Pat McPherson enters his first season as the tight ends coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2024, joining the team after serving in the same role for the last 14 years for the Seattle Seahawks. The two-time Super Bowl champion comes to Carolina with 26 years of coaching experience in the NFL, making stops in San Francisco (1996) and Denver (1998-2008) prior to his time in Seattle (2010-2023).

Pat McPherson enters his first season as the tight ends coach for the Carolina Panthers in 2024, joining the team after serving in the same role for the last 14 years for the Seattle Seahawks. The two-time Super Bowl champion comes to Carolina with 26 years of coaching experience in the NFL, making stops in San Francisco (1996) and Denver (1998-2008) prior to his time in Seattle (2010-2023).

In 2023, Seattle was one of just three teams in the NFL to have three tight ends record at least 15 receptions and 100 receiving yards on the season. The group averaged the fifth-most yards per reception (11.3) in the league among tight ends.

In 2022 the Seahawks tight ends ranked third in the NFL in both receptions (110) and receiving yards (1,164), as Noah Fant was Seattle's third-leading receiver, catching 50 passes for 486 yards and four touchdowns. It was Fant's third-straight season with 50 receptions. Will Dissly added 34 catches for 349 yards and three scores. Together, Dissly, Fant and Colby Parkinson combined for 109 catches, 1,157 yards and nine touchdowns. McPherson helped lead a tight end group that combined for more than 700 yards receiving yards and five touchdowns in 2021.

In 2020, three different tight ends recorded at least 20 receptions for more than 200 yards. Dissly (24-251), Jacob Hollister (25-209), and Greg Olsen (24-239) helped the tight end group register 75 catches for 715 yards and six touchdowns. McPherson's tight ends were again tested for depth in 2019 as Dissly again suffered a season-ending injury, this time an Achilles, but not before logging 23 catches for 262 yards and four touchdowns. Jacob Hollister emerged as one of Russell Wilson's go-to targets by the end of the year and recorded career-highs in receptions (41), yards (349), and touchdowns (3) while playing in just 11 games with three starts.

McPherson's group's depth was tested in 2018 as fourth-round draft choice Dissly saw his season cut short due to a knee injury and offseason acquisition Ed Dickson sidelined for half of the season, leading tight end Nick Vannett to start nine of 15 games played and posting career-highs in catches (29), yards (269) and touchdowns (3). Dissly did make his mark in limited time, becoming the the first rookie tight end in NFL history to start his career with at least one touchdown and more than 40 yards receiving in back-to-back games during Weeks 1-2.

Jimmy Graham enjoyed another Pro Bowl year in 2017 and re-wrote franchise records by a tight end. He earned Pro Bowl honors after hauling in 10 touchdown receptions, the second-most in the NFL and the most among tight ends in franchise history in a single-season. With 57 receptions for 520 yards and 10 touchdowns, those totals helped Graham become the franchise's all-time leader by a tight end in catches (170), yards (2,048) and touchdowns (18).

In Denver, McPherson's promotion to quarterbacks coach in 2003 coincided with the Broncos signing of Jake Plummer. Plummer's 39-15 regular-season record (.722) from 2003-06 with McPherson as his position coach marked the fourth-best winning percentage among all NFL signal callers.

In 2004, Plummer set a Broncos single-season record for passing yards (4,089) while tying the team's record for most touchdown passes (27) in a season and directing the AFC's No. 3 pass offense (249.9 ypg). Additionally, the signal-caller posted 499 passing yards against the Falcons (10/31/04) for the highest single-game total in franchise history.

Plummer took his game to new levels under McPherson in 2005, leading Denver to a 13-3 record, an AFC West title and a berth in the AFC Championship Game while throwing for 3,366 yards.

McPherson was hired by the Broncos following a four-year coaching stint at his high school alma mater, Bellarmine College Prep in San Jose, Calif. During his tenure at Bellarmine, the football team compiled a record of 35-11, won three consecutive league titles and made one section championship appearance. He also gained valuable coaching experience volunteering with the San Francisco 49ers in 1996, serving in a defensive quality control capacity.

McPherson holds a bachelor's degree in English and an MBA from Santa Clara, where he captained the football team and was voted Most Inspirational Player as an inside linebacker during his senior season of 1992. McPherson signed with the 49ers as a rookie free agent in 1993.

His father, Bill McPherson, coached in the NFL for 21 years and worked as a personnel consultant for the San Francisco 49ers before retiring in February 2005. McPherson was an all-state and All-America inside linebacker at Bellarmine College Prep and earned Scholar-Athlete of the Year honors as a senior. In April 2004, McPherson was inducted into Bellarmine's Athletic Hall of Fame.

McPherson worked with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society in Santa Clara, Calif., in 1994, organizing and implementing the chapter's largest fund-raising event, the 1994 MS Walk.

He was born on April 15, 1969, in Santa Clara, Calif. and has two sons, Jackson and Grayson

COACHING CAREER

1994-97 | Bellarmine College Prep - Linebackers/Running Backs

1996 | San Francisco 49ers - Quality Control/Defense (volunteer)

1998 | Denver Broncos - Defensive Assistant

1999-02 | Denver Broncos - Offensive Assistant

2003-06 | Denver Broncos - Quarterbacks

2007-08 | Denver Broncos - Tights Ends

2010-23 | Seattle Seahawks - Tight Ends

2024-pres | Carolina Panthers - Tight Ends