Frank Reich opens up about Bryce Young's rough start to career

Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young endured a rough start to his pro career that included the in-season firing of head coach Frank Reich when Young was a rookie and Young being benched last September after a pair of bad performances.

Now the interim head coach at Stanford University, Reich spoke with reporters on Tuesday about what went wrong for Young and Co. as the 2023 Panthers lost 10 of 11 games before team owner David Tepper showed Reich the door. 

"It was terrible for him. It was terrible for all of us who were a part of it," Reich said about Young's debut pro campaign, as shared by ESPN and The Associated Press. "There were so many things to unwind there before it could get going in the right direction, and that just takes time. Sometimes you are given time as a head coach and sometimes you're not."

According to Pro Football Reference, Young finished his rookie season ranked 29th in the NFL out of 32 qualified quarterbacks with a 33.4 adjusted QBR and last in the league with a 73.7 passer rating. After current Carolina head coach Dave Canales sat Young in favor of veteran Andy Dalton last September, some analysts ripped Reich for playing the first overall pick of the 2023 draft as a rookie.

"To me, I still hold the philosophy that if you're the first pick in the NFL draft, you're starting," Reich said about his handling of Young in the summer of 2023. "To me, that is a universal football principle. You're drafted No. 1, you're starting Week 1. Now, if the rest of the roster isn't ready to support you, that's a different question. And sometimes it just takes a younger guy time to develop."

Young returned to the Carolina starting lineup in Week 8 of last season after Dalton was sidelined with a sprained thumb he suffered in a car accident. Across his final 10 starts of the campaign, Young completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 2,104 yards with 15 touchdowns and six interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 223 yards and five scores over those contests. 

"I'm happy for Bryce," Reich added about how Young played throughout the second half of the 2024 season. "We all know he was a good player."

Some members of the NFL community seem to believe Canales may want to find a different starting quarterback as soon as next offseason. Young will look to prove his worth to the Panthers later this year, beginning with Carolina's Week 1 game at the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sept. 7.