David Tepper has gone the college coach route and the experienced NFL coach path, neither of which worked.
Here’s one the Carolina Panthers’ owner hasn’t tried yet: hiring a former player to make the jump from the broadcast booth to the head-coaching office.
Ex-Carolina tight end Greg Olsen, the color analyst on Fox’s No. 1 NFL crew, would be interested in the Panthers’ vacancy if he were approached, according to sources close to Olsen who were granted anonymity so they could speak freely.
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It would be a big leap considering Olsen’s coaching experience is limited to coaching his son’s Pop Warner team (incidentally, Panthers great Luke Kuechly has been the defensive coordinator for Olsen’s Pop Warner team for the past couple of years). But the 38-year-old has been immersed in the league since moving into broadcasting after he retired following the 2020 season.
Tepper would face public backlash if he were to pursue Olsen, much like the Houston Texans did when they interviewed Josh McCown for their head-coaching vacancy in consecutive hiring cycles. McCown, who had been a volunteer assistant at his sons’ high schools in Charlotte and Texas, joined Frank Reich’s Panthers staff as the quarterbacks coach last winter. He was let go by interim coach Chris Tabor on Monday in the wake of Reich’s firing.
In 2017, Hall of Fame safety John Lynch transitioned from the Fox booth to the front office when he took over as the San Francisco 49ers’ general manager in a move that was considered unorthodox. The 49ers have become one of the NFL’s most successful teams under Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan.
Olsen, whose father was a longtime high school coach in New Jersey, called the Panthers–Dallas Cowboys game in Charlotte, N.C., on Nov. 19. He has remained close with many people in the organization, including Tabor, who was a Chicago Bears assistant when Olsen played for the Bears early in his career.
Olsen remains in a unique position as an NFL analyst, a man at the top of his profession who is expected to be replaced on the top team next year by Tom Brady. Fox Sports executives — and the members of Olsen’s NFL broadcast team, including play-by-play voice Kevin Burkhardt — could not be higher on Olsen’s future as an NFL analyst, but Brady is Brady.
If the future Hall of Fame quarterback decides to fulfill the mega-deal he signed with Fox (which looks to be the case, at least for next year), he will be the network’s No. 1 NFL analyst. He’s being paid too much money by News Corp. to think otherwise.
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Regardless of the looming Brady decision, Olsen has already proved he can handle the job of a No. 1 NFL analyst. At 38, Olsen has a bright broadcasting future regardless of the employer.
Still, given the uncertainty surrounding Fox Sports’ lead analyst role, it doesn’t hurt Olsen to have his name associated with his former team’s coaching vacancy.
He’s been honest in interviews about his situation, in addition to showing self-awareness and humor. “That story really is the same as it was a year ago, when obviously there was a lot of conversation surrounding it,” Olsen told The Athletic in September. “It was part of everything that went down in the sports media carousel of movement, new networks, and traditional faces at one network going to another. Obviously, all of that was heightened by the fact that Fox had the Super Bowl. It was really a perfect storm of scenarios that led to a very interesting topic.”
If Olsen and his broadcasting representatives are thinking about this strategically in broadcasting terms, the smart play would be to stay with Fox Sports. It would be a long shot for Brady to stay long-term in broadcasting — he clearly has sports ownership designs — and Olsen will be rewarded for making things work. He’d also be on the No. 2 NFL broadcasting team, which still means major games as well as playoff assignments. But perhaps the lure of returning to the league in a coaching capacity is real.
Required reading
• Who could Panthers target as next head coach? Jim Harbaugh, Belichick and more candidates
• Jones: Frank Reich’s firing shows again that NFL owners are bad at hiring head coaches
• Why did Panthers fire Frank Reich? Anemic offense, lots of losses forced David Tepper’s hand
(Photo: Mike Comer / Getty Images)
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