On Wednesday, TheAthletic.com published a report providing examples of some of the dysfunction existing within the Panthers organization. Among other things, the report said that unnamed sources described a “Hunger Games” culture within the building.
“Coaches said they believed other staff members were text messaging [owner David] Tepper behind [former coach Frank] Reich’s back about issues they saw with the team,” the article explains. “In one instance, general manager Scott Fitterer and an offensive coach went to Tepper with a coaching suggestion for the quarterback.”
Interim coach Chris Tabor was asked about the report on Wednesday. His response was predictable.
“It’s been fine,” Tabor told reporters. “I haven’t had a problem.”
Of course he hasn’t had a problem. He has had the opposite of a problem. He’s the interim head coach of an NFL team.
The item in TheAthletic.com plows some new ground regarding the Carolina situation. Per the report, owner David Tepper had instructed Reich to fix quarterback Bryce Young’s footwork. In firing Reich, Tepper concluded that “the organization wasn’t helping its quarterback, but ruining him.”
The report also points out that Tepper “encouraged Reich to go outside of his ‘circle’ with some of the hires.” The thing about circles is that they give the coach a group of people he can trust. Remove the inherent loyalty to the head coach, and weirdness like assistant coaches plotting and scheming and running to the G.M. or the owner can occur.
Frankly, it’s one of the reasons why coaches hire their children. They can be trusted much more than non-family members can be.
Whether he meant to do it or not, Tepper has created a potentially toxic workplace in which people can, and apparently do, undermine their bosses and ignore the chain of command.
The chain of command apparently was respected in at least one sense. Per the report, several assistant coaches wanted at one point to bench Young for Andy Dalton. Per the report, “those conversations never reached Reich, Fitterer or ownership.”
If they had, it wouldn’t have happened. Tepper is all in with Young. As proven by the firing of Reich, Young won’t be regarded as the problem; those around him will be.
There’s a key wrinkle that doesn’t come through in the report from TheAthletic.com — the perception/reality that the preference for Young over C.J. Stroud was far from “unanimous,” as Tepper has described it. In fact, that dynamic isn’t even mentioned in the article.
Surely, there were some who wanted Stroud. Surely, they’d now be saying under the guise of anonymity, “I told you so.” It would be very interesting to know how many of those Stroud-over-Young voices are still employed by the team — and how many will be in 2024.
