OFFICIAL: Panthers Announce Hiring of Two Assistants
Monday evening, the Carolina Panthers officially announced the hiring of Sean Ryan as quarterbacks coach and Tony Sparano Jr. as assistant offensive line coach.
Ryan is a veteran NFL assistant coach who got his start in the league back in 2007 as an offensive quality control coach with the New York Giants. During his six seasons with the Giants, he mainly served as the team's wide receivers coach but also spent two seasons coaching the quarterbacks.
Ryan then departed to become wide receivers coach of the Houston Texans but one year into the job his role was switched to coaching quarterbacks, most notably working with Deshaun Watson. if you have been following us over the last few days, you know that Watson is a name that the Panthers could be in play for if he demands a trade out of Houston.
Over the last two seasons, Ryan was able to work with arguably one of the most underrated quarterbacks in the game in Matthew Stafford. Stafford has been a quality quarterback for quite some time but has not received the recognition he deserves thanks to all of the losing teams he has been a part of.
Rhule and Ryan were both members of the Giants' coaching staff in 2012, so there is a history there between the two.
Sparano Jr. is the son of the late Tony Sparano, who was the head coach of the Miami Dolphins from 2008-11 and head coach of the then Oakland Raiders in 2014.
After serving one year as the defensive line coach of the Hartford Colonials of the UFL, Sparano Jr. got his first NFL job as an offensive quality control coach on his father's staff in Miami during the 2011 season. He then spent the next three seasons with the New York Jets as an offensive intern and offensive assistant.
In 2015, Sparano Jr. earned his first job as a position coach with the Buffalo Bills coaching tight ends. He spent two seasons with the Bills before his most recent stop with the Jacksonville Jaguars where he was an assistant offensive line coach from 2017-20. He will serve in that same role with the Carolina Panthers.
Along with the announcement of the two hires, the Panthers announced that they will be parting ways with defensive line coach Mike Phair.
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