Seifert Is New Carolina Coach

George Seifert returned to the NFL Monday as coach of the Carolina Panthers, two years after leaving with the best winning percentage of any coach in league history.

Team sources, speaking on condition they not be identified, said Seifert received a five-year contract that will pay an average of more than $2.4 million annually.

Seifert, who also will have a leading role in player personnel moves, replaces Dom Capers, who was fired eight days ago.

"He has captured the ultimate goal in the National Football League by winning the Super Bowl twice as head coach, and brings a most unique and special background to the Panthers' organization," said Carolina owner Jerry Richardson, who introduced Seifert at an afternoon news conference.

Seifert, who won 76 percent of his games (108-35) with San Francisco from 1989-96, will try to resurrect a team that rose quickly to NFL prominence before plummeting.

Carolina went 12-4 and won the NFC West title in 1996, both unprecedented feats for a second-year NFL expansion team. But the Panthers followed by losing 21 of 32 games, including a 4-12 record this season when they were hampered by personnel problems and injuries.

The plunge led to last Monday's dismissal of Capers, who compiled a 30-34 record.

Within hours of Capers' ouster, Seifert arrived in Charlotte. He stayed overnight Monday and met with Richardson on Tuesday before flying back to California.

Several other teams also expressed interest in Seifert, and the Panthers also were considering Green Bay's Mike Holmgren. But with Holmgren thought to be leaning elsewhere, Carolina made a strong push for Seifert, who went 12-4 in his final season in San Francisco 49ers but was swept by the upstart Panthers.

Capers arrived in Carolina with a reputation for confounding opponets with a little-used 3-4 defensive alignment. But by the time he was fired, the Panthers defense had slipped to the bottom of the NFL rankings.

New Panthers coach George Seifert and Steve Young will be on opposing sidelines for a change. (AP)

Seifert is likely to change Carolina to a 4-3 defense, the set used by most teams in the league and one that could signal the end of the 14-year career of outside linebacker Kevin Greene. Relegated mainly to a pass-rushing role in recent years, Greene was ineffective in the latter stages of the 1998 season and hinted before the Panthers' final game that it might be his last as a pro.

Seifert will find part of his new staff already waiting for him in Carolina. Richardson said last week he wants to retain three of Capers' assistants -- offensive coordinator Gil Haskell, tight ends coach Don Breaux and wide receivers coach Richard Williamson.

Several newspapers have reported that Ray Rhodes, fired last Monday as Philadelphia's coach, could become Seifert's defensive coordinator if he is unable to find another head coaching job.

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