Bill Polian made it into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2015, honored as one of the NFL’s most extraordinary general managers.
The subject of this week’s “Sports Legends of the Carolinas” interview, Polian was a team-builder with a gift for pinpoint player evaluation and crisp contract negotiation. He revitalized the fortunes of three different NFL teams — Buffalo, Carolina and Indianapolis. He pushed the Panthers to the NFC championship game in their second year of existence, in 1996, and won a Super Bowl in Indianapolis. Polian was named the NFL’s Executive of the Year by The Sporting News a record six times.
Now 80 and still keeping his hand in the NFL with several media gigs, Polian has lived in the Lake Norman area just north of Charlotte for decades. He still closely follows the Panthers. A longtime mentor to new Carolina head coach Frank Reich, Polian employed Reich as a QB in Buffalo, immediately saw his coaching potential and eventually got Reich his first coaching job as a low-level assistant in Indianapolis.
In our interview, Polian spoke about Reich, current and past Panthers teams and the pros and cons of the Panthers starting 5-foot-10 rookie quarterback Bryce Young.
Sports Legends of the Carolinas is hosted by Scott Fowler. It's produced by Loumay Alesali, Jeff Siner and Kata Stevens. Our interns on this production are Zoe Williams and Christina Silvestri. For lots more on the show, visit https://www.charlotteobserver.com/sportslegends.
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