As he did prior to Saturday’s hiring of wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson, Joe Person of The Athletic may have a beat on the Carolina Panthers’ next move.
Late Monday night, Person tweeted that the team may have eyes on John Lilly as their new tight ends coach. He is currently the tight ends coach and run game coordinator for the University of North Carolina.
Frank Reich has filled nearly every staff spot, but Panthers still need a TEs coach.
A name to watch: North Carolina TEs coach John Lilly, who was an asst. at Georgia with Panthers OC Thomas Brown and has some NFL experience.— Joe Person (@josephperson) February 21, 2023
Lilly, who joined the Tar Heels back in 2020, has chalked up over three decades’ worth of coaching experience. That run began as an assistant coach for Northwest Guilford High School in 1991 and extended into both the collegiate and professional levels.
He moved on to Florida State University in 1995—where he served as a videographer, graduate assistant, recruiting coordinator and tight ends coach up until 2007. Lilly then jumped to the University of Georgia for eight seasons to lead their tight ends and special teams unit, crossing paths with new Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown.
His NFL experience includes a pair of one-year stints as a tight ends coach—one for the Los Angeles Rams in 2016 and the other for the Cleveland Browns in 2019.
