Tampa Bay Buccaneers to Face Interim Coach vs. Panthers After Frank Reich Firing
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are set to square off with divisional foe the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, but the latter will be without a true head coach as the Panthers decided to let go of Frank Reich Monday morning.
The decision to fire Reich comes on the heels of their most recent loss to the Tennessee Titans, bringing Reich's record as the Panthers' HC to 1-10.
The Panthers' brass have also decided to name Special Teams Coordinator Chris Tabor as the interim head coach with Jim Caldwell being moved to special advisor to the Offensive Coordinator Thomas Brown, who will now be calling the plays for Carolina.
The move marks the second time in as many seasons that the Panthers have fired their head coach mid-season. Last year, HC Matt Rhule was fired just five games into the season before Carolina turned to Steve Wilks as their interim HC. Wilks went on to finish the season 6-6 as interim before deciding on Reich to lead the team heading into 2023.
One of Wilks' six wins in 2022 came against the Buccaneers in Week 7 which saw the offense struggle only mustering three total points in a 21-3 road loss. Things are different this time around however as the Bucs will get Carolina at home and who knows what the locker room in Carolina is feeling like following the parting of ways with Reich.
The move to fire Reich is probably a good precursor to the development of former number-one overall pick Bryce Young. He has shown glimpses of what he can be, but Reich and his staff were not able to get the most out of the young quarterback. Moving forward, the Panthers will need to go all-in in making sure their next hire at HC is what fits best with their plans with Young.
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