Is Greg Olsen really interested in the Carolina Panthers’ head-coaching job? Well, let’s hear it from the man himself, shall we?
The former tight end and franchise great joined Thursday’s episode of The Rich Eisen Show, where host Rich Eisen brought up the elephant that’s suddenly in the room. He asked Olsen if a report connecting him to his old team’s upcoming vacancy is at all accurate.
“The best thing I would say is, ‘Who wouldn’t?'” Olsen told Eisen about the opportunity. “Obviously, this is a city that I love, this is a team that I played the bulk of my career for. I wanna see them have success. I live here. My kids are here. We wanna see the Carolina Panthers return to the level that we were able to have a good five-, six-year run where we were one of the more relevant, one of the better stories in the NFL year-in-and-year-out playing in the playoffs. Of course I want that for them.”
On Monday, the Panthers fired head coach Frank Reich—who led the team to a 1-10 mark in his 11 games at the position. Later that evening, a report from Joe Person of The Athletic noted that Olsen would be interested in the post if he is approached.
Olsen played nine of his 14 NFL seasons in Carolina, where he became the franchise’s third all-time leading receiver. He’s since moved on to an Emmy Award-winning broadcast career for FOX Sports.
So, until that hypothetical becomes even close to a reality, the 38-year-old seems quite content with the job he’s doing now.
“Yeah, this is not something I’m chasing,” Olsen later added. “This is not something I’m calling. This is not something I’m actively pursuing. I would call the A game at FOX for 30 years if that’s what was in the cards.
“But again, we all know how this whole world works. People come and go, opportunities come and go. So I’m just never a believer in anything of just slamming the door on anything that you love and anything you’re passionate about.”
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