Panthers Coaching Staff Feeling Urgency To Improve

Per Ian Rapoport, the Panthers coaching staff, including HC Frank Reich, is well aware that its future is tied to the performance of No. 1 overall QB Bryce Young.

And at 0-5, it’s clear everyone’s performance has so far not been good enough. Rapoport writes the staff knows it must get more out of Young to finish out the season, whose play on the field has been more inconsistent than the other two first-round quarterbacks selected. 

He adds the staff thinks they might have put too much on Young’s plate to start his career, as while he was an impressive prospect mentally, he was still a rookie. 

In the past couple of weeks, they’ve worked to simplify the offense and give Young less work to do at the line of scrimmage, allowing him to hopefully play faster. 

Rapoport notes Reich also raised eyebrows around the league when he discussed his meetings with owner Dave Tepper and characterized them as “not fun.” Tepper has a reputation as a more involved owner, which isn’t always a good thing. 

Reich will retain control of the play-calling duties for now, per Rapoport, though he has discussed handing those over to OC Thomas Brown at some point. 

The bottom line is that it’s clear Reich and the staff are not taking their job security for granted even though they’re in their first year with a rookie quarterback. 

Reich, 61, was a former third-round pick of the Bills back in 1985. He played 14 years in the NFL for the Bills, Panthers, Jets, and Lions.

Reich began his coaching career with the Colts as an offensive coaching staff assistant back in 2008. He worked his way up to WRs coach before taking jobs with the Cardinals and Chargers.

The Eagles hired him as their offensive coordinator in 2016 under Doug Pederson. He left in 2018 to take the head coaching job with the Colts. Indianapolis fired him during the 2022 season, however. 

He was hired by the Panthers ahead of the 2023 season. 

In five seasons in Indianapolis, Reich finished with a record of 40-33-1 (54.7 percent) with two playoff appearances and a 1-2 postseason record. 

So far, Reich has an 0-5 record in Carolina.