Frank Reich’s big all-star coaching staff may have been too big for what the Carolina Panthers were trying to accomplish this season.
Reich, after mustering up a 1-10 record at the position, was fired this past Monday. A report by CBS Sports senior NFL insider Jonathan Jones from Saturday morning indicated that the offense’s lack of progress is what pushed owner David Tepper to make the move.
Jones writes:
Tepper fired Frank Reich on Monday after just 11 games, the quickest hook in the NFL for a first-year head coach in more than four decades. Sources said Tepper grew “increasingly more impatient and agitated” in recent weeks as he saw “no improvement in the offense week to week” and, as one person said, “a stubbornness to adapt” by Reich.
As previously reported here, one of the biggest concerns with Reich’s all-star coaching staff was there were too many voices from too many different philosophies in Young’s ear. The result was a lack of identity in a hodgepodge offense.
That hodgepodge offense failed to move the needle throughout what’s been a miserable campaign. Heading into Week 13, the Panthers have averaged the third-fewest yards per game and the fourth-fewest points per game.
Another motivating factor behind Reich’s firing was the amount of hits absorbed by quarterback Bryce Young—something that was “taking a toll” on Tepper. As Jones notes, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will now be tasked with “moving the pocket around” for the rookie behind a depleted offensive line.
Young has been sacked 40 times this year, the second-highest mark in the league. Per Pro Football Focus, he has also been pressured on 39.6 percent of his dropbacks—the fifth-most amongst quarterbacks with at least eight games played.
