According to a report by Ian Rapoport at NFL Network, three teams have requested to interview Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady for their open head coaching positions. Per Rapoport, those teams are the Atlanta Falcons, the Los Angeles Chargers and the Houston Texans.
Brady was expected to be a hot head coach candidate heading into this offseason, even if Carolina’s offense didn’t exactly finish the season on a high note.
The Panthers only averaged 21.9 points per game this year (ranking No. 24) and 349.5 yards (No. 21) but considering the context that production isn’t terrible. Remember, their best offensive player Christian McCaffrey missed all but three games due to injuries. They also had a quarterback who was consistently underperforming even modest expectations and finished the year with zero game-winning drives.
Brady’s offense didn’t always click, but it is up-to-date and produced four players with 1,000 yards or more from scrimmage. That’s just the fifth time that’s happened in the Super Bowl era. With a more dynamic and aggressive quarterback running his offense, this team might have been a far more dangerous group offensively in 2020.
On that front, the Houston and LA jobs are both enticing. Justin Herbert has a strong chance to win Offensive Rookie of the Year and may already be a top-10 talent at quarterback. However, Deshaun Watson is now among the league’s best. The only QBs who can even argue they might have had a better year are MVP candidates Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. As for the Falcons, Atlanta has an obscene amount of talent at wide receiver, but Matt Ryan is 35 years old and won’t have too much longer to play at a high level.
We’ll see where Brady lands, or if the Panthers can convince him to stay put and build on what he started this year.
