The Panthers’ coaching search hit high gear yesterday. Here’s a review of the candidates we know about so far.

Former Packers coach Mike McCarthy

Pros: McCarthy has the most NFL experience of these candidates and it’s not close. After six seasons as an offensive coordinator with the Saints and 49ers, he landed in Green Bay and spent 13 years as the head coach of the Packers, posted a respectable 125-77-2 record and won a Super Bowl. Since getting fired, McCarthy has apparently been spending his time self-scouting and studying up on the latest trends and analytics. If that’s true, he may have legitimately improved as a coach.

Cons: Considering the talent McCarthy had to work with, Green Bay fell short of its potential during the McCarthy era. Most notably he had Aaron Rodgers – and when Aaron Rodgers was peaking (roughly from 2009-2016) nobody has ever played quarterback at a higher level. Hard as it is to believe, having won just one ring in that time is a bit of an indictment of McCarthy, whose fallout with Rodgers may have played a huge role in his exit. Managing difficult personalities like Rodgers is part of the job though, and it sounds like McCarthy couldn’t handle it. More importantly, McCarthy’s conservative tendencies and stale play-calling eventually ruined what was once a tremendous passing offense.

Pages: 12345