There’s one word to describe the Panthers’ 2023 season.
“F–k,” Panthers owner David Tepper said while leaving the locker room Sunday, according to The Athletic, after the Panthers fell to 1-10 with a 17-10 loss to the Titans.
And as Carolina’s owner stews, it could be bad news for first-year head coach Frank Reich.
Fox’s Jay Glazer reported Nov. 19 that Reich’s “seat is getting quite hot” and “without a doubt, Frank Reich has the hottest seat in the league.”
Will Kunkel of Fox26 in Houston then reported Sunday that Reich’s hot seat is now “on fire.”
To say things are going poorly in Carolina would be an understatement, and it seems Tepper may be ready to move onto his fourth head since he bought the team in 2018.
It’s safe to assume that Tepper knew there was media around when he made his four-letter remark, and for him to be willing to let it loose in that scenario shows he’s quite upset.
Tepper reportedly is very involved in his franchise’s decisions, including the franchise-changing trade-up to grab Bryce Young with the first pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, ahead of MVP candidate and likely Offensive Rookie of the Year C.J. Stroud and Anthony Richardson.
While Stroud looks like a franchise-changing player, Young, an Alabama product, has just nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.
He completed 18-of-31 passes for 194 yards and zero touchdowns Sunday, his fourth straight game — and sixth time overall — tallying less than 200 passing yards.
Reich is an offensive-minded coach and even delegated play-calling duties to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown in an attempt to galvanize the offense.
It hasn’t worked.
Neither Brown nor Reich has invoked the best from Young, and that could lead to Tepper turning to a new voice in hope of getting a good return on his investment in Young.
Reich said he did not talk to Tepper after the game, but insists the Panthers are not far away from winning some of these games.
“What are you going to do? You’re 1-10. What, are you going to start feeling sorry for yourself? You’re going to think something will magically fix everything? No,” Reich said after Carolina’s fourth straight loss. “We lost a close football game today.
“These games are winnable. That message doesn’t fly when you’re 1-10, but I know these games are winnable. I know we have the players and the coaches to do that. So we regroup, and we get ready for this week.”