Frank Reich is wasting no time building his staff as the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers.
He is tapping a former cohort who he had plenty of success with in Philadelphia.
That is former Eagles running back turned running back coach Duce Staley.
Reich plucks Staley from the Detroit Lions and brings him close to home; Staley is originally from South Carolina.
Duce Staley is leaving his role as the #Lions Assistant HC/RBs coach to join Frank Reich in CAR.
Staley was born, raised, and went to college in South Carolina.
In the NFL, he won a Super Bowl playing for the #Steelers and another one coaching for the #Eagles. pic.twitter.com/bfghBNRh2H— The Riot Report (@RRiotReport) February 1, 2023
Reich was the offensive coordinator and Staley the running backs coach during the 2017 season when the Eagles last won the Super Bowl.
Staley also served as assistant head coach for both the Eagles (from 2018-2020) and the Lions (from 2021 to 2022).
Can Reich and Staley Give The Panthers a Quick Fix?
The Panthers finished 7-10 which ended up being good enough for a second-place finish in the disappointing NFC South.
Many are not excited about the selection of Reich as they felt that interim coach Steve Wilks did a decent job as the interim coach after Matt Rhule was fired.
Apparently, the Panthers did not think it was good enough to give Wilks another chance in 2023.
Now the Panthers fanbase will be looking to Reich to fix the Panthers something he could not do with the 2022 Indianapolis Colts as their head coach which cost him his job.
Without McCaffrey, The Panthers Have No Star RB
The other issue for the Panthers is that their best player left the building via trade during the 2022 season.
Christian McCaffrey is now with the San Francisco 49ers so the Panthers need to use the draft picks gained in that trade to get some new talent in various positions including at running back.
The 49ers gave up four picks in the trade, second-, third- and fourth-round picks in 2023, and a fifth-round pick in 2024 to the Panthers.
There are question marks at quarterback as well with Sam Darnold and P.J. Walker now free agents.
Rookie Matt Corral suffered a foot injury in the preseason that sent him to injured reserve, missing the entire 2022 season.
Reich, Staley, and the rest of the staff have a lot of work to do to get the Panthers on a winning path, but if they do, fans will immediately forget their initial reticence to the Reich hiring.
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