When a new head coach comes in, it is customary for them to get a little leeway. Generally, they are taking over a bad team and most owners don’t expect a whole lot right away. Well, it is safe to say that David Tepper isn’t like most owners.
Tepper has now owned the Carolina Panthers since 2018. And in that short amount of time, they have had seven — count ‘em seven — head coaches. One of the first major moves Tepper made was firing Ron Rivera, the all-time-winningest HC in team history.
Rivera coached 140 games for the Panthers and the
subsequent six coaches have now coached a combined 72 games. Both Matt Rhule
and Frank Reich were brought in with a lot of fanfare and both were canned
mid-season. Reich couldn’t even make it to the end of his first year.
So now it’s Dave Canales’ turn at the helm of perhaps the most dysfunctional NFL team south of DC — and it is safe to say that the first game of the 2024 season probably didn’t instill Tepper with much confidence in his coach. While there were no reports of Tepper throwing water on fans or berating owners of local coffee shops, he couldn’t have been happy with his team’s 47-10 drubbing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints.
He also can’t be thrilled with quarterback Bryce Young, who he pushed to draft in 2023. It was like last year all over again for
Young, who was just 13-of-30 for 161 yards and also had a pair of
interceptions.
Based on 2023 winning percentage, the Panthers have the third-easiest slate in the entire NFL and several of their next opponents already have shaky QB situations or will be starting rookie signal callers. If they don’t get it together quickly, there is a good chance that Canales — like so many before him — will end up on the trash heap and the whole coaching cycle will have to begin again.
