Panthers legend Newton lifts the lid on plan to lure Belichick to Carolina
The Carolina Panthers head coaching vacancy might be among the least appealing jobs in the sport right now, but former NFL MVP Cam Newton believes six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick can be lured to Bank of America Stadium.
The Panthers fired head coach Frank Reich on Monday after just 11 games in charge. Reich oversaw only one victory in that time, with No. 1 overall pick quarterback Bryce Young struggling to make the leap to the NFL level. Panthers owner David Tepper, a hedge fund billionaire, is notoriously impatient, and the appointment of special teams coordinator Chris Tabor as interim head coach means the Panthers have had six head coaches since Tepper bought the team in 2018.
That instability is a huge red flag for prospective candidates, which could include Belichick by the end of the season when Tepper decides Reich's permanent successor. Belichick and the Patriots are enduring their worst season since he took charge in Foxborough in 2000.
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Belichick teamed up with legendary quarterback Tom Brady to deliver two decades of success with the Patriots, but the past three seasons have fallen well short of expectations and the team is languishing at the bottom of the AFC East with a 2-9 record.
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There is a feeling Belichick's tenure with the franchise is coming to an end, with The Athletic's Diana Russini reporting a mutual parting of ways is on the cards at the end of the season. But Belichick is not ready to walk away from coaching, and Newton – the 2015 NFL MVP who spent 10 seasons with the Panthers and the 2021 campaign with the Pats – believes Belichick is the man for the job.
Newton played under Belichick in New England in 2020. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)Although many pundits predict the Panthers will struggle to find a quality candidate, Newton, 34, thinks Tepper has an ace up his sleeve that could lure Belichick to Charlotte. Newton says Tepper would be willing to make Belichick the de-facto general manager as well as head coach, which is the same remit the 71-year-old has had at the Patriots.
"I think (David) Tepper, knowing what I do know, he's hoping that he can land Bill Belichick. That right there will be a win-win-win-win for David Tepper," Newton told "The 4th & 1 Show".
"The thing that I know would be the enticing lure to it, is because Tepper will give him everything that he would need. And also that will allow Belichick to say, 'You know what, things didn't work out (with Patriots), now I can show you I can do it somewhere else.'"
With just six games left, the Patriots' season is all but over, and fans have now turned their attention to next year's draft, with the team set to be picking in the top five. The Panthers, however, do not have a first-round pick after parting with a huge amount of draft capital earlier this year to climb the ladder for Young, making Reich's replacement's job all the more difficult.
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