Frank Reich fired: Who will replace him as the Carolina Panthers interim head coach?

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has run out of patience with Frank Reich, who was hired in January to be the head coach of the Panthers. Rather than turn the team around, Reich went 1-10 through his first 11 games, the latest a 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

That was as much as Tepper could take and he fired Reich on Monday.

The Panthers went 0-6 to start the season, even with no. 1 overall draft pick Bryce Young at quarterback. After their Week 7 bye week, Reich handed off play-calling duties to first-year offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. They went on to win one Game (the first one) with Brown as the play-caller, but then averaged just 11.3 points per game until eventually Reich resumed play-calling after the Panthers lost 16-13 to the Chicago Bears in Week 10.

Who will take over as interim head coach of the Carolina Panthers?

Until the Panthers find someone to take over Reich’s position, it will be special teams coordinator Chris Tabor taking over as interim head coach. Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown will resume play-calling duties.

Potential candidates to take over Reich’s position include Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh, Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson, and Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.

Which other NFL coaches have been hired in their first season?

In addition to the Panthers, Tepper is also the owner of the soccer team Charlotte FC. In less than five years as the owner of both the Panthers and Charlotte FC, he’s fired a combined five coaches. Reich is the third full-time NFL coach that Tepper has fired, and he’s fired two Charlotte FC coaches.

Frank Reich is just the fifth NFL coach to be fired in his first season with a team. The last coach to suffer that fate was Nathaniel Hackett, who joined the Denver Broncos in 2022 and left after going 4-11. Before that it was Urban Meyer after taking the Jacksonville Jaguars to a 2-11 record in 2021. Before Meyer, it was Pete McCulley with the San Francisco 49ers in 1978 (1-8 record) and John Whelchel with Washington in 1949 (3-3-1).