Not a Panthers fan, but I live within your media market and catch a number of your games.
I should start off by saying that at the time of Reich’s hiring, I thought it was a good move. He seemed like a fairly competent HC up in Indy and his time there just ran its course. His strategy of bringing in coordinators and assistant coaches who had NFL experience seemed like a solid step in the right direction, compared to Matt Rhule bringing in his college buddies. I’m someone who thinks college coaches shouldn’t typically try and move into the NFL. Reich being this team’s first-ever QB also added an interesting element into the mix.
So I thought hiring him was the right move in the midst of the Wiliks drama.
However, as I watched more games it seemed more and more apparent to me that Reich wasn’t bought in. Whenever you guys suffered a tough defeat he basically seemed to shrug it off and have a “well there is always next week” attitude. No adjustments were ever made whatsoever. I am certainly NOT a Sean Payton fan, but I can tell over in Denver he is genuinely invested in the team. When the Dolphins nearly broke the NFL record for most points scored you could tell after the game the man was clearly frustrated.
I’m not sure why Reich wanted to take the job, only for him and his staff not to be bought. I personally feel this team does have quite a bit of potential and I think making the bold move to get Bryce Young was the right decision. Maybe he thought it’d be a lot easier than it was to rebuild the team. That he could just waltz in, make a few changes, and win the division and then in a couple of years the SB.
Anyway, that is just my thoughts as someone who is not a fan and just watches from afar.
Ron was a leader. Reich was a nice guy. There’s a difference. During Ron’s time there was a clear culture that was built and guys fought like hell to produce results when it was felt like jobs were on the line. We had many late season surges to stave off the hot seat because guys loved Ron.
Reich was meh the minute he arrived. I remember watching the blueprint episodes during the preseason and just remembered feeling like every interaction between him and the players had no life to it.
Shit like that matters when you are trying to lead 53+ grown ass men. If it feels like the head guy doesn’t care why should I care about my play? Why should I be pissed off I’m letting his rookie qb get destroyed every week. The head guy isn’t changing anything I won’t either.
Towards the end of his time in Indy they had no culture to. Guys being late to meetings, late to treatments, not caring.
He must have interviewed really well because if I heard reports of that from his last job there is no way I’d be hiring him after firing the guy who was supposed to be the culture guy.
This next HC NEEDS to not only be a solid scheme X’s/Os guy but he also needs to be a guy that the players can proudly follow.