Panthers owner David Tepper addresses Frank Reich firing, Bryce Young pick and more

It was like déjà vu.

Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper stood at the same lectern within the bowels of Bank of America Stadium as he did a little over 13 months prior after firing former head coach Matt Rhule in October of last year, and in a way admitted defeat, again.

This time, Tepper faced the music on his decision to hire Frank Reich as Rhule’s successor in January. He also had to answer for the follow-through of firing the former Panthers QB after just 11 regular-season games.

“There’s a lot that goes into what the success on the field is every week,” Tepper said Tuesday. “One is roster, scheme, how you practice — a lot of things. And obviously, we can be better in all phases of that, because the product on the field is just not good enough right now. It just isn’t. And so we have to make every one of those phases better. And whatever it takes to get better, we’re going to try to do.”

Tepper entrusted his football team and its future — largely gambled with the March blockbuster trade up to the No. 1 overall pick for QB Bryce Young — in Reich’s hands. But the head coach’s grip on what has become a turnstile gig since Tepper bought the team in 2018 quickly loosened as the Panthers slumped to an embarrassing, league-worst start at 1-10.

Tepper said he respected Reich and said all of his former coaches — including Rhule and Ron Rivera — contributed to the organization. Tepper said if he had his way, he would have a coach in Carolina for two decades.

“That patience comes with good performance and things that you want to see, progress being made in different aspects,” Tepper said. “And as I said, I would like to have somebody here for 20, 30 years. I’d like to have somebody that would say the eulogy at my funeral in 30 years — okay, maybe it’s 40 years (smiles), I hope. That’s what I’d like to have.”

Tepper said his 30-63 overall record as owner wasn’t good enough and that the buck stopped with him on all decisions. But he passed on saying whether or not he would change his hands-on approach.

The Panthers’ 2023 failures weren’t limited to Reich. Running backs/assistant head coach Duce Staley and quarterbacks coach Josh McCown were also fired Monday in the wake of Reich’s departure. But Tepper put the onus for those moves on new interim head coach Chris Tabor and special advisor Jim Caldwell.

Tepper, who had one of six reserved seats filled in the front row, was initially cut off around 11 minutes, but extended the session to answer a question about the Young pick and his involvement with the selection.

“Now it’s been reported, and we’ve talked about it: Originally we were going to go with the No. 2 pick,” Tepper said. “And we thought we’d get (current Houston Texans QB CJ Stroud) because we thought the Texans were going to pick Bryce. And listen, we preferred Bryce. He was our No. 1 pick. We had a lot of conviction. . . . The process was done the way the process was done. And again, even though the process had five people in the room, and the way the votes came in, Frank was going to be our first choice, I could always veto that choice. Even if it was Bryce, and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could’ve vetoed that choice.

“In both cases, I supported both choices. OK? I’m just going to say that I supported both choices. I supported coaches, I supported scouts. They had a unanimous opinion. And I supported Frank Reich. So whatever is good, bad or indifferent, it’s ultimately because the buck stops here, and I take full responsibility for everything. But that’s how the process runs.

“And just one last thing, and we’re going to go here: As far as Bryce Young is concerned, and I can only say this for myself, but I think everybody in this building will share this sentiment: We are totally confident in that pick. I think the people who made that pick first would be totally confident in that. Some of them you could ask. And for me, I’m totally confident and in agreement with that pick.”

When asked about general manager Scott Fitterer’s future as he left the room, Tepper refused to answer the question after a 14-minute press conference.