CHARLOTTE, N.C. — New Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich's "homecoming" is multi-layered.
The most obvious storyline? His playing days for the Panthers.
Reich was Carolina's first-ever starting quarterback in their inaugural season in 1995, throwing the first touchdown pass in franchise history.
But it goes deeper than that.
His daughters were raised in Charlotte, and one still lives here, recently taking a marketing position with the Panthers.
After Reich's playing days were through, he spent some time at the Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, and was for a time a pastor at a local church.
But when the itch to coach had to be scratched, there was one obvious place for Reich to land first.
And it wasn't in the NFL.
Joe Reich has been the head coach at Wingate for 22 seasons, and in about 2005, Frank joined him on staff as a volunteer.
"He worked with the quarterbacks," Joe Reich said. "He'd come in during the week and just kind of sit and talk with the quarterbacks."
It soon became obvious that having a 14-year NFL quarterback on staff was quite the benefit.
"He would come down at halftime and he'd be like 'ok here's what I'm seeing,'" Joe Reich said. "I would look at my offensive coordinator and be like, 'how the heck did he see that?'"
Joe, the youngest of the three siblings (older sister Cynthia lives in Greensboro) knew pretty quickly that Frank had a sharper mind for coaching football than most.
"I didn't want to tell him that, because he's my brother of course," Joe joked. "He was just really sharp and could see things that we couldn't see at all."
After that season, Frank caught on as an intern with the Colts, working his way through the ranks to the Panthers, his second team as an NFL head coach.
"He obviously moved on (from Wingate)," Joe said, "I was happy for him. But I was like, man, I'd love to get him back and do this again."
It worked out for Reich anyway. He's the winningest coach in Wingate history, and guided the Bulldogs to the quarterfinals of the NCAA DII Playoffs this season.
Obviously, the brothers speak often, and oftentimes that conversation is geared towards coaching football.
Back in 2020, Joe Reich kept a four-foot whiteboard at home during COVID and filled every inch of it during a conversation with Frank.
"By the end of the phone call the board was covered in notes," Joe said. "I just kept scribbling notes. I took a picture of it and sent it to him and said 'this is what it's like having a phone conversation with you.'"
Contact Nick Carboni at ncarboni@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.