Carolina Panthers Interviewing Frank Reich For Head Coach

The Carolina Panthers are interviewing former Indianapolis Colts head coach Frank Reich for their head coaching vacancy Wednesday.

The #Panthers are interviewing former #Colts HC Frank Reich for their vacant head coaching job today, source said. He spent a year as a player in Carolina and has ties to the area.

— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 11, 2023

Reich was fired by the Colts this season after a 3-5-1 start. He was replaced by former Colt Jeff Saturday. Indy proceeded to go just 1-7 the rest of the way under Saturday. Reich spent parts of five seasons as head coach of the Colts, posting a 40-33-1 regular-season record and a 1-2 playoff mark across two postseason appearances.

After a 1-4 start, the Panthers fired Matt Rhule. He went just 11-27 in parts of three seasons as head coach. Interim head coach Steve Wilks enjoyed far more success with a 6-6 record after taking over. Wilks figures to be in the mix for the full-time job, however, Reich could be a viable candidate as well due to his NFL success and ties to the Panthers organization.

Before becoming the Colts’ head coach, Reich was the offensive coordinator for the then-San Diego Chargers and Philadelphia Eagles. He won Super Bowl LII as the Eagles’ OC. He helped guide quarterback Carson Wentz to an MVP-caliber season and backup Nick Foles to immense playoff success after Wentz got injured.

Reich didn’t get the same level of play out of his quarterbacks in Indianapolis. He was dealt an unfortunate hand, however, when Andrew Luck retired after just one season under him. He also only had potential future Hall of Famer Philip Rivers for one season before he retired. However, they tried the same thing with Matt Ryan and it’s looking like the same result might come to fruition.

Reich would be in a similar quarterback situation in Carolina if he is hired. The only signal-caller under contract for next season is 2022 third-round pick Matt Corral. He suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury during the preseason.

Carolina owns the No. 9 pick in the 2023 draft.  They could be in the mix for one of the top available quarterbacks such as Alabama’s Bryce Young, Ohio State’s C.J. Stroud or Kentucky’s Will Levis.

Many question marks surround the Panthers offense. Reich did spend one season as a Panthers quarterback in 1995 and lived in Charlotte for a time, so it may still be an attractive job to him.