Panthers HC Rumors: Lions' Ben Johnson, Ravens' Todd Monken Among Interview Requests

As the Carolina Panthers move forward in their coaching search, the team has reportedly begun requesting interviews with some candidates.

According to Tom Pelissero of NFL Network, the Panthers have requested interviews with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson and Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported Carolina has requested an interview with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.

The Panthers later announced a list of 9 coaches they'd requested for interviews, per ESPN's Jeremy Fowler:

Johnson was promoted to Detroit's offensive coordinator in 2022, helping the Lions as they emerged onto the scene. This season, Johnson was the coordinator as the Lions won their first division title since 1993.

Carolina is not the only team interested in Johnson, however. Pelissero also reported the Washington Commanders and the Los Angeles Chargers have requested an interview with the Lions offensive coordinator.

Callahan has been Cincinnati's offensive coordinator since 2019. He was the coordinator when Joe Burrow and the Bengals made a trip to Super Bowl LVI as well as the 2023 AFC Championship Game.

This past season, Cincinnati went 9-8 with Jake Browning playing in nine games as Burrow was hampered by a calf injury to start the season and then suffered a season-ending wrist injury in Week 10.

Monken was the offensive coordinator as the Georgia Bulldogs won back-to-back national championships in the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons. In his first season with the Ravens, Lamar Jackson put together an MVP-caliber season and led the team to an AFC-best 13-4 record.

Per Rapoport, the Chargers are also interested in Monken.

Now that the regular season has concluded, the Panthers will look to make progress in their head-coaching search. Interim coach Chris Tabor went 1-5 after taking over for Frank Reich on Nov. 28.

It's tough to imagine a realistic scenario where this season could've gone worse for Carolina.

Finishing with the NFL's worst record (2-15) speaks for itself. The Panthers looked like playoff outsiders in the preseason, so expectations weren't exactly through the roof. And they managed to come in way below that.

Then there's the performance of No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young. The 2021 Heisman Trophy winner threw for 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 16 games. Some are already wondering whether Carolina erred in taking him instead of C.J. Stroud.

Looming over it all is team owner David Tepper.

In any sport, dysfunctional ownership can be an almost impossible challenge to overcome because that disorder eventually seeps down to lower levels of the organization. In five years, Tepper has gone from purchasing the Panthers to having people question whether Carolina has a serious ownership problem.

Giving Matt Rhule a seven-year, $62 million contract in 2020 raised eyebrows at the time, and Tepper deserves some credit for recognizing things weren't working out and being willing to write a big check to move on after two-plus seasons.

However, he has done little to reassure the fanbase since then.

Steve Wilks didn't ever seem to have a genuine shot at staying on beyond the 2022 season, a fact made tougher to square when he led the Panthers to a 6-6 finish.

Reich was at least an experienced NFL head coach who as a former quarterback and former offensive coordinator was suited for the position under the circumstances. Carolina was all but guaranteed to take a QB in the first round, so hiring an offense-first coach made sense.

To then give Reich less than a full season beggared belief. While he was partially culpable for the team's performances, coaching wasn't the sole factor driving the Panthers' dreadful start.

In his press conference immediately after firing Reich, Tepper said he "would like someone to be here 20, 30 years" in reference to a head coach. He added that "my reputation away from this game is one for extreme patience."

If anything, the press conference may have undermined Tepper more than it helped him despite his attempts at steadying the ship.

Then came details of how Tepper reportedly operates behind the scenes. Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio in November cited a source who said the owner intentionally mispronounces employee's names at times as "his way of putting people in their place."

Joseph Person and Dianna Russini of The Athletic did a deep dive into the franchise as a whole in December.

"Team sources described a Hunger Games culture at Bank of America Stadium," they wrote. "Coaches said they believed other staff members were text messaging Tepper behind Reich's back about issues they saw with the team. General manager Scott Fitterer and, separately, an offensive coach went to Tepper with a coaching suggestion for the quarterback. Fitterer had previously spoken to Reich about this issue."

Maybe Tepper will be vindicated in having such a short leash with Reich, but he has burned through the benefit of the doubt. Almost immediately after Reich's ouster came questions over whether Carolina was sabotaging its own coaching search thanks to what's perceived to be a meddlesome owner.

Person and Russini also reported some team employees went so far as to reach out to Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, who was a candidate during the last hiring cycle, and detail "how complicated it's been to work in Carolina this season."

There are only so many NFL coaching opportunities to go around, and whomever the Panthers hire will at least know there's a nice buyout waiting if Tepper's patience quickly wears thin once again.

All things considered, though, this is likely to be the least attractive vacancy in the league this offseason.