Bank of America Stadium has not hosted a playoff game in David Tepper’s five-and-a-half-year tenure as the owner of the Carolina Panthers. But hey, at least they got Beyoncé to come this past summer.
In what may become an annual in-season “state of the team” address, Tepper held a press conference on Tuesday morning to close the door on his latest project — head coach Frank Reich, who was fired on Monday.
Reich became the third head coach Tepper has booted since he purchased the Panthers in 2018. And not only is the dismissal Carolina’s second in as many seasons, but it also marks the NFL’s shortest head-coaching tenure (11 games) in nearly 50 years.
So, surely, Tepper had a lot to say about what went wrong, why it went wrong and what he’ll do to make sure it doesn’t go wrong again, right? Right?
Well . . .
For the encore to his debacle of 2022’s public beheading of Matt Rhule, kind of like how aspiring stand-up comedian Brendan Schaub followed You’d Be Surprised with The Gringo Papi, Tepper gave us 13 minutes and 58 seconds of discomfort. (We would’ve snuck a Beyoncé reference in there to keep on our theme, but the Queen pumps out nothing but masterpieces.)
Anyway, Tepper’s short offering was far from ***flawless.
Headlining the brief question-and-answer session was a lack of, well, questions. Just ask Scott Fowler of The Charlotte Observer, who feels like he was frozen out of the press conference despite being a very visible and very willing participant. (Perhaps it’s no coincidence that Fowler has been critical of Tepper’s missteps.)
Tepper also pulled out one of his greatest hits from last year when he came to his own defense of his business acumen by taking credit for bringing music back to Charlotte. This time, he sought praise for bringing music and one game of Lionel Messi to Charlotte.
Yes, promoting the economic development in the city has been a successful venture for Tepper and company. And yes, rocking out to The Rolling Stones, Luke Combs and Sasha Fierce, and witnessing the greatest soccer megastar of all time, were special moments at 800 South Mint St.
At the end of the day, however, that stadium is the home of the Carolina Panthers — and business has not been booming for the Panthers.
Tepper has now owned the team for six seasons — each of which has resulted in a losing record. Over that span, they’ve won 30 out of their 93 games (the second-fewest in the NFL). By the end of this season, they will have played 22 of their 99 outings under an interim head coach.
Ironically enough, the man who once displayed a pair of brass balls in his office did not bring the stones (not Mick Jagger, Keith Richards or Ronnie Wood) to face more of that music this morning. Instead, we got a drive-by that encapsulated his tenure — because it missed the mark and left much to be desired.
There’s no doubt that Tepper has had a difficult time endearing himself to fans, some of which he’s referred to as basement dwellers on multiple occasions. And there’s also no doubt that he, with every ounce in his being, wants to bring a winner to the Carolinas.
But as he continues his winding road in learning how to do so, Tepper is turning the organization’s sweet dreams into a beautiful nightmare . . . minus the “beautiful” part.
