CHARLOTTE – The Panthers are working on a second round of interviews, as they narrow their list of candidates for the position of general manager.
After an initial round of 15 virtual interviews, the Panthers met in person with Titans player team director Monti Ossenfort, 49ers player team vice president Adam Peters, and assistant chief team manager , Ryan Poles, on Tuesday. Seahawks vice president of football operations, Scott Fitterer, had his second interview on Wednesday.
A decision is expected this week.
Peters has the closest ties to people at work, as he served in defense at UCLA under the command of two guys who would look very familiar. Panthers’ head coach Matt Rhule was his coach in 2001, and the defensive coordinator for UCLA that year was Phil Snow, who now holds that position with the Panthers.
Peters was with the Broncos before joining the 49ers, helping to build the team that won the Panthers in the Super Bowl 50. He also worked for the Patriots.
Fitterer was one of the last to go through the first round of interviews, meeting on Monday with Rhule and owner David Tepper by videoconference before arriving on Wednesday. He has been with the Seahawks since 2001, and effectively serves as a GM co-assistant under John Schneider there.
Poles, a former offensive striker at Boston College (where he blocked for Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan), has been with the Chiefs since 2009 and is the youngest of the four.
Ossenfort spent 15 years in the Patriots organization, before leaving last season to join former co-workers Mike Vrabel and Jon Robinson in Tennessee.