Given the current disparity of African-American head coaches in the NFL and Steve Wilks’ prior history with the Arizona Cardinals, the Carolina Panthers certainly raised a few eyebrows when they hired Frank Reich.
On Tuesday, following Reich’s introductory press conference, owner David Tepper was asked about the diversity within the league—with a nod to him and his search committee passing up on Wilks. And, boy, his response was a fiery one.
“I think that you should look first at our executive team, and inside the building” Tepper said firmly. “And look at who we have in different positions inside our building. Our president is a woman. We have probably the most diverse executive team in the NFL right now. We have two African-Americans. We are probably a minority of white men on our executive team right now. That’s where it starts. That’s America. Okay, that’s the process. And that’s the process I’m talking about here.”
His process was questioned after the Panthers decided not to go with Wilks, who proved more than capable of leading a team in an inspiring interim tenure this past season. But it was, apparently, Reich’s offensive capabilities and impressive second interview that got him the job.
Tepper continued on how the NFL can head towards a more diverse future.
“You don’t want an old boys network,” he added. “The old boys network works all kinds of different ways. Unfortunately, in this case, it’s a detriment because most of the old boys were white. That should be your main focus—how do you break that old boys network? How do you break that process to get you that old boys network? You break the process by trying to get the best people possible in every role you can do.
“Whether it’s the new GC we hired, which happens to be an African American woman. Whether that happened to be Frank Reich, who’s a caucasian male. I don’t care who it is. Whether we go through offensive coordinator, defensive coordinator—who is the best person? Not whether you had a former relationship with them. Not who you knew. But who is that best person?”
Check out the full response here, courtesy of Carolina Blitz editor-in-chief Vashti Hurt:
Passionate response from David Tepper when asked about diversity in the NFL and how it relates to this head coaching hire. Said a few times he’s trying to break up the ole boys network. Also mentioned how diverse the Panthers’ front office is. pic.twitter.com/68hm3mgEEQ
— Carolina Blitz (@KeepBlitzin) January 31, 2023
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