Frank Reich: Relinquishing play-calling duties was ‘100 percent my decision’

Last Monday, after his team’s fifth straight loss, Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich almost eerily alluded to the fact that owner David Tepper doesn’t “sit idly by.” But today, it was he (and only he) who was not idle.

Reich confirmed this afternoon, following his team’s sixth straight loss, that he’ll be handing over his play-calling duties to first-year offensive coordinator Thomas Brown. He was asked if he still would have made that decision if the Panthers weren’t entering their bye week without a win.

“I believe I would have. I really do,” he replied. “I go back to the interview process with Mr. Tepper, when he asked me what would be my intentions. We talked through all the different scenarios—depending on who the coordinators were, depending on who I eventually hired.

“So when I hired Thomas, I knew it was gonna probably happen fast. But I needed to get in-season. I needed to get in-season and see it all play out. I’d like to think this is the best decision no matter what our record is.”

Well, their record is 0-6—and their offense isn’t exactly playing out. The Panthers, who made a concerted effort to build an offensive identity this offseason, currently rank 23rd in total offense and 18th in scoring.

That concerted effort was led by Tepper—who, according to Reich, didn’t have a hand in the choice to give Brown the reins.

“We talked about this periodically as we’ve gone on, but this is 100 percent my decision. From start to finish,” Reich said. “But has he been involved? Yeah. I talk to him about all the things related to this team and how things play out in our weekly discussions. And as I said before, those are great discussions.”

And hey, maybe those discussions will also be a bit more fun from now on.