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Frank Reich’s had plenty of moments to reflect over the past six months on just where this tornado of a year has dropped him. One came a little over a week ago on his family text string, from one of his three daughters. It was a message sent to everyone in the group.
Reich played in Charlotte. He and his wife settled in Charlotte. His daughters spent their formative years in Charlotte, and, as adults, found their way back to the Carolinas. So, no, how all of this has played out—with Reich back as Panthers head coach, after one of the most difficult seasons of his professional career—is not lost on the 61-year-old. And, yes, he knows, as the Panthers start in Spartanburg, S.C., on Wednesday, more memories will rattle free.
He also knows what becomes of those, when he smells the fresh-cut grass, feels the stifling South Carolina humidity and looks over to see his former head coach now serving as a senior assistant on his staff, is up to him.
“Yes, but I’m keeping that to myself and to Dom Capers,” he affirmed Friday, after checking into his quarters at Wofford College, the place he camped at as a player. “Because nobody else cares. And I really … O.K., it’s surreal. But I’m not a highly sentimental guy. I want to be loyal and all those things, but I’m not highly sentimental. I’m driven to keep getting better. So what I experienced and did in the past, I really don’t spend too much time on that.
“I’m more interested in what’s about to happen. So I’m sure Dom Capers and I will be standing out there the first time on the field in a couple days, and we’ll look at each other and say, And we’ll have that moment and it’ll be five or 10 seconds and then it’s over.”
Now, don’t get the message twisted. Reich’s gratitude for being where he is, and where he’ll be this week, was apparent and overflowing in the hour over which he and I spoke the other night—and you’ll see that in his own words.
But he’s also got a big job in front of him with the Panthers, a team that now has the fourth-longest playoff drought (five years) in the NFL. It’s a job he plans on doing better than he did over the last five years in Indianapolis, because even at 61, Reich’s still learning, and growing, and his fire for that job is still burning bright. And he wouldn’t want anyone to think his motivation now lies in some sort of sentimentality rather than there.
Still, he’ll acknowledge the obvious. It pretty cool that this is where he gets to do it.
