Ex-Carolina Panthers coach Frank Reich to take Stanford interim job
It turns out that Frank Reich isn’t done yet.
The former Panthers coach, who was fired before his first season in Carolina was completed in 2023, is being hired as the Stanford football program’s interim head coach for the 2025 season, media reports say. ESPN’s Pete Thamel was the first to break the news.
The report says that both sides have agreed this will be a one-season agreement, and that Stanford will thereafter will launch a national search for its next guy in charge.
While Reich didn’t play for Stanford, he has one strong tie to the program in particular: Andrew Luck. Luck is the newly hired Stanford football program’s general manager — and the Stanford alum spent his NFL quarterbacking career with the Indianapolis Colts, where Reich coached in 2018.
Reich’s most recent coaching outing didn’t go well in Charlotte. The veteran coach, now 63, lost 10 of his first 11 games in Carolina before being fired by owner David Tepper. At the time of his dismissal, he told The Charlotte Observer that there was “a heart-pounding disappointment in not hitting the marks that we needed to hit to keep this going.”
When asked about the possibility of retirement, Reich wasn’t ready to say that he was finished with coaching. But he did add: “This is probably the final chapter of my NFL journey.”
Nov 26, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich looks on from the sideline during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 26, 2023; Nashville, Tennessee, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich looks on from the sideline during the second half against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports Christopher Hanewinckel Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
Reich’s hire at Carolina was a momentous one. The NFL lifer was in many ways the opposite of Tepper’s first hire as head coach: college football star Matt Rhule. Reich arrived with instant credibility with the fan base — he was the franchise’s first starting quarterback back in 1995 — and he also assembled one of the most tenured staffs in the league. He was also part of the administration who traded up to take the No. 1 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, which was subsequently spent on quarterback Bryce Young.
A struggling offense and a 1-10 start led to his early exit, however.
Reich is 41-43-1 in the NFL ranks as a head coach and was the offensive coordinator during the Philadelphia Eagles’ 2017 Super Bowl-winning season.
