CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Monday was clean-out day at Bank of America Stadium — for Carolina Panthers players packing their gear after an abysmal season but also for general manager Scott Fitterer.
The announcement that the team had fired Fitterer after three seasons came at 8:19 a.m. By the close of business, the Panthers already had requested to interview eight candidates for Fitterer’s old job. Life moves fast in the NFL.
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Ask Frank Reich, whose former post also is available.
The search for a head coach also revved up in a hurry Monday with the Panthers asking to speak to nine candidates. The list includes six coaches with offensive backgrounds, led by Detroit Lions in-demand coordinator Ben Johnson.
In-person interviews with coaching candidates can’t start until Jan. 22, so owner David Tepper and the consulting firm assisting have some time here.
With his quick hook and quicker temper, Tepper has become something of a villain in his adopted city. If he wants to improve his approval rating and make things more palatable when he asks for public money for a Bank of America Stadium renovation, it’s imperative he make the right call on the next coach, his fourth in six years (not counting interims).
GO DEEPER
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer is out and David Tepper's offseason overhaul begins
But just as important is this: Tepper has to let that coach fill out his staff with a well-rounded group of assistants the head coach knows and trusts, rather than trying to put together an all-star staff that looks better on paper than in practice.
We were reminded of that Monday when veteran tight end Hayden Hurst suggested the Panthers’ offensive problems this season could be traced to the fact that there were too many chefs in the kitchen, especially where rookie quarterback Bryce Young was concerned.
“I think there’s just too many opinions. You’re kind of looking for the right answer from everybody. Too much input, which sucks for Bryce,” Hurst said. “I think he kind of had a lot of people in his ear, telling him one thing. He was just looking for (a consistent message).”
One of the reasons Reich was hired (after Johnson pulled out of the search) was a Rolodex that was like a who’s who of well-known coaches. Tepper liked that, especially after watching Matt Rhule bring in a bunch of his college coaching buddies in 2020.
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Less than a year later, Tepper appears to have overcorrected. While it sounded good to surround Young with four so-called quarterback whisperers, all those whispers — at least in Hurst’s view — managed to drown each other out. Hurst said it was a stark contrast from Young’s college career.
“When you come from a place like Alabama, (Nick) Saban’s the king. Whatever he says, goes. And when you’re a 21-year-old kid, you think that is going to be consistent in the NFL,” Hurst added. “And unfortunately for him, I think maybe he was listening to too many people. So it’ll be a good offseason for him, just to kind of get back to his roots. The kid won the Heisman Trophy. … The first overall pick. He’s pretty good.”
Young did not necessarily agree with Hurst, saying that sort of collective coaching effort goes with the quarterback position.
“Everyone wants to help, that’s the thing. Everyone’s involved, everyone’s invested. I don’t feel like it was too much,” he said. “I feel like we all want to get coached. We all want to consult others.”
The Panthers’ QB collective was cut in half in November. A day after a loss at Tennessee dropped the Panthers to 1-10, Reich, who played and coached the position in the NFL, and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown were fired, along with running backs coach Duce Staley.
Young pointed to Reich’s firing as the low point in a season filled with losses and adversity.
“Losing coach Reich was tough. A lot of movement. Whenever people are leaving the building, it’s hard. It’s difficult. That was definitely something that was rough,” Young said. “But through those rough times, it helps you come closer together. And we all felt that. We all experienced that together.”
That type of togetherness was missing among the offensive coaches in the weeks leading to Reich’s dismissal. In December, The Athletic reported on the dysfunction inside the Panthers’ offices, with some coaches saying they believed other staff members were texting Tepper behind Reich’s back about issues they saw with the team.
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Asked if he noticed any of the staff dysfunction, Hurst said: “I think it was apparent. If you were in this locker room, you can kind of tell. Again, just a lot of voices, a lot of people trying to right the ship. I think it got to the point where there were just too many voices.”
By all accounts, the Panthers’ defensive staff was better aligned, due in part to the fact that nearly all of the coaches had previously worked with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Because of the defense’s success this season, particularly relative to the offense’s production, Brian Burns and other players have said they hope the defensive staff can be retained. That could work where there are preexisting connections like that between Johnson and Evero, who share the same agent.
But Tepper should let the experience with this year’s staff, which began to be imploded after just 11 games, serve as a cautionary tale. The Panthers can’t afford to waste another year of Young’s development by having him pulled in several different directions.
“Again, you come from Alabama and there’s one voice of reason. So you think they have your best interest at heart. And unfortunately I think when you get in the NFL, there’s a lot of people that maybe want to put their stamp on it or ‘I was the one that kind of got him there,’” said Hurst, who was in the concussion protocol for the final eight games of what he called a “sh—-” year for him personally.
“So it’ll be good for Bryce to have consistency this offseason,” Hurst said. “One voice (to) tell him what to do and kind of guide him in the right direction.”
(Photo of Bryce Young: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
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