The late Al Davis would routinely use coaching vacancies as chances to poke around in the closets of his division rivals. And it’s no accident the early stages of the Panthers’ recent search included a number of personnel men with Patriots ties, among other top organizations such as the Seahawks and Chiefs. But Tepper also met with candidates from a variety of backgrounds and demographics, from 30-something caps-and-contracts guys to veteran evaluators in their 50s, with Super Bowl rings.

Tepper said there were another 10 to 15 candidates he did voluminous research on, who ultimately did not interview for the job.

He also pointed out that interviewing for a GM vacancy was more complicated than hiring a coach. Coaches have records, and results of individual games on the backs of their football cards. With personnel men, it’s hard to know how much authority they had