For the third consecutive year, the NFL’s Conference Championship Round will be featuring both the Kansas City Chiefs and the San Francisco 49ers—and it seems like Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has taken note.
According to ESPN senior insider Adam Schefter, Tepper may be looking to follow in the footsteps of two of the game’s juggernauts. They could start with hiring Chiefs vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis, whom Schefter reports is being targeted by the Panthers.
His report from Saturday night also notes a possible job description Carolina might have in mind for Tillis. Schefter writes:
Tilis is likely to land a similar role to 49ers chief contract negotiator Paraag Marathe, who has the title of executive vice president of football operations, according to sources. Then the Panthers would have Morgan and Tilis work in much the same way that Lynch and Marathe do.
Tilis, who interviewed for Carolina’s now-previous vacancy at general manager, is currently in his 14th season for Kansas City. Before his current role, he served as a salary cap and contract analyst, the director of salary cap and football operations analyst and the director of football administration.
As far as copying the structure from out west, the Panthers’ interest shouldn’t be too surprising considering the consulting firm they’ve worked with during their offseason searches. Sportsology, whom Tepper reportedly enlisted, also helped San Francisco land on head coach Kyle Shanahan in 2017.
So if you’re trying to model your organization after another, you can definitely do worse than the Chiefs and the 49ers.
