The Carolina Panthers weren’t the only team seriously interested in Frank Reich.
On Friday, about 24 hours after the former quarterback was hired by his former team, NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport joined The Pat McAfee Show to divulge a bit of detail about the move. He noted that Reich was not only asked to come in for a second interview with his eventual employer, but also with the Arizona Cardinals.
“Yeah, so I guess he was in way more demand than we all thought—which makes sense,” Rapoport told McAfee. “He did a really nice job in Indy. Obviously, this year, it all came apart. But is that his fault? How much of the stuff was he forced to do? The Matt Ryan situation was not good, obviously. I still think he’s a really good coach.
“And the fact that the Carolina Panthers, one, got on the board first—they can hire a DC before anyone, because they’ve already interviewed defensive coordinators. And he is a really good, solid coach who they know what they’re getting.”
Carolina got before the getting wasn’t good—as Reich was apparently a serious contender for the Arizona job as well. The timing of the hire, additionally, should benefit the Panthers—who, as Rapoport alluded to, can make further headway into bringing in a new defensive coordinator.
To this point, the team has interviewed Vic Fangio, Marquand Manuel and Kris Richard for the opening.
