What Scott Fitterer & Frank Reich Said About Bryce Young

The Panthers head coach and general manager met with the media shortly after the first pick was announced.

When they first targeted Bryce Young (Fitterer)

"Really a couple of years ago when our area scouts went through. They really liked him them. And then just the last couple of years, the study of him was something that they really felt strongly about. When we met in February, there was just an overwhelming conviction for him during our draft meetings. Through the process, he checked every box that we had. Every time we met with him we felt more and more convicted. And we liked all the guys. But Bryce was a guy that we really felt strongly about."

The conversation on Monday that led to the decision (Fitterer)

"It was quick. It was pretty obvious. But I went in, just asked him and it was really just a five-second conversation and then we moved on to okay, what's the plan next? What do we do next?

Being convinced Young is the pick despite the size (Reich)

"It wasn't like I took my convincing, I'm just always committed to the process. Listen, Scott couldn't have handled this any better. And like he said, it was very clear. I got hired and then a couple weeks later, we were in draft meetings and I sat in this meeting that Scott's running and they're talking about all the quarterbacks. We're watching film and basically, Scott proposes a question at the end of that meeting like, 'Hey, so if we trade up, where's our conviction?' And it was unanimous with everyone in that room, starting from Scott on down that Bryce was the guy. And that was great for me to hear. But what I appreciate about the way Scott handled it, it was like, 'Hey, Frank, you take your time. You hear how we feel.' But it wasn't much convincing. You just watch the tape. There's a lot said about the size. At the end of the day, there's a lot of factors that go into it. But we're coaches, scouts - we watch the tape. And when you watch the tape, Bryce Young is the best player."

What the offense looks like under Bryce Young (Reich)

"We've been talking about that really for a couple of weeks as a coaching staff. We're going back and watching his tape and not just from an evaluation standpoint but see what concepts he was really good at in college that are already in our offense. And then see the kind of plays that he makes, how he throws the ball when he's throwing certain routes, what style of concepts. That'll be really what we do between now and training camp."

How much is winning background played into the decision (Reich)

"It mattered a lot. And that's one of the things Scott really was clear on from the start. This guy's a winner. He's been the best player on the best team against the best competition from the time he was eight years old. Yeah, it meant a lot."

If Bryce comes in as QB1

"Scott and I have talked about this and right now, he'll come in and he'll have to earn it. Obviously, that's the way it should be. That'll be a decision that Scott and I will continue to look at. He's got enough going on right now, I just want him to come in and learn the offense and not have to worry about stepping in the limelight. Just come in, learn the offense. And when we step out on the field for the first time, he'll be in that number two spot and then we'll just progress from there."

One moment that really stood out about Bryce

"I think during that dinner that we had, we had asked him a question and he just went on for about ten minutes. It's not just answering the question. It was the level of detail in that and just how precise. It wasn't something that he was kind of making up as he went. You could tell he actually did this and it was a part of his process."

What the question at dinner was (Fitterer)

"I think it was something about what is your practice habits during the week. And I think he started like on Sunday and he went on and on. He got to about Tuesday, it was like ten minutes in."

Reich expands on the dinner conversation

"At one point Scott and I and Mr. Tepper kind of made eye contact like this is crazy. But in particular, he got into how he was studying the film and some of the things he said about that...I looked at Mr. Tepper, he looked at Scott, and it was like this is next-level stuff."

Feedback from Nick Saban (Fitterer)

"It was just conviction on him. I mean, he couldn't say a bad thing and we challenged him. He was just so positive about him and his process. You could tell he really believes in him. That was a great meeting and we appreciate his time because that really helped in this process."

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