After filling two staff openings from within, Carolina Panthers coach Ron Rivera will reach outside the organization to hire a wide receivers coach – albeit an assistant who worked for him previously.
Stanford running backs coach Lance Taylor – who was the Panthers’ assistant receivers coach in 2013 – is returning to Carolina to replace Ricky Proehl, two league sources told the Observer.
Taylor spent the past three seasons at Stanford and apparently wanted to remain with the Cardinal through signing day on Wednesday.
Taylor has strong ties to Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula. He was a wide receiver and special teams captain at Alabama in 2003 during Shula’s first year as the Crimson Tide’s coach.
Taylor, a walk-on at Alabama who played three seasons of Arena Football, began his coaching career as a graduate assistant at his alma mater under Nick Saban from 2007-08.
Taylor next worked at Appalachian State for a season before holding a series of entry-level roles for the New York Jets from 2010-12.
When Proehl resigned last month to follow his two sons’ college football careers, he said he gave Rivera three names as a possible successor: Former Panthers wideout Jerricho Cotchery, assistant receivers coach Cameron Turner and Taylor.
Taylor was at Stanford for the breakout season of running back Christian McCaffrey in 2015. McCaffrey was the AP Player of the Year and a Heisman Trophy finalist after becoming the first Cardinal back to rush for more than 2,000 yards (2,019) in a season.
McCaffrey ran for 1,603 yards and 13 touchdowns last season, when he sat out Stanford’s bowl game against North Carolina to begin draft preparations.
Many analysts have connected the Panthers, who have the No. 8 pick, to LSU running back Leonard Fournette or Florida State back Dalvin Cook.
The addition of Taylor figures to fuel speculation the Panthers could go after McCaffrey, who played for the rival of Rivera’s Cal alma mater.
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Joseph Person: 704-358-5123, @josephperson
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