Lea: Tepper growing up as an NFL owner
Posted January 31, 2023 10:54 p.m. EST
Updated February 1, 2023 7:57 a.m. EST
Three years and three weeks after holding and introductory press conference for the first head coach he'd hire, Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper introduced Frank Reich as the team's next head coach.
Reich checked all the boxes.
NFL coaching experience. Check.
Offensive-minded. Check.
An understanding of how to build an NFL roster. Check.
Tepper said he was looking for those qualities in the last hiring cycle, yet he landed on Matt Rhule who was a college coach and who didn't specialize on either side of the ball - just a CEO-type. Tepper admitted after Reich's introduction his process in hiring Reich was better than when he hired Rhule.
Many Panthers fans are disappointed in the team for not removing the interim tag and hiring Steve Wilks as a full time head coach. Some personal friends of mine have even gone as far as to renounce their fandom of the team, saying things like, 'Tepper doesn't know what he's doing.'
We haven't seen what the Carolina Panthers under Reich looks like against actual NFL competition yet. However, the time Tepper took in making the hire (roughly two-and-a-half weeks) and openly admitting that he made a mistake that he's learned from, show's 'Tep' is maturing as an owner.
For starters, he took his time this year. Matt Rhule was introduced on January 8th, 2020. Reich was introduced on January 31st, 2023, about two weeks later than Rhule's introduction if you include the extra week added onto the NFL's schedule in the 2021 season. He also admitted that he personally attended every single interview this time around, leading one to believe that Tepper didn't personally vet every candidate interviewed in that cycle. The hiring process seemed to be a collaborative effort between himself, his wife Nicole Tepper and General Manager Scott Fitterer.
Tepper also didn't get caught up in a bidding war that could cost him in the end... like last time. The New York Giants all but had Rhule signed when Tepper flexed his big wallet to offer him a 7-year, $62 million contract to lure him to the south. The Panthers reportedly interviewed Sean Payton this year, who would've come with a hefty price tag and a concession of a high draft pick to their NFC South rivals, the New Orleans Saints, who still had Payton under contract.
The hiring outcome may not have been what a large contingent of Panthers fans wanted, but the process improved. That doesn't promise winning, playoff appearances or prime time games in Charlotte, but it does show that Tepper is getting better at being an owner of an NFL franchise.
