CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With the Carolina Panthers sitting at 1-9, it feels like history is repeating itself.
Just last year, Carolina fell to 1-4, had a home stadium takeover by visiting fans and experienced a blowout loss in the not-so-friendly confines of Bank of America Stadium. That loss was the final straw for the Matt Rhule era and he was promptly fired by owner David Tepper.
Time to pull the plug on Frank Reich?
Fast forward one year, and the Panthers are now 1-9 after a 33-10 loss to the Cowboys in front of a very pro-Dallas crowd. With fan apathy and rookie quarterback Bryce Young's struggles squarely in the spotlight, is it only a matter of time until Frank Reich is let go. Locked On Panthers host Julian Council said the Reich era will be a short one, but don't look for changes just yet.
"This wouldn't really make a lot of sense anyway for the Panthers to move on from a coach," Council said. "If you're gonna do it, you'd probably want to do during the little 'mini bye' that they just had leading into the Dallas game or after the bye week, which after six games, that wasn't going to be anything that made a lot of sense to do. That's way too soon."
The case for keeping Reich (for now)
Reich addressed potential staff changes Monday, saying the Panthers don't anticipate any changes right now. There's also no chance that veteran QB Andy Dalton plays in relief of Young. Tepper's never been afraid to make hard decisions midseason, firing both Matt Rhule and Ron Rivera in the midst of losing campaigns. Council said that would be a rough look for Tepper and could only set Young back further in his development.
"For me, when it comes down to the development of Bryce Young, I don't know how it really helps him moving forward into the final six weeks after this Titans game to not have Frank Reich there, to potentially not have Thomas Brown there," Council said. "How does that help Bryce Young in the final six or five, however many weeks, be a better quarterback? If it's the final two weeks, so be it, I suppose, but if it's going to be five or six games remaining, you might as well keep Frank Reich there and let him coach out the remainder of the season."
The stability that comes with Reich may be the biggest factor in deciding to keep him after the season, but Council says it will some some major improvements down the stretch to sell anything other than just continuity.
"He's got to win some games, though, and Bryce would have to improve dramatically in the final seven games of the season for there to be any case aside from stability to keep Frank Reich here beyond the 2023 regular season."
Watch or listen to the latest episode of Locked On Panthers to hear Julian's thoughts on general manager Scott Fitterer's future with the team and a thorough analysis of Sunday's loss to the Cowboys.
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