Full-circle: Reich back to Panthers as head coach
Frank Reich is returning to the Carolina Panthers as their coach, more than 27 years after starting the franchise’s first game at quarterback in 1995.
The Panthers announced Thursday they’ve agreed to terms with
Reich to become their sixth head coach in franchise history.
Reich was chosen among nine candidates who interviewed for the job, including former New Orleans Saints head coach
Sean Payton and this season’s interim head coach, Steve Wilks.
The 61-year-old Reich joins the Panthers after spending the past fourplus seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, where he went 40-33-1 as head coach before being fired on Nov. 7 after a 3-5-1 start. The Colts went to the playoffs twice as a wild-card team under Reich, going 1-2 in the postseason.
Before joining the Colts, Reich worked two years as the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles, helping them win the Super Bowl in his second season under head coach
Doug Pederson.
NFL analyst and former Panthers general manager
Bill Polian, who brought Reich with him from Buffalo to Carolina in 1995 to help mentor first-round draft pick Kerry Collins and provide quarterback stability, called Reich “as fine of a person as you’ll ever meet” and a head coach with “a great football mind.”
“I think he will fit in perfectly in Carolina,” Polian said. “This is where he wants to be. He literally knows the building and has been there as a player. He will bond with the players and put together a great staff.
“There is a still a lot of building to do with this team, but he will work great with [general manager] Scott Fitterer.”
Polian added that Reich is low-key but detailoriented.
“He’s inspirational when he needs to be,” Polian said. “And he’s very rationale and honest and straightforward with his players.”
Reich inherits a team that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2017 — and hasn’t won a postseason game since winning the NFC championship in 2015 with league MVP
Cam Newton at quarterback.
The Panthers have been searching for stability at quarterback ever since Newton began struggling with injuries shortly after the team’s 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50. The Panthers cut Baker Mayfield earlier this offseason and
Sam Darnold is an unrestricted
free agent, so Reich will have a key say in the future of the team’s quarterback situation.
Reich becomes the first Panthers head coach to come from an offensive background.
The Panthers finished 29th in the league in offense and 29th in passing this season after struggling with quarterback play.
The Panthers are now expected to turn their attention to hiring a defensive coordinator.
ELSEWHERE
Jets: New York has its ●
new offensive play-caller. Next up for the Jets: finding their quarterback.
Former Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett
was hired Thursday as the Jets’ offensive coordinator to replace Mike LaFleur
after coach Robert Saleh
interviewed more than 15 candidates for the vacancy during the past two weeks.
“When it came back to a certain checklist that I was trying to go through,” Saleh said during a video call, “just checking boxes with regard to what we were looking for from this next offensive coordinator, we just kept circling back to him.
“He checks every box that we’re looking for.”
The hiring of the 43year-old Hackett fuels speculation about whether the Jets could pursue Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, whose playing future is uncertain. Hackett and Rodgers have a connection: Hackett served as the Packers’ offensive coordinator from 2019-21 with Rodgers as the quarterback.
Rodgers said recently during his weekly appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on SiriusXM and YouTube he believes he can still play at an MVP-type level in the right situation. But the four-time MVP hasn’t decided whether to return to the Packers, retire or request a trade.
Cowboys: Dallas is not
●
renewing the contracts of six members of coach Mike McCarthy’s staff, including senior assistants Rob Davis
and George Edwards.
The club announced the moves Thursday, four days after a 19-12 loss to San Francisco that extended Dallas’ losing streak in the divisional round to seven games, the longest since the 1970 merger.
The other assistants on expiring contracts who won’t return are offensive line coach and former Dolphins head coach Joe Philbin,
running backs coach Skip Peete, assistant defensive line coach Leon Lett and quality control analyst Kyle Valero.
The shuffling of the coaching staff won't include defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is returning after another year of receiving interest from teams seeking head coaches. But the Cowboys, who finished 13-6, could end up losing offensive coordinator Kellen Moore, who also has been interviewing for head coaching jobs.
Obituary: Outside linebacker
● Jessie Lemonier,
who played at Hialeah High School and appeared in seven games for the Detroit Lions in 2021 in a brief NFL career highlighted by a sack of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, has died. He was 25.
The Lions disclosed his death in a statement Thursday, adding they confirmed it with his family. They did not provide any details.
“Jessie was a model teammate and a wonderful young man who is gone far too soon,” the Lions said. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends during this difficult time.”
Lemonier was signed to the Lions practice squad before the 2022 season, days before being released by the Los Angeles Chargers. He had 17 tackles and 1 1⁄2 sacks, with the other half coming against Arizona on Dec. 19, 2021.
Lemonier played at Liberty University for two seasons after a season at Ventura College in California. He capped his career at Liberty by earning MVP honors in the 2019 Cure Bowl, helping the Flames win their first bowl game, over Georgia Southern.