On a the newest episode of “Processing Blue,” Scott Fowler and Mike Kaye discuss the decision to fire Frank Reich by owner David Tepper, potential coaching candidates for the Carolina Panthers, what’s next for the team and more.

By Drew Nantais / The Charlotte Observer

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Welcome back to another episode of Processing blue I'm Observer sports Columnist Scott Fowler filling in for Langston warts Jr who's feeling a little Bit under the weather today joining me For this uh Charlotte Observer podcast Is the Charlotte Observer preeminent Panther reporter Mike Kay how are you Mike I'm well Scott how are you well I'm Doing well considering this is been Quite a week for both of us and uh we'll Get right into it a lot of things have Changed since you came back from Tennessee you were in Nashville watching That uh travesty of a game and then the Next day uh something big happened so Let's just tell me let's just start real Simply why did the Panthers and owner David teer fire Frank Reich on Monday in Your opinion his tenure was an abject Disaster I mean that that's really what It was so you go one and 10 uh to start Off you hire the first offensive minded Head coach in in team history and his Teams can't Score the offense can't score more than 15 points for an entire five-week Stretch that's pretty rough your rookie Quarterback has it who was the first Overall pick who you traded up for has Not uh passed for more than 250 yards All Season he's got about as he's got More turnovers than he has touchdowns There's uh a ranking of him at the

Bottom of qbr and passer rating he's Just like every the I wrote this earlier This week the Panthers Entrusted their franchise and their Future in Frank Reich and the immediate Future after that move was made was just A disaster but I mean you know we've Gotten to know Frank over the last Several weeks you in particular have Been able to kind of get his feel for What happened here uh for at least from His end what did you take away from your Exclusive interview that you did with Him on Monday yeah um I think he was still Processing it honestly Mike i' spoke to Him about three or four hours only after He had gotten fired um we spoke by phone Couple of times as we sort of you know Just talked it out a little bit as to What he was comfortable saying and uh The big takeaway there was not Surprising in that Frank Reich took the High road in our interview uh he said he Had quote no hard feelings which is hard To believe but that's what he said uh From owner David teer again he only Lasted 11 games in what was supposed to Be a four-year deal so that was a very Short time for someone who thought they Were coming back to the Carolinas you know to write a storybook Ending Uh instead the ending got written very

Prematurely and he only lasted Two-thirds of one season now the Consolation prize Mike is that he will Be paid for all four years and so there Is multi-million dollars in his future But he did tell me he thought that this Chapter of his life this NFL journey is Probably over he turned 62 next week and Honestly when he told me that on the Phone I was a little bit sad to hear it Uh the n pH will be a poorer League Without the Frank reiches of the world In it because whatever you think of his Uh and you're right I mean The Season's Been disastrous one and 10 is they're The worst in the NFL but what a good guy And what a gracious guy and a faith Faith-filled Man and uh in that respect I was sorry To see him go how do you think what's Happening right now we'll get to David Tepper's press conference in a minute But how do you think what's happening Right now that with Frank Reich is gonna Impact Bryce young well I think from From the perspective of hey there's a New voice in his ear right so we should Mention that along with Frank Reich Assistant head coach veric Max coach to Staley and quarterback's coach Josh Macau were also fired on Monday the onus Was put on in head coach Chris tabber And special advisor Jim Codwell they Wanted to kind of have a fresh

Perspective there parks Frasier actually A long Frank re disciple uh goes from Passing game coordinator to coaching the Quarterbacks as well he is very very High on brce I spoke to him uh in August When I did my big takeout for A1 on Bryce Shing his leadership and he talked About how unbelievable his attention to Detail is and his maturity is and I Think when you have somebody who's fully Bought in not that Josh MC was it I Think that kind of helps with the Transition right so this is really the First football adversity that bran sh is Really dealing with in his football life He was the top guy in high school top Guy in colle one a heis mro sure losing On national championship game is a Bummer but it's not starting off one in 10 in front of a national audience pay Paying customers who have no College Ties to your success um it's it's a Demanding business and he to put it Plainly he's been underwhelming I mean You wrote a couple of weeks ago that you Didn't know if he was ready to really Start in the NFL Maybe should have gone With Dy and I think this is them Doubling down on the gamble they've made With Bry shung anytime you draft a Player or you trade for a player or Trade up for a player in in the draft And positioning it's a Gamble and so far And I wrote this in a column Scott

Outside of Adam fand how many gambl have Worked out from the off Season like to a degree where it's Undeniable don't worry I'll wait I I'll Wait anybody say zero uh for sure and And you're right about all that with Bryce young and Also he probably feels because Bryce Young feels things pretty deeply you Know inside that locker room he probably Feels somewhat responsible for Frank Reich uh getting fired although you Could say well it's not Bryson's fault You know he didn't put all those skill Players around him it's Frank reich's Fault and Scott fitter's fault maybe David tepper's fault but in any case Some of it is Bry Young's fault and he Does bear some responsibility here um And I don't think Mike honestly they'll Be very good I don't care who's coaching I mean I feel a little sorry honestly For Chris Taber this is a difficult role To be put into uh someone was going to Have to become the interim coach after Frank Reich but this ship is sailed this Year in terms of winning many games I Mean what do you think the best they Could do in these final six games would Be like one and five two and four what Do you think they play four more Division games they play the bucers Twice and then they play Atlanta and um Excuse me New

Orleans they'll start with a a road trip To Tampa and a road trip to New Orleans They in the middle of a three- game Road Trip they should have beat the Titans They should have beat the Bears they Should have probably beat the Colts um I don't think this team is as Bad as the Cardinals or the Patriots but You are what your record is and maybe we See a little bit of Steve Wilps you know energy in this T game Against that happens sometimes yeah You've seen this many times in the in The sports world where a coach leaves For whatever reason or a player is Injured and the next man up does well so I wouldn't like be totally stunned in Fact I don't think they will but I Wouldn't be totally stunned if they beat Tampa um none of the teams the NFC South Are great right would you be stunned 500 Yeah would you be stunned if they beat Def no not at all um Baker rafield is Deing with an injury they're not Particularly explosive the Deep B isn't What it used to be uh their big trouble Is going to be figuring out a way to Shut down Mike Evans but JC G in the Last week of his 21 day window so he's Activated you know we're recording this On Tuesday he's activated this week that Could be a big help against Mike Evans Uh JC cor needs to get on the field if They're going to try to win games and

According to David stepper you know know Not segue too girly but they're trying To do everything they can to improve the Product JC hor is probably part of that Plan but speaking of terer um well that Was something on Tuesday um you know if You watch the press conference as a Listener you got to hear my voice there Was a certain person you didn't get to Hear and I know Scott doesn't want to Make himself a story but what was your Take on not being able to ask a question In probably the most important press Conference of the last 12 months because 13 months ago we were doing the same Thing yeah I wasn't very happy about it Uh and I've written a column that by the Time this runs Uh the time our podcast is published the Column will be available so you can find It there but entitled something like Here is the question I wanted to ask David teer um I was I have been you know Not to toot my own horn here but I have Covered this team 20 years I'm the local Sports columnist for the major local Newspaper I've asked a question at every Significant Panthers press confence There's ever been I had my hand raised And was in the front row and got ignored So I was not thrilled about that whole Deal um I think it was purposeful not Sure exactly why although I have written Some very critical things about David

Terer recently and so perhaps that had Something to do with it but in any case We did get some answers let's talk about What we did find out uh Mike you wrote a Story about the takeaways from today it Was a 14-minute news conference David Terer only answered eight questions the Ninth question was asked as he was Walking off the stage uh what was the Status of Scott fitterer's job the GM And he looked directly at the questioner And then just walked off saying nothing So let's start there what did you take From that where do you think where do You think this stands with Scout fiter Well what's interesting is we kind of Asked the same we asked a question that Was I asked a question that was along Those lines as well and it seemed like He kind of went off at another tangent Tried to take the humble approach but Just out flat out not answering the Question I think tells you well it Better be a really good six game Run I Mean I I'm under the impression that Nobody is safe right now um and I've Also written several times in my Thoughts column on Tuesday it makes Absolutely no sense to fire a GM mid mid Season unless they are detrimental to The product from a morale standpoint Which Scott fitter we know is not that There's literally no reason to fire him Before the last two games of the Season

Maybe if you want to get like a a leg up On the competition but teams can't Really interview head coaches early they Can't interview GMS early with the no Way that the playoff interview process Works so I mean I I I get the the reason That people are are wanting blood from The front office you know like we said The front office is not their offy movs Have not really paid off I would I read About that several times but I think you Know teer and and Scott have a good Relationship I think he wants to see This through those last six games it's Going to be an uphill climb remember Since the 17 Game season schedule began In 2021 there has never been a one win team So I mean if they don't pick up the pace And they go one and 17 or one and 16 I Think nobody is is tied down to the to The Flor Bank America Stadium and nobody Should be fil fulfilled right now I've Written that several times this is not a Good team it's a disaster and they're The laughing stock in the league right Now I mean you know speaking of humor um You know I I think a lot of people have Had a lot of fun uh with a recent report That Greg Olsen might be interested in The head coaching job Scott do you want To take this time to also announce that You're putting your hat In great I'd love to get an interview

Because then I could maybe get some of My questions answered yeah that's what I Was gonna say like you know at least Then you get front and center but um I Guess Scott you know you as you Mentioned before you were kind of a Historian in a lot of ways in this uh Franchise is this the worst season you Can think of I know the Clon season's a Big one but is this the worst season you Remember in your time cover the team Right now the Clawson season which was 2010 uh to me still trumps it in terms Of uh Utter offensive uh Utter uh disaster in terms of offense That team I looked it up the other day Because I was curious I was like how bad Was that really am I really remembering That correctly but they only they Averaged like 12.3 points a game and so They had a lot of games where they Scored three or seven or well this Team's not that far behind they're not I Think these guys average 15ish right now You know they had a couple of games in The 20s early um the Clawson team was You know that team actually did win two Games though which is hard to Fathom but Get this stat on on Jimmy Clawson and That team he play he started pretty much The whole year he got his hurt for a few Games but he threw three touchdown Passes the entire year nine picks three

TDS in a whole year I mean Bryce young Has what like eight now so and you know There's they weren't they weren't that Team was worse um they were even less Fun to cover than this one but this one Is coming in tight on second place right Now um and so and they can't they got a Chance Mike they got a chance to go all The way and and become the worst team in Panther history I think if they go one And 16 you'd have to say they were I Mean that'd be the most losses they Fired a coach in the middle of the Season uh as we've seen these take you Know the the take off the way the Stadium has been taken over let's go Back though for a second because I do Want to get your impression on teer news Conference and what else we heard so What were some of your other takeaways From this news conference I'm going to Choose my words wisely here I mean I I Don't want to say it was like a Complete uh farce but I just I it felt Very contained very Controlled um look I think if we knew That there were only going to be eight Questions I think there would have been Probably different questions probably in The chamber um if you ever listen to a Panther's press conference I probably Drive Scott nuts because he hears my Voice so often I'm used to kind of being Heavy-handed in press conferences

Because I got a lot of questions and I Cover the team every day and um you Know I really like well and that's good And like you know I've gone through this Twice before watching terer in these Press conferences after Ron Rivera was Fired and after Matt ru's fired I didn't Go back and time it but I'll tell you That those press conferences and the Main most of the time when David teer is Available he's very available and it's Usually 25 to 30 minutes so when Bruce Spade who was running the press Conference their main PR guy cut it off Tried to cut it off originally after I Looked on the clock about 10 and a half Minutes I think we were all very Startled and there was kind of you know Some yelling uh protesting uh including Me and and some Others which didn't really work except He took one more question where he did Where teer did speak about Bryce young And this leld myth that teer made the Bryce young draft choice which he tried To dispel today that was new to me what Did you think about his answer to that Question so he kind of alluded to it That they had wanted to trade up to two Before he did that at the draft you were Actually at the draft when he said it Which is probably why he kind of got Lost in the shuffle the memory there but Listen I actually thought his his his

Fest if you will on on the process made A lot of sense he said they were Consensus high on Bryce young that they Thought the Texans were going to trade Up from two to one and select Bryce Young Who was the next guy on their Board clearly was CJ strap um and they Were comfortable taking H at number two Instead they trained up to one and got The guy they wanted if anything that Further proves that the the the team was All in on him he said that he he can't Speak for everybody else but extremely Confident in in that pick uh Conversations that I've had over the Last week I'm under the impression Everybody still locked in on Bryce um and I'd agree I'd agree and Also I will tell you that Frank Reich Was locked in on Bryce and people who Say hey no he wanted CJ strout and terer Forset on him that's not true yeah and Look and I will say this because I think From a conceptual standpoint it's going To get lost but I think from a logic ICal standpoint let's Frank re said that He liked all three quarterbacks right so If you like all three quarterbacks and Your front office and your owner both Want one guy and that narrows down the Process that's not to say that a guy Didn't want the quarterback that's Saying that he found good every single One of them which he was very

Transparent about in our interviews and So I Think look I get it it's black and white On X that's just what it is forly Twitter um people want to feel like Their opinions fulfilled whether you Like Bryce young you did whether you Thought Frank Rick was a shroud guy Whether you did to me and I wrote this Several times based on what he did in Indianapolis CJ Stout was the perfect sh He is who I would have drafted but I Also said this if you're comfortable With the durability if you're Comfortable with the size if you're Comfortable with his Dynamics and you Feel like you can play to his strengths Rice was easily the most dynamic Quarterback in college last year over The last two years so I think there's Going to be debates about this forever And with CJ stoud sitting pretty much Every rookie pacing record ever um you Know Bryce is feeling it you can do the Whole PR spin of Jared gof and Payton Manning and all these guys that struggle The reality is every situation is truly Different and I think if you're looking At this from the lens of being a Panthers Fan doubling down on him is a good thing If what wasn't working before wasn't Working they said enough and so Hopefully they can bring in a guy in the

Future to get the most at yeah I'd agree With that I mean at this point you have Bryce youngan so there's no you know Thinking about CJ croud that's like you Know that's thinking about the prom date That Got Away you're you're not that's Not happening so Bryce young is your guy And he I mean I think even last week Made some incredible plays uh Occasionally you know every now and then There's one of these flashes where I'm How did he get out of that you know or How do you make that throw but a lot of Other times there's you know there's not That I'll say another thing too I want Your comments on this on teer um press Conference he claimed to be a very Patient man in his other businesses he Said people don't leave they stick Around 20 or 30 years and he is known as Quote extreme L patient so uh that is Not Translated uh into football or to that Matter into Charlotte FC their MLS Franchise which has gone through two Head coaches in two years why do you Think that hasn't Translated I don't know my son says he's Really good at singing uh but he's not Um you know I think from the standpoint Of this is a different business right Like this is The NFL beat writing they're all Different businesses they're under my

Column today you know I've been around The league differently than you've been Around the league you you've got the Longevity on me and the institutional Knowledge of this franchise I cover Three different NFL teams three very Different markets you and I handle Things differently you and I have Different experiences you might do Something differently because it's Something you learned in your side of Coverage while I might do something else So just because you're patient or you're Or you're prolific in one area of life Doesn't mean you're going to be or Situation means you're going to be Prolific in another thing and I think Look I think teer gets this WAP that is Kind of illogical to me and I wrote this Earlier is Like people act like he doesn't want to Win if he didn't want to win he wouldn't Be dropping these guys in the middle of The season to pay them $35 million over Several years like that's just not right No I totally agree with that yeah abely Wants he just not doing it right he Doesn't know p and you know I wrote this In my column sometimes you saying you Don't know is okay it takes bravery to Say that especially when you're in a Position of power but it's okay to not To know what you don't know and I feel Like that's the next step for him as an

Owner saying he I'm gonna hire people That I trust similar to what Jed York Did in San Francisco with John Lynch and Kyle shanon and I'm going to let them do Their thing and I'm going to the awards And until you get to that point as an Owner you're not going to have Consistent success because everything's Going to be Reactionary yes he said you know I used To be a fan I I was in Pittsburgh I Enjoy it well this isn't a fan business That's just not I mean it's a business For the fans if you really want to be Successful and I think he's got to kind Of do some soul searching say some Brave Things to himself and to others and say Look what I'm doing is not working I'm a Successful businessman I need to know One to step away something something Needs to change and and what I've Written about this of course and is that He just needs to step away much like you Said from the football part of it he is A great businessman uh let him you know Concentrate on the business part because There's Lord knows there's a lot that Needs to be done on the business side of Things and it's going to be many more um As we start to wrap up let's talk about The next 10 to 12 weeks because there's You got a lot of work in front of you Mike and there's going to be besides Having a new baby you got other things

To deal with now with another coaching Search uh how do you see this playing it Well it's get to probably be an Extensive surch last year they used a an Executive committee that had president Christy Coleman teer David teer Samir Sulaman Scott fitter Dan Morgan um and They use that also in the quarterback Church as well once Frank break joined The group and then they had all their Litany of coaches and was all well Publicized I think something that they Should learn from this is um diversity Of thought doesn't necessarily mean uh Logic you know what I mean like Sometimes like it you know what I'm Talking about even when you're talking To me sometimes sometimes I'll come up With something crazy and you'll be like Yeah probably shouldn't do this is one Of those things where I think having an Outside voice is very very helpful Somebody to guide The Surge I'm not Saying call up Bill Pon I'm not saying Call up Thomas Demetria although I think He could be a GM candidate the new move On from Scott Biter you have to make this job really Appealing and to me I've said this Several times I don't think this job is Appealing what I mean by that is it's One of 32 we get it yeah sure whatever There it's only so many jobs whatever uh You know but from the standpoint of you

Have to be completely bought in on brao Who you did not pick you also have to be Very comfortable with your inheriting a Bottom five roster without a first round Pay cool you have a ton of salary tax Spay well guess what typically when you Spend a lot of money in free agency and You win the offseason you lose the Regular season um you also have to deal With the fact that there's not a lot of Patience here and if you're a first year Head coach and you feel like you're only Going to get one bite at the Apple why Get the bite at the Apple here Especially when you know that other Owners can pay we can talk about how Rich David teor is how much he can Outbid any everybody but so far that's Led to Frank Reich who was seen as an After thought prior to the the search This past year and Matt rule who again AB disaster so I think from their Standpoint they need somebody with Experience who can say no to David Temper say hey I can contextualize why This should happen Bill bellich maybe Yeah I mean look here's the thing about Hiring retreads now if he was in the Front office role his uh his history of Wide receiver quarterback draft picks Are atrocious that said you know you're Bringing a name you're bringing Excitement I think really what they Should do is focus on a ret trit GM or

At least somebody with ties to a really Successful organization you look at Andy Widle in Pittsburgh who he he has that Connection with terer you look at um Dave Codwell who had a rough run in Jacksonville but is used to an intrusive Owner um you have guys like Thomas Demetrio who had a lot of success in Atlanta especially with Dan Quinn being A very very hot candidate with the way He's coaching up that defense Dallas I Think you have to have people that Understand the every walk Al life it Doesn't have to be a Personnel guide the League is moving away from some of those Guys quizzy out in Minnesota hoe Roseman's probably the most successful One of the most successful GMS in the League um if you can get somebody from The Chiefs the Eagles the Ravens one of Those guys to oversee stuff if you are Moving on from scottt that makes sense But from a head coaching perspective I Wrote about 20 head coaching candidates It's on Charlotte observer.com I would Say Ben Johnson was a favorite last year He pulled out of the race I think Another guy that they interviewed last Year could be an OP shet is Kell Moore Coach very well uh as an office Coordinator in Los Angeles Frank Smith From dolphins getting a lot of Buzz Brian Johnson from the Eagles is getting A lot of Buzz there's a lot of retread

Defensive coordinators Steve wilps would Either side be willing to do that I Doubt it uh Jim Schwarz is having a Renaissance in Cleveland so there's a Lot of options out there All those I think my favorite might be Ben Johnson uh Detroit Lions offensive Coordinator a lot of uh Tar Hill ties as Well but I just don't I don't know if a Guy like that comes here he's gonna have Options you know and I'd love to see it I think that'd be a neat one uh but you Know there maybe there I'm sure there's Some other great candidates out there That that we don't know of but of Course it's going to take so many twists And turns Mike I don't I don't envy your Next several months but I'm sure you're Going to do a fantastic job uh well Something I would say too when I first Did when Po got fired and I did my Initial like 14 or whatever candidates Frank re wasn't on there because he Hadn't been fired yet so um but maybe The lesson there is don't fire the guy Who got fired midseason you know by a Team in a really terrible division where He never won the division anyway um but I do think there's a lot of upand Cominging offensive minds I think Partner an up and coming offensive mind With a retrip GM who has experience and Allowing it to kind of separate I think Scott fitter in a lot of ways has been

Too collaborative uh from a Personnel Standpoint we knew that D stany was very High on DJ CH try to recruit him my Sanders um some of the defensive Characters that they brought in you know It's just the GM needs to be the GM and I don't think we ever got to see Scott Bitter really take the Reigns here Because of not that gives an excuse he Puts his stamp on it he should be Accountable but I think he was too Collaborative with rule I think he was Too collaborative right whoever's the GM Next year needs to kind of have that Line in the stand up the 53's mine That's It well let's wrap it up there it has Been an incredibly busy week as John Oliver always starts his telecast with We'll close it it has been an incredibly Busy week with Frank Reich and David Tepper's press conference and Mike uh Thank you as always uh for joining us And thank all of you for always for Listening uh if you haven't already Subscribed to processing blue Please Subscribe and follow us wherever you get Your podcast for those who watch us on YouTube please subscribe to our YouTube Channel and click on the Bell icon to Get notified of whenever new episodes Drop finally be sure to stick to Charlotteobserver.com because we have a Ton of panthers stuff on there right now

And more to come believe me the next Three months we are going to overload You with Panthers coverage so please Come see us at charlotteobserver.com for All the latest Carolina Panthers news And Analysis and we'll see you next Time

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