The Tuesday press conference involving Panthers owner David Tepper included a specific question regarding whether former head coach Frank Reich wanted to take C.J. Stroud with the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, and whether Tepper tipped the scales in favor of Bryce Young.
Tepper began his response by shedding light generally on the way the team goes about making decisions.
“Just the way our processes go here, I’ll just answer this really plain,” Tepper said. “In all those decisions, whether it was [hiring] the head coach, whether it was [drafting] Bryce, I don’t really vote on those decisions until the last piece, OK? So those decisions are made by . . . the football people.
“Now, look, everything that’s right and everything that’s wrong here ultimately is my fault, OK? I have the final say. But as far as those decisions, whether it’s Frank Reich or it’s Bryce Young, those decisions were made, and in the case of Bryce it was almost — I believe it was a unanimous decision, and the coaches and the scouts had very strong opinions at the time.”
Tepper eventually provided a more specific response as to the selection of Young over Stroud, who has become a real candidate not only for offensive rookie of the year but also for league MVP.
“In answer to your questions, it’s just not the way the process was done,” Tepper said. “The process was done the way the process was done. And again, even though if there was a process with five people in the room and the way the votes came in it was Frank was the first choice [as head coach], I always could veto that choice. And even if was Bryce [as the first overall pick] and the votes came in unanimously in this particular case, I could have vetoed that choice.
“In both cases, I supported both choices, OK? I’m just gonna say that I supported both choices. I supported the coaches, I supported the scouts, their unanimous opinion, and I supported Frank Reich. So whatever’s good, bad, or indifferent, is ultimately because the buck stops here, and I take full responsibility for everything. But that’s the way the process runs.”
The most telling aspect of the response is Tepper’s claim that the preference for Bryce Young over C.J. Stroud was “unanimous” among all coaches and all scouts. How can it be that every single person legitimately and genuinely preferred Young to Stroud — especially when there’s a very real belief in certain football circles that Young falls below the NFL’s “you must be this tall to play quarterbacK” sign? How did not one person who thinks that work for the Panthers?
A question like that, which should at least have a minority viewpoint when more than two or three people are involved, becomes unanimous when those who would be inclined to pick Stroud realize it’s a losing argument. That to get along is to go along.
It’s like a jury, with Tepper being not just the foreperson but also the dictator. What he says goes. This is going to be the verdict, no matter what.
Tepper said he doesn’t vote until the end. He also said he reserves the right to veto any decision, even if he’s going against unanimity of opinion below him. That, frankly, says all we need to know about how things truly work in Carolina.
Tepper is essentially the General Manager. What he ultimately says goes, so the challenge for the coaches and front-office staff is to glean from his words and actions which way the wind is blowing, in order to avoid a situation in which everyone goes one way — and Tepper goes the other.
It goes back to the example provided in Playmakers of how owners meddle without directly meddling. They don’t issue a mandate. They simply say what they like, and/or what they don’t.
If the bowl of candy in the reception area has Twix in it and the owner has never had a Twix and the owner tries a Twix and says aloud and to no one in particular, “This is the best candy I have ever eaten. and I prefer it above all other candies,” there soon will be Twix falling out of every cabinet, drawer, and closet. Even if the owner never tells anyone to do it.
Tepper takes it a step farther. He ADMITS that he reserves the right to directly meddle. He can veto any decision made by the football staff. So the challenge for the football staff will always be to figure out what Tepper wants, in order to avoid a situation in which they make a recommendation that he rejects.
If, after all, the people who work for Tepper are making suggestions he’ll reject, he’ll eventually ask why he’s employing people who don’t see things the way he does.
That’s why it was unanimous, in my opinion. They all knew who Tepper wanted. They all knew what their vote should be before it was time to cast a ballot and give them to a guy who reserves the right to count them up — and then throw them all away, if he chooses.
