Stealing the favorite to be Giants head coach didn’t work out for the Carolina Panthers, but maybe luring away one of Big Blue’s top assistants is the answer.

The Panthers requested an interview Tuesday with Giants offensive coordinator Mike Kafka, according to multiple reports. They are in the market for a new head coach after the midseason firing of Matt Rhule, who looked like he might be hired by the Giants in January 2020 until Panthers owner David Tepper swooped in with a seven-year, $60 million contract that prevented Rhule from even visiting for an interview with his former employer.

The Texans then followed the Panthers’ lead and requested to interview Kafka to replace the fired Lovie Smith.

Kafka, 35, fits the mold of a young, offensive-minded coach that many NFL teams are looking to replicate after the recent success of the Rams’ Sean McVay, 49ers’ Kyle Shanahan, Eagles’ Nick Sirianni and others. The former journeyman third-string NFL quarterback comes from the coaching tree of the Chiefs’ Andy Reid — which has spawned five current and six former NFL head coaches — and “absolutely” wants to run his own program.

“You aspire to want to be a head coach,” Kafka said recently. “But really, that’s not really at the front of my mind at all. All that stuff will take care of itself.”

Under NFL rule, Kafka cannot conduct a head-coach interview in person or virtually until Jan. 17, after the Giants play the Vikings in the wild-card round.

After playing under Reid with the Eagles, Kafka joined the Chiefs as an offensive quality control coach who worked his way to quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. He left Patrick Mahomes’ side for the chance to call plays with the Giants under first-year head coach Brian Daboll, who is heavily involved in building the Giants’ playbook and game-planning but leaves the keys with Kafka on game day.

The Giants ranked 15th in points per game (21.5) during the regular season — a big increase from scoring the fewest points in the league over the previous two seasons combined. Kafka played a part in rejuvenating Saquon Barkley to a career-high 1,312 rushing yards and turning Daniel Jones into a viable long-term starter who cut down on turnovers and set a career-high with a 92.5 quarterback rating.

A trademark of an offense that overachieved based on talent is the ability to change identities and personnel groupings from week-to-week to capitalize on specific opponent defensive weaknesses.

The Panthers reportedly interviewed former Colts and Lions head coach Jim Caldwell on Monday and their own interim head coach, Steve Wilks, on Tuesday, with plans to speak to Bills offensive coordinator Ken Dorsey (another Daboll understudy), Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, Eagles offensive coordinator Shane Steichen and former Colts head coach Frank Reich as well as Kafka.

Kafka’s competition with the Texans includes Johnson, 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans, Eagles defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, and Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Giants defensive coordinator Wink Martindale — who has been a head-coach candidate in the past and still wishes to be considered — has not been linked to any of the five vacancies.