Carolina Panthers fire Frank Reich with team off to NFL-worst 1-10 record

[cigaretteman]

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers fired Frank Reich on Monday following the team’s NFL-worst 1-10 start in his first year at the helm.

Panthers owner David Tepper announced the move hours after several news outlets reported that he used a profanity as he was leaving the locker room following a 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.



Tepper hired Reich to fix one of the league’s worst offenses over the past few seasons and develop Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick whom he gave up four draft picks and top wide receiver D.J. Moore to acquire this past offseason in the hopes of winning multiple Super Bowls.

Instead, the Panthers are assured of a sixth straight losing season since Tepper bought the team in 2018 for $2.275 billion.

Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will take over as interim head coach.

Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will take over as the team’s play caller, with senior Jim Caldwell serving as his special adviser.

Tabor will become the fifth head coach or interim head coach since Tepper bought the team. He fired Matt Rhule early last season and replaced him with interim head coach Steve Wilks.

After the season, Tepper hired Reich, who had been fired last year by the Indianapolis Colts, but the Panthers were near the bottom of the league in nearly every offensive category.


Reich signed a four-year contract with the Panthers that runs through the 2026 season.

Because of their record the Panthers could possibly land the No. 1 pick in next year’s draft, but that will immediately go to the Chicago Bears because of the trade for Young.

Carolina Panthers fire Frank Reich with team off to NFL-worst 1-10 record

The Frank Reich era in Carolina is over after 11 games. The Carolina Panthers fired their coach on Monday following the team’s NFL-worst 1-10 start in his first year at the helm. Panthers own…

www.chicagotribune.com

 

[bagdropper]

This new owner seems like a meddler (or so I've read). It's crazy to can Reich this early.

No head coach was going to fix that team in year 1. And now they'll be paying not only Rhule but now Reich and whomever they hire next.

Yeeeeeeesh...seems like he's all in with the Las Vegas Raiders Method of Hiring and Firing Head Coaches.

 

[lucas80]

I like the dysfunction. If they'd promoted Caldwell there was a chance they'd win a few games and cost the Bears the #1 pick.

 

[sober_teacher]

This always amuses me. Hire a new coach, give him a crap team to work with, then blame him when things go bad.

 

[ANYCHawk]

This always amuses me. Hire a new coach, give him a crap team to work with, then blame him when things go bad.

To be fair, there's bad and then looking inept. The Panthers are more the latter. Young hasn't developed and they aren't even competitive.

 

[TC Nole OX]

This new owner seems like a meddler (or so I've read). It's crazy to can Reich this early.

No head coach was going to fix that team in year 1. And now they'll be paying not only Rhule but now Reich and whomever they hire next.

Yeeeeeeesh...seems like he's all in with the Las Vegas Raiders Method of Hiring and Firing Head Coaches.

Yep, the first thing that came to mind was impatient meddling owner. He should ask Daniel Snyder how well that works. On second thought, let him keep doing this. He can get used to losing.

 

[sober_teacher]

To be fair, there's bad and then looking inept. The Panthers are more the latter. Young hasn't developed and they aren't even competitive.

He’s a rookie with a crap offense around him. Very few rookie qbs would do well in this scenario.

 

[wausauhawk]

This new owner seems like a meddler (or so I've read). It's crazy to can Reich this early.

No head coach was going to fix that team in year 1. And now they'll be paying not only Rhule but now Reich and whomever they hire next.

Yeeeeeeesh...seems like he's all in with the Las Vegas Raiders Method of Hiring and Firing Head Coaches.

What was crazy was hiring Reich in the first place. As a Colts fan, he was a disaster.

 

[onlyTheObvious]

The person that was so sure Young was a can’t miss they gave up 2 first round picks and 2 second round picks is the person that should be fired.

(And maybe they were)

 

[cfbfan23]

Absolutely brilliant mind as an Investor/Hedge Fund owner.

Idiot mind as a football franchise owner.

Impatience as an owner is not trait you see often with the truly successful NFL franchises. Maybe the Raiders in the 70's/early 80's...........and Al Davis floundered for over 30 years after that.

 

[cfbfan23]

The person that was so sure Young was a can’t miss they gave up 2 first round picks and 2 second round picks is the person that should be fired.

(And maybe they were)

I'd be surprised if the owner fired himself.

 

[FAUlty Gator]

Time for Darren Rizzi to get his shot.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

What was crazy was hiring Reich in the first place. As a Colts fan, he was a disaster.

I disagree, we just kept giving him bad rental QB's. He wasn't a great coach but I wouldn't say he was a disaster either.

Honestly the reason he got fired mid-season and replaced by Jeff Saturday is because Reich would have won too many games and we wouldn't have had a shot at a QB in the draft. He wasn't taking that team to the playoffs but he would have won more games than Saturday and we would have been in the middle of the draft.

To give Irsay credit, he does know the right time to tank the team.

 

[ANYCHawk]

He’s a rookie with a crap offense around him. Very few rookie qbs would do well in this scenario.

Again, there is bad or struggling with little help and looking inept. Im a lions fan i know the difference between bad and inept. The Colts were inept. That can be put on the couch.

 

[Tom Paris]

This always amuses me. Hire a new coach, give him a crap team to work with, then blame him when things go bad.

I'm not a big Eberflus fan but this is why I don't think it's fair to use last year's record against him. NOBODY was going to win with the lack of talent Pace left them.

 

[sober_teacher]

I'm not a big Eberflus fan but this is why I don't think it's fair to use last year's record against him. NOBODY was going to win with the lack of talent Pace left them.

I was totally fine with bringing him back for a second year based on that. This year? Team hasn’t consistently shown that it’s improved despite the guys they brought in after last year, has had to fire two of his assistants, etc.

Imo he’s dead coach walking at this point.

 

[tarheelbybirth]

This new owner seems like a meddler (or so I've read). It's crazy to can Reich this early.

No head coach was going to fix that team in year 1. And now they'll be paying not only Rhule but now Reich and whomever they hire next.

Yeeeeeeesh...seems like he's all in with the Las Vegas Raiders Method of Hiring and Firing Head Coaches.

Reich wanted CJ Stroud but was forced to take Young.

Young:

• YDS 1,877
• TD 9
• INT 8
• QBR 32.0 (29 out of 32)

Stroud:

• YDS 3,266
• TD 19
• INT 5
• QBR 62.8 (8 out of 32)
  
  Not really fair given the level of talent Bryce has to work with but still...
  
  

 

[wausauhawk]

I disagree, we just kept giving him bad rental QB's. He wasn't a great coach but I wouldn't say he was a disaster either.

Honestly the reason he got fired mid-season and replaced by Jeff Saturday is because Reich would have won too many games and we wouldn't have had a shot at a QB in the draft. He wasn't taking that team to the playoffs but he would have won more games than Saturday and we would have been in the middle of the draft.

To give Irsay credit, he does know the right time to tank the team.

The Carson Wentz disaster was 100% on Reich. In fact, I believe he apologized in 2022 for encouraging the team to get him. No idea if he signed off on Ryan, but that was even worse. Reich is a decent OC, below average HC imo.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

The Carson Wentz disaster was 100% on Reich. In fact, I believe he apologized in 2022 for encouraging the team to get him. No idea if he signed off on Ryan, but that was even worse. Reich is a decent OC, below average HC imo.

Wentz was ok but not what we were hoping. Honestly we did alright with him, we would have been in the playoffs had it not been for the disaster against the Jags. You could pin that on Wentz some but let's be honest, no Colts came to play that day. The OL wasn't opening up any holes for Taylor who just got hit in the backfield or at the LOS all game.

Ryan was the real disaster.

 

[bagdropper]

Reich wanted CJ Stroud but was forced to take Young.

Young:

• YDS 1,877
• TD 9
• INT 8
• QBR 32.0 (29 out of 32)

Stroud:

• YDS 3,266
• TD 19
• INT 5
• QBR 62.8 (8 out of 32)
  
  Not really fair given the level of talent Bryce has to work with but still...
  

I wonder what Young's numbers would look like with CMC and AJ Brown still on the team.

They gave up I believe 2 ones, 2 twos, AND AJ Brown for Young. Then they got 2nd/3rd/4th in this year's draft plus a 5th in next year's for CMC.

The owner HAD to have signed off on those deals - the GM maybe is a moron, but the owner is where the buck stops with those deals - and it's those deals which is a huge reason why they are 1-10.

Reich never had a chance there, even if he wasn't fired. The next coaching regime will inherit a disaster which even under perfect conditions will takes years to rebuild.

 

[Hoosierhawkeye]

Reich wanted CJ Stroud but was forced to take Young.

Young:

• YDS 1,877
• TD 9
• INT 8
• QBR 32.0 (29 out of 32)

Stroud:

• YDS 3,266
• TD 19
• INT 5
• QBR 62.8 (8 out of 32)
  
  Not really fair given the level of talent Bryce has to work with but still...
  

If that's the case he was essentially canned for being right on the QB they should have taken.

 

[hawkifann]

I wonder what Young's numbers would look like with CMC and AJ Brown still on the team.

They gave up I believe 2 ones, 2 twos, AND AJ Brown for Young. Then they got 2nd/3rd/4th in this year's draft plus a 5th in next year's for CMC.

The owner HAD to have signed off on those deals - the GM maybe is a moron, but the owner is where the buck stops with those deals - and it's those deals which is a huge reason why they are 1-10.

Reich never had a chance there, even if he wasn't fired. The next coaching regime will inherit a disaster which even under perfect conditions will takes years to rebuild.

DJ Moore, not AJ Young, but your point holds.

 

[hawkifann]

Including interim coaches, Tepper is now on his 6th coach during his 6 seasons in Charlotte. He seemed to be a breath of fresh air when he first came on, but he’s an absolute mess. He’s a meddler, probably not as bad as Daniel Snyder, not as arrogant as Jerry Jones and certainly not as much fun as Mark Cuban….but the results suck.

Apparently today, he called himself “patient”. From the piece linked below:

”He said that if he could, he’d like to have a coach stay for 20 or 30 years. So far, he has yet to see a head coach stay for even three full seasons. His Major League Soccer club, Charlotte FC, hasn’t been much different. After two seasons of play, the team is looking for its third head coach.”

Without realizing it, he really makes the point that he’s out of his depth. He says when you look at his non-sports background, he has a reputation for “extreme patience”. That’s likely very true - because he knows exactly WTF he’s doing in those areas. On the sports side, he clearly knows just enough to be dangerous.

The very best thing an owner can do is to hire really good sports people to run the franchise and then step back and let them cook. As a Cubs fan, there are a ton of criticisms for the Ricketts family across a variety of fronts, but the reason they won that ring in 2016 after all those years was that Tom was able to find someone great to run the team (Theo Epstein) and then largely just gave him budget and stepped back. Tepper needs to find someone competent to run things and then step the bleep back.

EDIT: Adding the link I forgot: Tepper: I do have patience

 

[tarheelbybirth]

Then they got 2nd/3rd/4th in this year's draft plus a 5th in next year's for CMC.

Best thing that ever happened to McCaffery given the Panthers o-line. Young's been sacked 40 times so far...second to Howell's blistering 55. He wouldn't be averaging 5 yds/carry in NC.

 

[hawkifann]

Tepper is a clown. In addition to declaring himself “patient” today, he also talked about how the plan was actually to trade for #2 to draft CJ Stroud, while meandering through a bunch of BS about how he could have vetoed the choice and that everyone is confident in Young. Just absurd. My favorite part is how he said “the buck stops with me” less than 24 hrs after firing Reich and some assistants. Sounds like the buck stopped with Frank.

 

[lucas80]

There will probably be 7-9 HC openings this offseason, and this has to be the worst. If Young craters any rebuild is further delayed. They traded away multiple picks they needed, and the organization is a muddle top to bottom.
Someone will eventually take the job, just not a good coach.