Carolina Panthers rent Frank Reich as new head coach
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers have agreed to phrases with Frank Reich to turn into their new head coach on Thursday.
The 61-year-old Reich joins the Panthers after spending the previous four-plus seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, the place he went 40-33-1 as head coach earlier than being fired on Nov. 7 after a 3-5-1 begin. The Colts went to the playoffs twice as a wild-card workforce beneath Reich, going 1-2 within the postseason.
For Reich, the rent represents a return to Carolina the place he spent one season because the workforce’s quarterback and began the franchise’s inaugural recreation in 1995.
Reich inherits a workforce that hasn’t been to the playoffs since 2017 — and hasn’t gained a postseason recreation since successful the NFC championship in 2015 with league MVP Cam Newton at quarterback.
The Panthers have been trying to find stability at quarterback ever since Newton started battling accidents shortly after the workforce’s 24-10 loss to the Denver Broncos in Tremendous Bowl 50. The Panthers minimize Baker Mayfield earlier this offseason and Sam Darnold is an unrestricted free agent, so Reich could have a key say in the way forward for the workforce’s quarterback state of affairs.
As of now, Scott Fitterer stays the workforce’s common supervisor.
Previous to becoming a member of the Colts, Reich labored two years because the offensive coordinator for the Philadelphia Eagles serving to them win the Tremendous Bowl in his second season beneath head coach Doug Pederson.
Reich spent 14 seasons as an NFL quarterback and has been in teaching since 2006 when he initially joined the Colts as an intern.
Panthers proprietor David Tepper has been keen to determine a successful program since buying the workforce for a then-record $2.3 billion in 2018 from Jerry Richardson, who bought the workforce amid allegations of sexual and racial misconduct within the office.
The Panthers are 29-53 since Tepper bought the workforce and have by no means gained greater than seven video games in a season.
Reich turns into the sixth full-time head coach of the Panthers, following Dom Capers, George Seifert, John Fox, Ron Rivera and Matt Rhule.
Rivera is a minority, however the Panthers have by no means employed a full-time Black coach. They’ve had two Black coaches who’ve labored on an interim foundation — Perry Fewell and Steve Wilks.
The Panthers interviewed 9 candidates for the job, together with Wilks, who went 6-6 final season. Wilks took over for Rhule, who was fired by Tepper lower than three seasons after giving him a seven-year, $72 million contract.
Rhule was 11-27 total, and the Panthers have been 1-4 when he was fired.
Among the many others who interviewed included former New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton, former Detroit Lions and Colts head coach Jim Caldwell, Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and 4 NFL offensive coordinators — Kellen Moore (Cowboys), Shane Steichen (Eagles), Mike Kafka (Giants) and Ken Dorsey (Payments).
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