Panthers News: Frank Reich, Hayden Hurst, C.J. Henderson and Bryce Young
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers QB Bryce Young's secret ingredient
Bryce Young gets set to stage center stage once again - albeit briefly - tonight in his second taste of NFL action at the New York Giants. The quarterback showed enough during limited involvement on debut to suggest he can hit the ground running next season, although the Carolina Panthers won't want their No. 1 overall selection subjected to similar duress moving forward.
Much has been made about the Panthers' big gamble surrounding Young and how everything's been set up around the signal-caller impressively. Something that was further highlighted by team writer Darin Gantt, who also revealed that Carolina's secret ingredient in this all-star equation is none other than assistant head coach and renowned quarterback developer Jim Caldwell.
"[Jim] Caldwell's now the secret ingredient here. Even if he wasn't around, they'd have a stable foundation of coaches for Young in Reich, offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, plus [James] Campen and receivers coach Shawn Jefferson. But here's one of the great quarterback whisperers of the last generation, and he's sort of wandering around without a well-defined role, just walking the Earth and dispensing wisdom like Caine from Kung Fu. When things get weird, and they will get weird, Young has a host of people to learn from. It appears he is conditioned to listen to them. Not every No. 1 overall pick has that kind, or amount, of wise counsel."
- Darin Gantt, Panthers.com
Caldwell's been around the block a few times. What he doesn't know about football and playing the quarterback position isn't worth knowing, so Young can benefit greatly from his wisdom both before and during his first campaign as a starting NFL signal-caller.
If Young takes the league by storm, many of Carolina's coaches could benefit given the interest they'll receive from other teams. That includes Caldwell, who has the credentials to get one more shot at being a head coach.