Making the case for Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich in 2024

Making the case for Carolina Panthers HC Frank Reich in 2024

The first point I want to make in favor of Frank Reich is a concept called fear of the unknown.

Why would I bring this up? I think a huge reason why Reich was hired to succeed Matt Rhule as Carolina Panthers head coach is because of the huge error of hiring the former Baylor man in the first place.

Rhule was brought in from the college ranks and was a first-time NFL head coach. Making the jump from college to the pros isn't always successful and this proved to be the case in this instance.

But Rhule had a track record of bringing multiple schools back into relevancy. There was solid reason to believe that he could have done the same thing for Carolina.

Rhule accumulated an 11-27 record as the team's head coach from 2020-2022. It was a bad tenure, objectively speaking.

The organization seemed to have switched gears during their next head coaching search. They did interview other would-be first-time candidates, but ultimately decided on Reich despite the fact he was fired by the Indianapolis Colts.

Reich has been an established mind in the NFL for years. I think the Panthers figured they didn't want to get sucked in by a first-time head coach again.

That's where I think the fear of the unknown comes into it.

There's a lot more unknown with a first-time head coach as opposed to someone who has served in the NFL before. I think that was a driving factor for the Reich hire.

Plus, Reich has been through tough patches as a head coach before with the Colts. Even though it looks bleak, it's not uncharted territory.