Anonymous offensive coach comments on Panthers firing Frank Reich

An unnamed NFL offensive coach "with a long history in the league" opened up about Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper firing head coach Frank Reich after Reich spent less than a season working with rookie quarterback Bryce Young.

"One thing these owners who fire people quickly don’t understand is what it takes to build a team, particularly a team with a rookie quarterback," the coach told NBC Sports' Peter King. "The quarterback comes in his first year after the draft, and it’s a short offseason, and if he’s going to start right away, it’s an accelerated process. So you go through that first year, and you’re looking forward to correcting all his mistakes and continuing to build him up in a full offseason in year two. So you fire his head coach who I’m sure was pretty hands-on and his quarterback coach in the middle of his first year, and he works with other people for the rest of that year, and then everybody gets fired, and then there’s a third group that comes in to coach the young quarterback."

It was unsurprisingly reported before Carolina fell to 1-11 on the season via Sunday's 21-18 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that the success Houston Texans rookie C.J. Stroud has enjoyed "100 percent" played a role in Reich’s dismissal. According to ESPN stats, Young began Monday ranked 28th among qualified players with a 31.3 adjusted QBR on the season. Stroud, the runaway betting favorite to earn Offensive Rookie of the Year honors, was 11th with a 59.5 adjusted QBR.

"I mean, maybe they’ll keep the coaches who stayed after Reich, but I doubt it," the unnamed coach told King. "So the young quarterback getting coached by three different sets of people in his first 12 months as your franchise quarterback. How is that healthy?" 

It's believed that Tepper could choose Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as a long-term replacement for Reich this winter. For now, interim head coach Chris Tabor will guide the Panthers into Sunday's game at the 5-7 New Orleans Saints. 

As of Monday afternoon, oddschecker listed the Panthers as 5.5-point underdogs against the Saints.