Despite his background as a short order cook, Matt Rhule’s soup was a bit too convoluted for the Carolina Panthers. And on Tuesday, owner David Tepper admitted that.
Tepper chopped it up a bit with reporters following the introductory press conference for his new head coach Frank Reich. When asked about his well-documented preference for an offensive-minded head coach, the billionaire said teams have to go with the flow of the league’s ever-changing (and one-sided) rules.
“First off, every year, we get in these NFL meetings,” he said. “And every year, they put some new rule to benefit the offense. Every single year. Every single year. And it’s never gonna end. It’s never gonna end. Okay, every year. And the reason it is—scoring brings eyeballs. Okay? That’s what the league’s about—bringing eyeballs to watch the thing.
“So I can tell ya again, the new rules will be offense-minded rules. I don’t know what they are yet, but they will be offense-minded rules.”
He’d then continue by laying out another hurdle in his search—finding a candidate who didn’t command an imbalance of power.
“And the second challenge is, and I made this mistake, I think it’s a mistake to have a CEO-type head coach,” he added. “That’s a mistake. Just in general. That’s what I kinda believe. So I wanna get somebody who’s really good on offense or really good on defense.”
Reich himself stated earlier in the afternoon that he and general manager Scott Fitterer will have distinct roles in determining which 53 men will be active on Sundays. The 61-year-old said Fitterer will have say over the roster and he will have say in who gets to dress each week.
So, as of now, this menu is already looking much more appetizing than the last.
