1:15pm: In addition to Reich, a pair of other Panthers staffers have been let go. Running backs coach Duce Staley – who also held the title of assistant head coach – is out, as is quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, Pelissero reports. Both coaches were hired to Reich’s staff in February, adding to the number of highly-regarded voiced playing a role in shaping the Panthers’ offense. With the unit as a whole and Young in particular struggling, though, it comes as little surprise that they have been dismissed. It will be Brown and Caldwell at the controls on offense moving forward for Carolina.
8:44am: Frank Reich‘s initial season with the Panthers has come to a premature end. The veteran head coach has been let go, as first reported by Tom Pelissero of NFL Network. The team has since confirmed the move, noting that special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will serve as interim HC. 
After another low-scoring output by the team’s offense, the Panthers sit at 1-10. Carolina has struggled with respect to offensive output and developing rookie quarterback Bryce Young. Issues in that regard led to Reich’s decision to cede play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, but that setup was quickly abandoned. Little progress was shown in Reich’s second go-round at the controls on offense, leading to increasing speculation he could find himself going one-and-done in Carolina.
A recent report indicated both Reich and general manager Scott Fitterer were on the hot seat heading into the second half of the season. While Panthers owner David Tepper has established a reputation for having a quick trigger finger on the topic of moving on from coaches, many believed Reich would at least have the remainder of the campaign to show signs of improvement. Instead, the latter is now out just 11 games into a tenure which began with signficant long-term promise.
Reich, 61, was let go midseason last year by the Colts as part of their unconventional decision to turn to Jeff Saturday to close out the campaign. That left him free to pursue other openings, and the Panthers job carried signficant appeal given the understanding a rookie quarterback would be added in the draft. Reich was praised for adding the likes of Brown and senior assistant Jim Caldwell to his staff, but things have not gone according to plan. The former will, to no surprise, reclaim play-calling duties for the remainder of the season, the team announced.
In the end, Reich’s 11-game tenure in Carolina represents the second-shortest head coaching tenure in NFL history. Today’s move marks an end to his sentimental return to Charlotte, as he served as the Panthers’ first quarterback during his playing career. Reich enjoyed success as an OC with the Chargers and Eagles before his Colts appointment, winning a Super Bowl in Philadelphia. Now, his head coaching record sits at 41-42-1.
Tabor does not have full-time head coaching experience (having previously worked with the Bears on an interim basis), but his performance so far has been something of a bright spot in an otherwise disastrous season. The Panthers rank second in the league in special teams DVOA, and they will aim to take a step forward on offense and defense to close out the campaign as they move through a switch on the sidelines for the second consecutive season. Steve Wilks went 6-6 in 2022 after Matt Rhule was fired early in his third season in Carolina. Now, another search will commence in the offseason.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson was frequently connected to the Panthers’ opening in 2022 before electing to remain in Detroit for at least one more season. It will be interesting to see how aggressively Carolina pursues Johnson in the near future, although the quick Reich dismissal will invite understandable questions about how attractive the Panthers gig is. That is especially true given the team’s lack of a first-round pick in 2023 owing to the blockbuster trade made to acquire the No. 1 selection last spring. In any event, Reich now joins Josh McDaniels as a head coach let go midway through the campaign.
“I met with Coach Reich this morning and informed him that he will not continue as head coach of the Carolina Panthers,” Tepper said in a statement. “I want to thank Frank for his dedication and service, and we wish him well.”
Josh McDaniels is available.
Whats matt patricia up tp
Joe Judge is tidying up his resume as we speak.
Thanks for the extended chance guys! I know the league is win now but really? How has Eberflus lasted almost 2 years with better talent?
Not better talent.
As a Bears fan I’m excited. It virtually guarantees the Bears the right to screw up the #1 pick 2 years in a row. I don’t get the timing. None of the better HC candidates are going to be available until after the playoffs so why not just ride the season out? I mean who’s there that is going to help the situation?
Could pull a colts move and hire Steve Smith.
Matt Canada
Interesting suggestion…but not how the NFL works. He’ll be a head coach in the league again next season. Gotta keep recycling those coaches.
I literally lol’ed reading that.
Not a desirable place to go since they were stupid enough to include the 1st rounder in the trade up. The division is bad though, but no chance at getting Marvin Harrison Jr or oline to help Young.
Stupid? they traded up from 9th to 1st. They had to include another first round pick. Rams traded the same to move up from 10 to 1 in 2016
How many times has a team trading up for a QB been successful? My information is anecdotal, but it seems like every time a team traded up for a QB it fails to pan out.
Good question. Would we consider Goff successful? He didn’t win a championship or MVP, but he was mostly good in L.A. I’m not sure of who would be next in the recent era, at least within the top five. Eli Manning and Philip Rivers were themselves traded for, rather than having the picks traded, which isn’t really the same, but still incredibly successful for both teams involved.
Within the top ten, K.C. traded up to ten to take Mahomes, which is notable. Baltimore traded into the first at thirty-two for Jackson. Those are two pretty recent examples.
Josh Allen says hi!
Oh, I forgot that Buffalo traded up to get Allen. That’s embarrassing (of me). Thanks.
That wasn’t for you AK!
Buffalo traded up from 12 to 7 but only included 2 2nds. They traded with Bucs, I am a Bucs fan they are just bad at draft trades.
I know of one historically great trade your Buccs did, though it’s been awhile: in 1995 the Eagles traded up with them to pick DE Mike Mamula 7th overall. Trading down got Tampa Bay Warren Sapp at #12 & Derrick Brooks at the bottom of the first.
Mahomes?
Did the Rams also give up their best receiver too?
And gave up a top WR in DJ Moore
Rams(Goff), KC(Mahomes) & Eagles(Wentz) are probably the few teams it worked out for and they had success quickly. It is stupid to include the following years first as the team is likely to be bad. It was dumber to include their top weapon in Moore. None of these trades actually included active players that have had success. KC was already a setup team so they were likely to be good, Eagles were also relatively good and always attracted players. You can throw the Niners(Lance) trade in it didn’t workout for him but the team was already loaded.
Panthers were a bad team that was trading up. 4 of their 7 wins were from the trash NFC South, they beat a bad Broncos team, and bad defensive teams in Seattle and Lions. They were bad and made self worse moving Moore. Good teams can use a 1st to move up not bad one.
Carolina currently projects to have 40 mill in cap space for 2024 which could increase once they do the restructing stuff. So theyll probably address oline and wr via free agency. Least one would hope so.
That’s going to quickly evaporate with the Burns tag and (hopeful) re-signing of Brown and Luvu. It’s not as good as it currently appears, unfortunately.
lmaoooooo
It’s his fault apparently that the GM drafted a terrible QB and gave up the farm and the owner pushed for it
Supposedly Reich wanted to draft Stroud but the owner made the call. This job is not attractive with an interfering, quick/trigger owner.
Reich is a former QB he knows may more about the position than the incompetent owner would. Young was way undersized to begin with. Stroud should’ve been the pick
Carolina’s problem is not that they picked Stroud over Young, really. It’s that they have no team to put around either one.
I don’t what Tepper expected after trading away his only offensive weapon and letting his best back (Foreman) walk. The team is objectively worse than it was last year, and last year wasn’t good.
Yep. Don’t like the original comment here calling Young terrible. Stroud probably looks the exact same as Young does right now if he is put in the same situation. And I do think Stroud is better.
I think you’re ultimately right. But really I think that Houston has a similar problem on the OL, they drafted Tank Dell a round later than Mingo, they signed Devin Singletary to way less money than Miles Sanders, and I’m not sure anyone can say Adam Theilen is worse than Robert Woods. Outside of that Houston has Nico Collins, but he was kind of a nobody last year or the year before, he’s a former 3rd round pick. I guess you could say Dalton Shultz is an upgrade over Hayden Hurst, but the Panthers D should be way better than Houston’s, at least it was in 2022. I’d say overall they are comparable rosters. Just seems like Stroud is elevating the players around him.
You would think that whom they are drafting would have played into the talks prior to signing.
From what I heard it wasn’t the GM or the coach but the owner that wanted Young.
Frank can come up to Pittsburgh next year and take over the OC spot & develop Pickett into a star.
Let’s see, rookie QB, no playmakers, lots of injuries, no 1st rd draft picks, and an impatient owner that fires employees at will. No respectable coach wants this HC job.
Only a complete fool would want that HC job. Tepper is too meddlesome and impulsive. When it starts with the owner, you can’t fix it.
But someone without other options will take it.
Plenty of people will take that job; guaranteed contracts is why. Frank will be paid for all of the years he signed up for and coached 11 games. Good for Frank and the next dozen guys that run the same racket on Tepper.
Eric Bienemy confirmed!
what’s the point of this firing when the panthers have nothing rosterwise to be proud of… there’s an unbelievable amount of roster holes that Reich, Read, Sariani would not be able to fix, they need to add pieces around young to help his development, I don’t think firing the coach was the correct thing to do this soon, if anything it’s just another blip on the Tepper ownership era…
Not a good look for the franchise. Did anyone really expect that roster to be competitive this season?
Reich isn’t a good coach but the Panthers being a dumpster fire isn’t his fault. Years of poor decision making are to blame. Tepper should fire the man in the mirror
Tepper has recreated the Cincinnati Bungles.
This franchise is the Bojangles of the football world, all day diarrhea
At least you enjoy Bojangles going down…
Panthers ain’t putting out anything as good as a Cajun Filet Biscuit.
I prefer Popeyes but Bojangles is still pretty good if we’re being honest
Finally the Oilers /Titans take care of Frank Reich
Their Bryce Young trade could really end up being an all-time bad trade.
But with the. Bears in charge they might take a special team player and surprise everyone
Drunk again I see.
Nothing says stable organization like firing 1st year HC mid season. Kind of like a balloon going down a sewer.
Hire Matt Canada!
There’s gotta be a Turner somewhere out there!
Yeah, this will cure what ails ya
Tepper needs to quit thinking he’s Jerry Jones
Brandon Staley could be available soon
As a side note, Frank Reich wasn’t given much of a chance
If anything this proves while Frank Reich might be a good coordinator….he stinks as a Head Coach…..
Mabe, he was a decent coach for the Colts for awhile
Maybe Reich could go to Colorado and help Deion Sanders stabilize the team, they would love him out there
Frank Reich as Oc
Jack Del Rio as DC
Deion overseeing the whole effort
Pat Shurmur just got promoted to co-OC at Colorado with Sean Lewis if I’m not mistaken
I have lost track with all tbe excitement
However, they could definitely use an upgrade for Defensive Coordinator
Honestly, I want Coach Prime to succeed
I don’t think that this proves anything about Reich as a head coach because everything was stacked against him from the get-go. His decisions/personality/ego didn’t cause the wheels to come off like they did with McDaniels.
Tepper has had five head coaches in 5 years – tells me that Tepper is the real issue.
And the 5 Head Coaches he has had the team bring in have all sucked……No, just tells me he has the money to do so….his issue is that whoever’s voice he is listening to regarding the coaching talent he is bringing in that historical fails for him….he is the second person he should fire…..
Quick, trade a first rounder to Washington for Riverboat Ron, before they fire him.
If Reich wants to coach again next year, the OC job for the Bills probably makes a lot of sense. He’s been great as a coordinator in the past, not to mention his obvious Buffalo connections.
Only if the Bills clean house. Brady has already had a big positive impact on the offense and, if that continues, McDermot won’t ditch him. The question is if the owner is willing to give McDermot another year to right the ship after all the coaching mistakes of the past two seasons.
This is all on a terrible owner. What a joke. Another clueless billionaire who thinks he knows football. I feel bad for Panthers fans.
Bo Nix/Jayden Daniels welcome to Carolina…
They wish…they’d be giving up more draft capital in the future.
Jeff Fisher deserves a shot to lose
Reich has always seemed like a decent and honest guy. He might not have been the best head coach ever but he absolutely didn’t deserve to go out this way. While he has to share some of the blame, this is mostly on Tepper, who is very quickly establishing himself as one of the worst owners to work for in the league.
Tepper found himself in NASCAR country and decided he needed to cycle through QBs and coaches the way a pit crew cycles through tires.
At least they will have another high pick to try again…
…wait….
Seriously though, I feel a little bad for Reich.
Maybe when the Bills fire McDermott next year he ends up back in Carolina.
Got to love the boss that makes an executive decision and then fires the guys that told him he was making the wrong decision after his wrong decision is confirmed.
Lmao I’d love to see Ryan day or Lincoln Riley take a shot at the nfl
Ryan Day? Ha! He is just hair better than James Franklin, and I wouldn’t touch Franklin with a 10’ pole. I guess then that makes it a 5’ pole for Day.
Haha
Tepper is a buffoon rivaling the bozo Irsay in Indy.
Billionaires owners should let football men hired make the calls. Stroud was Reich’s choice, but was overruled by Tepper for Young. Big mistake and now who wants to work for this idiot. I like Jerry Richardson as an owner, but woke NFL ran him out of the league. At least Panthers were competitive for most of those years.
You were doing so well until the end there, pity.
I hear Jeff Saturday is available. Just sayin’.
Seriously, though, the Panthers front office and player personnel staff left the cupboard so bare that anyone brought in to coach that dumpster fire of a roster was doomed to failure. At least Reich can hold his head high and tell himself he lasted longer this season than Josh McDaniels.
A thought: does Tepper make a hard run at Bellichek if he becomes available after the season? If not the Oracle of Foxboro, then who?
Do we even make it to the weekend before all the usual names are mentioned as “hot commodities” like Harbaugh, Urban, [insert whatever college coach is having an unexpectedly good season here], Coach (not ready for) Prime, and for the Panthers alum selection…Luke Kueckly (I’m positive I spelled that wrong, oh well)
I doubt any of those guys are going to a place where the owner is stepping in and making player decisions, but then again, its hard to hear the owner when the dump truck o’ money comes backing into the driveway.
Maybe not, but when has logic or common sense ever stopped the media from trying to convince us of the exact opposite?
Nobody worth a s**t will want this job because Tepper thinks it’s so easy to come in to a sorry roster and take a team to the promised land. 11 games? Really? Vince Lombardi couldn’t have taken this squad to the playoffs bro! No up-and-coming OC is gonna want to coach for an owner like that, period! Ben Johnson turned this job down BEFORE he saw you fire a coach 11 games into a season. You think this will help or hurt that possibility? Hmmmmmmm
The NFL coaching carousel is getting ridiculous. In sports in general. Outperform expectations the first half of the season beware if you come back down to Earth you’ll be a victim of early success. Not Frank Reich in particular just the nature of the NFL. There are no rebuilding coaches anymore. Regardless of talent you win or you’re gone. If Andy Reid can get canned nobody is safe