Panthers reportedly plan to interview group of finalists for HC job

Unless any new names enter the conversation, the Carolina Panthers will wrap up their round of initial head coaching interviews on Tuesday—with Dallas Cowboys offensive coordinator Kellen Moore. But will there be a second round of meetings?

According to Joe Person of The Athletic, there may very well be.

On Monday night, Person gave the latest update on the team’s hunt for a new head coach. He noted that owner David Tepper and his braintrust reportedly let at least one contender know they’ll be conducting another set of interviews after they cut down the field.

Person writes:

“Even before the pause in the search, it seemed Tepper was determined to conduct a more thorough search than he did when hiring Rhule, one of only four candidates to interview after Ron Rivera was fired. To that end, Tepper and his search committee — which includes Nicole Tepper, Fitterer, assistant GM Dan Morgan and vice president of football administration Samir Suleiman — have indicated to at least one candidate they plan to interview a group of finalists.

“But whether the Panthers conduct another round of interviews has not been determined yet, according to a source with knowledge of this situation.”

After tomorrow, the Panthers will have spoken with nine men for the position—Steve Wilks, Jim Caldwell, Frank Reich, Shane Steichen, Ejiro Evero, Ken Dorsey, Mike Kafka, Sean Payton and Moore. They’ve also had their interest turned down by three others—Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, New England Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo and San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, who cancelled his interview with Carolina due to “logistical” issues.