Are David Tepper and Bryce Young draws or deterrents for head coach candidates?

Red flags might dissuade top-tier coaching candidates from being interested in the Carolina Panthers, including Bryce Young and the domineering David Tepper.

This article has an interesting origin story. I drew the assignment to write about factors that make the Carolina Panthers head coaching job appealing back when Frank Reich was relieved of his duties as the head coach in November. Which, I could be dramatic about and say, ‘that was back in an entirely different year!’. Happy New Year, by the way.

Regardless, I began my process to choose which factors best fit the billing. As you may imagine, it wasn’t a long list of desirable options. I decided to think about it a little bit more. And then the Panthers continued losing. And the owner continued Tepper-ing. It reached a point where the back burner was the best home for this one, at least for the time being.

Not by coincidence, that housing situation changed recently with the firing of oft-criticized general manager Scott Fitterer. For the first time since 2002, the Panthers franchise is set for a harmonious, full reset of the front office and coaching staff. The question now centers on who wants to fill those vacancies.

Fast forward to the present time - I decided to shift gears slightly. Two factors are being looked at as red flags and should dissuade top-tier coaching candidates from being interested in Carolina. Those ‘obstacles’ are David Tepper and Bryce Young.

Let’s talk about them.

The polarizing Bryce Young

I understand that the fan opinion of Bryce Young is incredibly divided. That may even be putting it lightly. The quarterback has become a polarizing topic of conversation, despite only having played one season of professional football.

But here’s the reality about Young – he was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. It wasn’t a surprise or a reach. He had been comfortably towards the top of prospect rankings for nearly two years prior. When pundits gave their player comparisons, names such as Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, and Drew Brees were brought up with regularity.

NFL executive and coaching circles, from what I have read and been able to gather, do not feel the same level of doom and gloom that fans – even Carolina Panthers supporters – seemingly do. The opportunity to coach and develop a blue-chip quarterback prospect is a significant draw, in my opinion.

Most head coaching vacancies arise after dreadful seasons. This typically coincides with poor rosters and premium upcoming draft selections.

The Panthers do not have that first-round pick in 2024 for the new head coach. But after basically running in a purgatory-simulating hamster wheel for his rookie season in the league, Young is a blank enough canvas that someone can view him in a similar regard to any of the top quarterback prospects in this class.

The difference is - and perhaps even an advantage - that Young has seen how difficult the NFL is and where he needs to personally improve to take his game to the next tier.

For my money, Young also put enough good work on film during his rookie season to help project his potential as soon as he’s met with adequate coaching and an improved supporting cast. The Heisman Trophy winner displayed his off-schedule playmaking, his pocket manipulation and elusiveness, ability to throw efficiently over the middle of the field, and impressive anticipation on his throws.

He has improvements to make in his game, as well. The ridiculous 62 sacks he endured in his introductory season - second most in league history for a rookie quarterback - impacted his post-snap decision-making and sped up his process to a detriment at times.

He can still clean up some mechanical aspects. Although that doesn’t bother me personally as much, as Young has been an unorthodox player in part due to his physical stature.

Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson has played an integral part in the reinvention and development of Jared Goff - also a former No. 1 overall pick that many considered ‘disappointing’. Bobby Slowik likely did as much, if not more, preparation work for Young while he anticipated his Houston Texans team drafting the Alabama prospect with their first selection before the Panthers leapfrogged them via trade with the Chicago Bears.

Brian Callahan has been the catalyst for building the offense and the playbook around Joe Burrow. Frank Smith, offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins, has helped install and procure an offensive scheme around shorter-than-usual signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa - who led the league in passing this season.

A candidate such as Mike Macdonald, the defensive coordinator for the Baltimore Ravens, wouldn’t seem to shy away from an unconventional yet talented player. It has been a specialty of his to identify those players and put them in the absolute best positions for success. The coaching networks of candidates such as Mike Vrabel and Raheem Morris are surely filled with possible coordinators who would relish the opportunity to work with Young.

That’s not every candidate, but I wanted to demonstrate that the point of hiring a coach is to have them nurture their players into the best forms of themselves. That is tied to the schemes they’d implement, as well as the work ethic and communication.

In no world is Young a deterrent for this head coaching job. He’s the big fish.

The domineering David Tepper

The perception of David Tepper is that he’s an impatient, meddling owner who will stifle any chance of success with his overbearing approach. I don’t fully subscribe to that thinking. I do agree that he puts his nose into business that it doesn’t necessarily belong. But to be entirely fair, any Carolina Panthers business is his business - he owns the franchise.

It would best serve the front office folks that he hires if he’d take more vacations and be less involved in the day-to-day football stuff. Because Tepper isn’t a day-to-day football guy. He’s a billionaire who wants to be loved and wants to be revered. There’s no cost too big for that admiration.

And there - right there - is the draw.

Tepper will open the checkbook without trepidation. He’s a willing spender and believes money can buy him love. Perhaps he’s wrong on the latter, but I’m on board with him continuing to throw stacks of money at people until we find out. Hey, it’s better than throwing drinks… right?

Not only has he paid premium money for coaching staff members in the past, but he also seems to have a deep affinity for analytics-based front office personnel, who come with a history of salary cap understanding and contract negotiating.

That would lead me to believe he plans on getting busy in free agency to try and expedite the rebuilding of this roster. So long as he hires a head coach and a general manager with an aligned vision and plan for this team - that’s music to a candidate’s ears.

Lastly, I want to touch on the label of him being impatient. He signed his first head coach, Matt Rhule, to a seven-year contract. He gave him three and a half years of uninspired football and correlative personnel moves before breaking ties. After being fired, the Nebraska coach still got paid enough money that he could’ve spent the rest of his time eating sandwiches made of $100 bills and been rich until his last train departed.

I believe Tepper’s biggest blunder when it comes to coaching, was the incorrect decision on interim head coach Steve Wilks. He was kind of the antithesis of what Tepper looked to be seeking out in a coach. He couldn’t find the statistical support for how or why he was able to change the trajectory of that locker room and string together wins, damn near reaching the playoffs with a Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield quarterback combination and after trading Christian McCaffrey.

Wilks coached football players like people and the players responded with the same energy. That energy inspired team football and accountability - and it was noticeably missing from the next coaching staff.

Frank Reich is a nice guy. Family guy. I’d 100 percent love to have him as my Lyft driver because I guarantee he’d be super pleasant. He wasn’t in the right mind to try and dive back into coaching, in my opinion, after the forest fire of a job with the Indianapolis Colts. Tepper wasn’t impatient there - he was proactive. He saw the bad situation staying bad, even deteriorating, and moved to try and save whatever he could.

I don’t anticipate a short leash for whichever coach he hires next. Tepper, for all his flaws, genuinely seems like he wants to win. He just expects the coach to have that same desire and the wherewithal to press the right buttons at the right time to make it a reality.

I don’t personally care for the way Tepper has spoken about fans, how he’s treated local reporters, how smug he’s come across in failed proposals such as the Rock Hill facility, or how he threw his Zima on a Jacksonville Jaguars fan. Those aren’t shining moments and I genuinely hope he understands that causing distractions and bringing that kind of heat to an already wandering franchise, isn’t going to help anything at all.

But I think fan perception and that of a potential coaching candidate are entirely different. If I were in the job market and one of my dream jobs - which that’s what an NFL head coaching job is, it’s one of 32 dream football coaching jobs - became available and it included a significant pay rise, the opportunity to work with a highly coveted young player, and for a boss that deeply wanted to reach the peak of success? I don’t know y’all… doesn’t sound that awful to me.