CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Stanford interim head football coach Frank Reich was walking to dinner in downtown Charlotte with four of his Cardinal players on Monday night when he heard a familiar voice from a passing car.
“Coach Reich, coach Reich!” the voice said.
Soon the car stopped and pulled over and Carolina Panthers quarterback Bryce Young popped his head out the window to say hello and catch up with the coach who drafted him No. 1 overall in the 2023.
Reich, viewed as a developer of quarterbacks, had been entrusted with Young’s growth under center but the relationship was cut short early when Panthers owner David Tepper fired Reich just 11 games into his first season after a 1-10 start to the 2023 season.
Young struggled under Reich’s tutelage, something that carried over to 2024 when the former Heisman Trophy winner was benched two games into the season by new coach Dave Canales. Young would remain on the bench until veteran Andy Dalton sprained his thumb in a car accident in late October, allowing him to reclaim the starting job.
Young made the most of his second chance.
He finished the season with a flurry, completing 65% of his passes for 612 yards with seven touchdowns and no interceptions in his final three starts. Young accounted for five TDs — three passing and two rushing — in the Panthers’ season-ending 44-38 overtime win against Atlanta, giving the franchise hope that he had finally turned the corner.
“I’m happy for Bryce,” Reich said Tuesday at ACC media days of Young’s resurgence. “We all know he was a good player.”
Reich said the way things started in the NFL for Young was “terrible.”
“It was terrible for him; it was terrible for all of us who were a part of it,” Reich said. “There were so many things to unwind there before it could get going in the right direction and that just takes time. Sometimes you are given time as a head coach and sometimes you’re not.”
When asked what he meant by “things to unwind,” Reich declined to elaborate, indicating he was only making a general statement.
Reich said he has no regrets about his decision to start Young as a rookie in Week 1.
“To me I still hold the philosophy that if you’re the first pick in the NFL draft, you’re starting,” Reich said. “To me that is a universal football principle. You’re drafted number one, you’re starting week one. Now if the rest of the roster isn’t ready to support you, that’s a different question. And sometimes it just takes a younger guy time to develop.”
Young will open his third NFL season as Carolina unquestioned starting quarterback when the Panthers begin training camp on Wednesday in Charlotte.
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