For the second straight season, the Carolina Panthers have themselves an interim head coach. And this time around, it’s special teams coordinator Chris Tabor.
Tabor, who was named to the position after yesterday’s firing of head coach Frank Reich, spoke to reporters on Tuesday morning. He was asked about the subsequent decisions to dismiss assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, his first moves at the helm.
“First and foremost, I’d say this—I made those decisions and, as I mentioned earlier in my opening statement, coaching is about relationships,” Tabor said. “And I respect both those coaches as people and coaches. I’m gonna keep our talks in house. Anything that we do, we’re always tryin’ to continue to improve our team.”
The 1-10 Panthers have struggled mightily on offense throughout the season. Through 12 weeks of play, they rank 30th in yards per game and 29th in points per game.
Tabor then provided a few updates on who will be picking up where Staley and McCown left off.
“Parks Frazier will be our quarterback coach and coach [Jim] Caldwell will be in that room helping,” he later added. “And Thomas Brown will be our play-caller and coachin’ the running backs.”
Brown, of course, is also the team’s offensive coordinator and will be resuming play-calling duties with Reich’s departure. Frazier was initially hired this offseason as the team’s passing game coordinator.
