For the first time in NFL history, a head coach has been fired in back to back seasons. That sums up how well the Frank Reich experiment has gone in Carolina after an abysmal 1-10 start that saw the regression of quarterback Bryce Young and some of the worst offensive play calling in the entire league. This comes in a string of just absolute failure season after season since owner David Tepper purchased the team back in 2018 after the ousting of Jerry Richardson. There might be an overarching theme between the arrival of Tepper and the teams longest losing drought.
It’s fair to say that Tepper has been a very hands on owner since purchasing the team, and an impatient one at that, two things that are never a good combination. Selling the franchises soul to the used car salesman of a head coach in his first bout of hiring with now Nebraska head coach was the first massive mistake Tepper was guilty of. It was seemingly a hire made without serious reflection or discussion with those in the know, and more of a rush to beat another team to the hire by handing Rhule complete control and a massive check.
The experiment failed predictably spectacularly with Rhule being fired part way through his third season with the team after a 1-4 start which saw the continued regression of the entire team. During Rhule’s reign it was clear Tepper pressured general manager Scott Fitterer and Rhule into finding a solution to the quarterback position with haste, jumping on any idea they could come across. From the failings of Baker Mayfield, Sam Darnold, Teddy Bridgewater, and a refurnished Cam Newton, to jumping the bandwagon to try and obtain the services of Deshaun Watson fresh off of allegations galore. Tepper has practiced little patience in every facet of being an owner in this league, and it damned the team to this point.
So what went wrong here? Carolina seemingly did everything right to enter the season. From hiring an experienced and successful head coach and surrounding him with some of the most decorated staff in the league, to trading up to the number one overall pick and picking what was thought to be the number one quarterback in the country with Bryce Young. How did all of this collapse so fast? To be frank (no pun intended) it seems the patchwork job that was done on the foundation of the Carolina Panthers by Matt Rhule and David Tepper eventually gave out.
The offensive line fell apart with a scheme change, the lack of depth everywhere was exposed in the worst ways, and the shallowness of the talent pool outside of a few special defensive players really started to shine through. This was all just exemplified by a coach that is clearly past his prime and had a severe inability to adapt to what was put in front of him. It’s unfair to really pin any of it on the rookie quarterback who at times has shined through the darkness and at times looked below mediocre, but there isn’t a ton of talent to work with between a baron receiving core and the worst offensive line in the league.
Going into this next offseason, David Tepper is the one who must get out of his own way. He needs to listen to those who have been in the building a long time, take consensus from experts around the league, recognize trends of success, and exercise patience in rebuilding a franchise that is now at least a few years away from truly competing. You cannot rush the process moving forward.
Take the time to build up the depth on the team, help support your quarterback with weapons who can separate, a head coach that can scheme Young into the best positions, and an offensive line that can provide him with more than two seconds to throw the ball. There are a handful of young offensive minds in the league that you need to take a swing on and allow them to build with oversight from an experienced general manager. You cannot rush any decisions from them, and you cannot force their hand into brash decisions that ultimately thin and regress your entire roster.
The Carolina Panthers in many ways have been a shining example of how to not handle owning a team, how to not handle structuring around a rookie quarterback, and how not to handle the selection of a new head coach. Hopefully the lessons are being learned as this franchise moves forward, I doubt there is much patience left in the fanbase for this type of bumbling ownership and football execution.