NEW YORK (WBTV) – A former Carolina Panthers head coach took another NFL job on Wednesday.
The New York Jets announced on Feb. 4 that they hired Frank Reich as their new offensive coordinator.
Reich was the Panthers’ coach in 2023 — Bryce Young’s rookie year — but didn’t survive the whole season before he was fired. Reich posted a 1-10 record in 11 games as Carolina’s head coach. The Panthers scored only 15.7 points per game during Reich’s tenure.
Before he was Carolina’s coach, he was a Panthers quarterback. He played in three games for Carolina during the franchise’s inaugural 1995 season. He threw for 441 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
Now in New York, Reich will join Jets head coach Aaron Glenn’s staff, which has new coordinators on both sides of the ball.
Another former Panthers coach in Steve Wilks was Glenn’s defensive coordinator in 2025 but was fired midseason and has since been replaced. Meanwhile Reich will take over for Tanner Engstrand, who was the Jets’ offensive coordinator this past season.
“Frank has a rare combination of experience, creativity, and calm under pressure,” Glenn told the Jets’ website. “He’s lived this game from every angle — as a quarterback in this league and as a coach who’s led offenses at the highest level.”
Once credited for his work with quarterbacks Philip Rivers, Carson Wentz and Andrew Luck, Reich spent the 2025 season as the interim head coach at Stanford University. He took the year off in 2024.
Reich, Glenn and the Jets hold the second and 16th picks in the 2026 NFL draft, and could choose a quarterback with one of them.
Veterans Justin Fields and Tyrod Taylor proved to not be the answer at quarterback in 2025, making change at the position likely. That could give Reich another chance to work the quarterback magic that once made him an NFL head coach.
The Panthers and Jets will not play each other in the 2026 regular season.
Former Panthers coach Frank Reich was hired as the Jets’ new offensive coordinator.(Wade Payne | AP)
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