coming to Denver, Fangio earned Assistant Coach of the Year acclaim for his work with the 2018 Bears. Chicago led the NFL in scoring defense that season — a 12-4 campaign that earned Matt Nagy Coach of the Year acclaim — and Fangio churned out productive Denver defenses despite repeated issues keeping Von Miller and Bradley Chubb healthy at the same time. Fangio also played a significant role in the 49ers’ back-to-back-to-back NFC championship game appearances in the early 2010s. Fangio has coached in the NFL since 1986 and has been a coordinator for five teams.
While Reich and Fangio would present quite the experienced play-calling tandem, the Panthers also have Marquand Manuel on their radar. The Jets assistant interviewed for the position, and ESPN.com’s Jeremy Fowler notes (on Twitter) the former Falcons DC impressed Panthers brass during the meeting. The Jets’ safeties coach for the past two seasons, Manuel was the Falcons’ DC from 2017-18. The former safety who spent the 2007 season with the Panthers interviewed with the team before Reich’s hire, like Fangio, but he was in Seattle during part of GM Scott Fitterer‘s tenure in the Seahawks’ front office.
Reich’s vision for his staff helped sway the Panthers to hire him, Joe Person of The Athletic adds (subscription required), so how Carolina’s assistant cadre comes together will be interesting to observe. Fangio is one of the biggest names on the market, and considering the options he probably has, it would be quite the get for Reich to start his second-chance HC opportunity.
Panthers’ HC Hire Comes With Some Potential Controversy
Carolina broke the seal on head coaching hires this offseason when it announced the decision to hire former Colts head coach Frank Reich today to officially replace Matt Rhule, spurning interim head coach Steve Wilks in the process. A closer look at the Panthers’ recent hires, though, may bring us back to an issue the NFL has been struggling to fight in recent years, and may lead Carolina into pending litigation against the NFL and multiple other teams, according to Mike Florio of NBC Sports. 
On January 8, nearly three weeks ago and a mere two hours after the Panthers’ regular season had come to a close, Reich’s daughter, Hannah Reich Fairman, announced that she had officially accepted a job with Carolina on Twitter. On its face, there’s nothing wrong with Fairman’s hiring. Even in a league rife with nepotism, the personnel addition couldn’t even be considered as such as Reich didn’t yet work for the Panthers.
Wilks already has a storied role in the league’s history of racial discrimination. Wilks is involved in the pending Brian Flores racial discrimination case against the league and several teams, having sued the Cardinals. After the announcement that Wilks was being passed over for Reich, Wilks’ lawyer in the suit, Doug Wigdor, implied that Carolina would soon find itself added to the lawsuit as a defendant, as reported by Florio. The argument on Wilks’ behalf is that racial bias affected his chances to remain the head coach in Carolina on an official basis and that his existing involvement in the pending lawsuit against the NFL led the Panthers to consider him in a lesser capacity.
“We are shocked and disturbed that after the incredible job Coach Wilks did as the interim coach, including bringing the team back into playoff contention and garnering the support of the players and fans, that he was passed over for the head coach position by (Panthers owner) David Tepper,” Wigdor averred in his statement. “There is a legitimate race problem in the NFL, and we can assure you that we will have more to say in the coming days.”
Whether or not Fairman’s hiring holds any wrongdoing, it immediately becomes a point of interest in the eventual litigation. The theory would be that the Panthers knew that Reich would eventually become their head coach when they hired Fairman and strung any other candidates along for a sham coaching search that made a mockery of the NFL’s diversity hiring rules and efforts. Efforts like the Rooney Rule have been minimized into red tape that has NFL franchises perfunctorily going through mandatory motions with zero intention.
If Reich’s appointment was a done deal at the time of Fairman’s hiring, it becomes a key example of the league’s issues with racial discrimination, and Wilks case gains much more evidential validity. In order to prove that theory, an investigation will have to be undertaken to review all communications and question those involved in the hiring process.