4 important takeaways from Carolina Panthers play-calling power struggle
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers HC Frank Reich is on the hot seat
This sort of switch indicates one thing above all else.
Frank Reich is firmly on the hot seat.
David Tepper is not a patient man. He's enjoyed no success whatsoever since buying the Carolina Panthers from Jerry Richardson, so going 1-8 was unlikely to have been considered as even a worst-case scenario before the campaign.
Unless something changes, Tepper might be forced to cut this experiment extremely short. While conceding he made another mistake regarding a head coaching hire, the billionaire has to draw the line somewhere - something he could have relayed to Reich before the head coach made such a drastic alteration.
If Reich's going down, he's going down with control of offensive operations rather than leaving his fate to others. Even if it seems unlikely things will get any better against a Dallas Cowboys defense renowned for dominating inferior opposition.
In many ways, the current atmosphere resembles something similar to before Week 5 of the 2022 season. Of course, the Panthers were smashed at home by the San Francisco 49ers with thousands of traveling fans in attendance, leading to Tepper firing previous head coach Matt Rhule.
Could history repeat itself with Reich? Time will tell on that front, but it's not looking good when one factors everything into this dire equation.