Panthers fire Frank Reich and assistant Duce Staley after the team’s 1-10 start

The Carolina Panthers have moved on from head coach Frank Reich after just 11 games, as Panthers owner David Tepper fired Reich and several members of his staff on Monday amid the team’s 1-10 start.

Special teams coordinator Chris Tabor will take over as head coach on an interim basis.

“I met with Coach Reich this morning and informed him that he will not continue as head coach of the Carolina Panthers,” Tepper said in a statement. “I want to thank Frank for his dedication and service, and we wish him well.”

Combined with his firing from Indianapolis last November, Reich, 61, has been axed twice in just over a year. He is the first head coach since the 1970 NFL/AFL merger to be dismissed in back-to-back seasons.

Former Eagles assistant Duce Staley (running backs coach) and Josh McCown (quarterbacks coach) were also let go as part of the overhaul. Staley is the franchise’s fifth-leading all-time rusher with 4,807 yards and later served as an assistant coach with the Eagles from 2011 to 2020. McCown played the 2019 season for the Birds.

The news comes a day after Tepper reportedly yelled an expletive while leaving the locker room following the Panthers’ 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

It continues a rapid fall from grace for Reich, the former Eagles offensive coordinator, who won a Super Bowl with the Birds in the 2017 season. That year, the Eagles offense ranked seventh in the NFL in total offense.

After trading up to draft quarterback Bryce Young with the No. 1 overall pick, Reich’s Panthers have failed to be competitive this season. They are an NFL-worst 1-10 overall, including 0-6 on the road, and have a minus-119 point differential, second-worst in the league.

The Panthers signed Reich to a four-year contract in January, citing his offensive background and reputation working with quarterbacks like Carson Wentz, Nick Foles, and Philip Rivers. Carolina ranks 30th in the NFL in both total offense and passing offense this season.

Last season, Reich was fired after a 3-5-1 start with the Colts. After beginning his head coaching career in 2018 with two playoff appearances in three years, Reich has amassed a 13-23-1 record over the last three seasons. Reich is now 41-43-1 (.448) across six NFL seasons as a head coach.

Reich is the third coach, along with Ron Rivera and former Temple coach Matt Rhule, to be fired by Tepper since he bought the Panthers in 2018. Tepper, is the founder and president of Appaloosa Management, a global hedge fund, and also owns Major League Soccer club Charlotte FC.

Could Reich, who Nick Sirianni has credited as one of his biggest mentors, land with the Eagles in an advisory role?

“It’s obviously very early, obviously, with everything that’s going on, so I haven’t even really thought about that quite yet,” Sirianni said Monday.

“As far as bringing in someone in the middle of the year, what goes in to that a lot of times is familiarity with the person … the relationship with the coach,” Sirianni said. “But I’m not there yet, obviously. We just finished up our evaluation of our game and just starting in on San Francisco.”

The Houston Texans claimed defensive end Derek Barnett, whom the Eagles released Friday, off the waiver wire.

Barnett, the 14th pick in the first round of the 2017 draft, had missed the Eagles’ games against the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs before his release.

According to Pro Football Focus, Barnett played 55 pass-rush snaps this season with no sacks and no pressures and only three tackles. He had just seven snaps during his final game against the Washington Commanders on Oct. 29.

The Texans waived kicker Matt Ammendola.