The Carolina Panthers' general manager has decided to hire the son of his old boss as part of a minor shuffling of their scouting staff, adding Jeff Beathard as an area scout covering the Northeast. The news comes at the same time the Panthers are losing one of their long-time pro scouts, as Tag Ribary is leaving the team in June at the end of his current contract.

The moves were confirmed Monday by multiple sources with knowledge of the situations. Reached Monday night, Hurney refused comment, saying no transactions were final or official.

Beathard's hiring covers the short-handed situation created when the Panthers lost Joe Schoen, who's leaving to become a national scout for the Miami Dolphins. They'll move some scouts around since Schoen was covering the Southwest corner of the country from his Texas home, but those determinations haven't been made. The 28-year-old Schoen's a fast riser in the scouting business. He started here as an intern in the team's ticket office in 2000.

As for Beathard, he adds another familiar face to Hurney's staff, since they worked together with current Panthers college scouting director Don Gregory in San Diego in the 1990s, under Bobby Beathard.

The younger Beathard was the 333rd overall and final pick in the 1988 draft, becoming "Mr. Irrelevant," in a year when the selection process lasted 12 rounds. That pick was originally owned by his father's Redskins, but he traded the spot to the Los Angeles Rams with the understanding the son would be chosen. A blocking back at Southern Oregon State (an NAIA school), Jeff Beathard didn't make the Rams his rookie year, and spent a season with the CFL's Winnipeg Blue Bombers before beginning his career as a scout.

Ribary's leaving cuts deeper, since the pro scouting side has far fewer bodies. He and pro scout Trent Kirchner joined the team in 2002, working under pro scouting director Mark Koncz. It's easy to argue that the Panthers have fared better on the pro personnel side during their tenure, since many of the free agent acquisitions made were the ones that pushed them to a Super Bowl and an NFC Championship Game.

From players such as Jake Delhomme, Stephen Davis and Ricky Proehl to later acquisitions Ken Lucas and Mike Wahle, the pro personnel side helped the Panthers quickly rebound from the 1-15 mess the new staff inherited in 2002, and find success in the playoffs.

• CAROLINA ON HIS MIND: For the second time this spring, St. Louis receiver Torry Holt has openly pined for a return to his home state.

Last month, there was a television clip in which he jokingly said he was "jealous" of his brother Terrence, whom the Panthers signed to compete for a safety job. The two were appearing at their charity golf tournament in North Carolina. This time, his comments were more serious, speaking from the Rams' recent minicamp.

Holt's under contract through 2009, meaning that if nothing changes, he'd be 34 when the Panthers had their first chance to put him on the field. They have their old receiver now in Muhsin Muhammad, whose deal also runs through 2009. The original old-Ram-to-Panthers regular was wideout Proehl, who played with Holt when the Rams were good.

"The real story is that I have this year and next year and hopefully I can finish those years out," Holt told reporters there. "Then I will see where I am at. I will see where I am at physically and emotionally and financially. Then, if they would like to do something here I will consider it.

"If not, then I will have the option to go and explore and give my services somewhere else. If that happens, Carolina will definitely be my first choice. There is no question about it. I have 2008 and 2009 left to play and that is what I plan on doing."

Holt's not the first player drawn to Charlotte because of the city as much as the team. The Panthers used to be a haven for guys on their last legs who moved here first, such as Reggie White and Eugene Robinson.

Hurney said he hadn't seen the remarks Holt made Sunday, but didn't want to comment on them, either.