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David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich admits his weekly conversations with owner David Tepper haven’t been “fun” during an 0-5 start.
But Reich refuses to call this a rebuilding season despite having a rookie quarterback in Bryce Young, a rebuilt roster and a new coaching staff.
“Listen, obviously he’s a very accomplished individual,” Reich said Monday of Tepper, the NFL’s second-richest owner, with a net worth of $20.6 billion according to Forbes. “He’s built his own empire. He knows how he did that. I don’t have his bank of experience to draw from. I have my own.
“But do I think he has the right mentality of the win now, but also this is going to be a longer-term thing as well? He wants both. That’s what we all want. We want to build a winner now and we want something that can be sustained.”
At no point would Reich call 2023 a rebuild with the Panthers seemingly on their way to a sixth straight losing season.
“I’m not calling it a rebuild,” Reich said. “Actually, let me say it this way. I think everything is always building. So I’m really comfortable with that. I think players understand that. We understand that as coaches.
“You just want to see some fruit of your labor a little bit earlier than we’re seeing it right now. I’m confident we’re doing it the right way with the right people.”
Reich said Tepper seems to understand that, as well.
“He’s got a lot of money,” Reich said. “So, we could throw a lot of money at this guy, that guy and then it ends up blowing up in your face. We’re trying to build it on good principal, build through the draft, re-sign your players when you can … obviously he has a great perspective on that.”
Reich, who was fired last season by the Indianapolis Colts after a 3-5-1 start to his fifth season, said he and Tepper meet weekly on Monday or Tuesday to discuss the direction of the organization.
“Listen, it’s only been a short experience, but it’s been a really good experience,” said Reich, who was a part of an 0-5 start at Carolina in 1995 as the team’s first-ever starting quarterback. “It hasn’t been fun. Those meetings, I wouldn’t characterize them as fun meetings. But those meetings make me better and I trust they make us better.”
Reich believes the Panthers will be better. He took a lot of positives from the play of Young, the top pick of the draft, and his offense from Sunday’s 42-24 loss to the Detroit Lions at Ford Field.
He called Young’s first interception a “fluke play” and blamed the second on the receiver for running a poor route that drew the cornerback into play.
Young finished with three touchdown passes after leading Carolina to only two touchdowns in his first three starts.
What upset Reich the most on Sunday were six pre-snap penalties.
“That has to stop,” he said.
Reich understands at some point the losses have to stop, although this week may be a tall order. Carolina opened as a 14-point underdog to the Miami Dolphins (4-1) for Sunday’s game in South Florida.
A loss would send Carolina to 0-6 — one shy of the team’s worst-ever start of 0-7 in 1998 — before Reich’s next meeting with Tepper heading into a bye weekend.
“I appreciate those conversations,” Reich said. “They’re always very challenging. He’s a super competitive person, and he’s not going to sit idly by.”
