Panthers fire Reich
The Carolina Panthers fired coach Frank Reich on Nov. 27, following Carolina’s 1-10 start – the worst in the NFL – with six games remaining in the 2023 season.
The Panthers announced specialteams coach Chris Tabor will serve as interim head coach. Senior assistant Jim Caldwell will be a special adviser to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, who will take over play-calling duties. Brown briefly handled the responsibility earlier this season, but Reich later took back the role.
The Panthers’ rebuild centered on Reich and quarterback Bryce Young has not taken off how owner David Tepper envisioned.
Tepper was heard by multiple reporters yelling an expletive as he left the Panthers locker room after the team’s 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 26.
Young trade leaves Panthers in precarious position
To make matters worse for Carolina, the Panthers do not own their firstround pick in the 2024 NFL draft.
The pick, currently slated to be No. 1, is owned by the Chicago Bears after last season’s trade that sent the 2023 No. 1 pick to the Panthers.
Amid rampant offensive issues, Carolina has failed to score more than 13 points in its past five games and in seven games overall.
Young has completed 61.7% of his passes for 1,877 yards with nine touchdowns and eight interceptions this season. He has also been sacked 40 times, which is second most in the NFL behind Washington’s Sam Howell (55).
Stroud’s success increases heat on Young
While Young and the Panthers have had a rocky first season together, No. 2 pick C.J. Stroud’s rookie campaign has been far smoother.
The Ohio State product and Houston Texans quarterback has become the runaway favorite for NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, throwing for 3,266 yards with 19 touchdowns and just five interceptions while leading the team to a 6-5 mark.
Before the Panthers scored their lone win of the season to date against the
Texans, Reich backed the team’s selection of Young when asked about his level of interest in Stroud.
“I’ve never said that to one person anytime, anywhere,” Reich said last month. “Always said – I like C.J. Stroud a lot. I’ve said this many times – I like that whole quarterback draft. I think they were all really good prospects. I think they’re all gonna have really good NFL careers.
“My eyes and our eyes were on Bryce Young, from start to finish. You look at the film, you talk to the man, you get a sense for the leader, the player and what he is and what he can be and how he fits to what we wanna do in the vision we have as an offense, as a team and as an organization. We got the guy for us.”
Reich gets fired for second straight season
Reich was hired by the Panthers earlier this year, just months after being fired from his old gig as the Indianapolis Colts coach.
Reich dealt with Andrew Luck’s abrupt retirement in August 2019, and a revolving door at quarterback with Jacoby Brissett, Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz, Matt Ryan and Sam Ehlinger in the seasons after. He was fired after a 3-5-1 start on Nov. 7, 2022.
Reich’s 11-game tenure as Panthers coach is the shortest stint for any coach for anyone who made it to regularseason games since 1978, when the San Francisco 49ers fired Pete McCulley after nine games.
Tepper has had little patience with coaches
Tepper, who also owns Charlotte FC in Major League Soccer, has fired four coaches between both teams he owns in the past 18 months.