Greg Olsen isn’t backing away from the idea of becoming the next head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
Asked on the Rich Eisen Show if he’d be “interested” in the job, the former Panther and current FOX broadcaster said: “Who wouldn’t [be]? Obviously, this is a city that I love, this is a team that I played the bulk of my career for. I want to see them have success.”
The former tight end, who spent nine seasons with the Panthers, added he’s not actively pursuing the job that’s up for grabs after Frank Reich got fired after just 11 games by trigger-happy owner David Tepper.
Reich was replaced on an interim basis by special teams coach Chris Tabor, whom Olsen said he knows from their time together with the Bears, when Tabor was on Chicago’s staff.
But Olsen acknowledged he would at least have a conversation if approached, following up a report from The Athletic that he was interested.
“If they said, ‘Hey listen, is this something you’d talk to us about?’” Olsen said of the Panthers’ potential vacancy. “To entertain and take that conversation, I think that’s fairly obvious.”
Olsen, who is paired with Kevin Burkhardt as part of Fox’s No. 1 NFL broadcasting team, added he’s happy with his current role and said: “I would call the ‘A’ game for FOX for the next 30 years.”
That might not be possible, since there’s a complicating factor in Olsen’s future.
Tom Brady is set to join FOX next season and is slated to join Burkhardt as part of the top crew, bumping Olsen.
“I love doing what I’m doing right now,’’ Olsen said. “How this future unfolds, [there are] a lot of moving parts [and] a lot of this is out of any of our control.”