Greg Olsen of Fox Addresses Panthers Head Coach Rumors: “It Would Be Insane” to Ignore the Job
Greg Olsen, a FOX Sports analyst, stated that he “would be crazy” to turn down a chance to lead the Carolina Panthers as head coach.
If they approached us and said, ‘Hey listen, is this something you’d talk to us about?, I think it’s pretty obvious to entertain and take that conversation, Olsen said on The Rich Eisen Show on Thursday.
“How that all works out is beyond me. I enjoy what I’m doing now. There are a lot of moving pieces in the future, and most of it is beyond our control.
In the video below, Olsen makes his remarks at the 1:20 mark.
Although Olsen has no prior NFL or college coaching experience, the broadcaster “would be interested in the Panthers’ vacancy if he were approached,” according to a Monday report from Joseph Person and Richard Deitsch of The Athletic.
“I think we have to be careful saying that experience leads to competence,” Olsen stated. “We just have to be careful thinking experience is the only prerequisite to being good at anything.”
Between 2007 and 2020, Olsen played in 14 seasons in the NFL, spending nine of those years and three Pro Bowl campaigns with the Panthers.
In 2020, Olsen’s last NFL season, he was a member of the Seattle Seahawks and Chicago Bears. He agreed to a one-day contract in March 2021 in order to play his final game for the Panthers.
After that, he became a broadcaster for Fox Sports during the 2021 NFL season.
Although Olsen is in his second year as the network’s lead analyst for NFL broadcasts, his position may be in jeopardy when Tom Brady joins the network in 2024.
The seven-time Super Bowl champion will commentate alongside play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt, who presently fills Olsen’s position, according to Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch’s announcement in 2022.
Olsen currently makes $10 million a year from that lead role, but according to Tom Kludt of Vanity Fair, that pay will drop to $3 million in 2024 as he becomes less important than Brady.
Olsen, 38, may not hold the top spot for very long. In the words of Person and Deitsch, “it would be a long shot for Brady to stay long-term in broadcasting.”
But Olsen said he might be interested in coaching if given the chance.
“This is not something I’m chasing, this is not something I’m calling around, this is not something I’m actively pursuing,” Olsen stated to Eisen. “I would call the A game at Fox for 30 years if that was what was in the cards…. but I’m just never a believer of just slamming the door on anything that you love, and anything that you’re passionate about.”
“I’m not sure whether the chance will present itself or not. It’s a hypothetical scenario, so why not in this hypothetical situation?”
Frank Reich, who was fired by the Panthers on Monday after winning just one of his first 11 games as head coach, is being looked for a long-term replacement. The Panthers have changed their head coach in the middle of the season twice in as many years. Last year, they fired Matt Rule following a 1-4 start to the 2022 campaign.
