Carolina Panthers Head Coach Relies on Faith in New Role
By Movieguide® Contributor
Frank Reich, the Carolina Panthers’ new head coach, uses his faith and seminary training as he takes on the role with the team.
Reich isn’t new to the Carolina Panthers, though. In 1995, he debuted as quarterback and threw the very first touchdown for the Panthers franchise.
Now he’s back in the Panthers organization and will make his regular season debut as head coach this Sunday.
Before his coaching career, Reich was involved in ministry. He graduated from the Charlotte campus of Reformed Theological Seminary. Then, he gained his Master of Divinity and served as campus president for three years.
Current Reformed Theological Seminary President Michael Krugar told ESPN that anytime Reich “spoke in chapel, the students really paid attention, and I don’t think it was just because he was a famous football player.”
“He had a way of connecting with his audience, and bringing the text of the Bible alive to those he was speaking to,” Krugar added.
RTS professor Rod Culbertson also told ESPN, “What I watched in those early meetings was that he already was a coach. He realized he didn’t know everything about everybody’s job, but like a head coach, you have to trust everybody under you and make them feel appreciated.”
But in 2007, Reich felt God calling him to coach football.
“I learned things during those years that I literally use every day as a coach, in relating to people, in teaching and instructing, universal principles that you learn in seminary that apply to everyday life,” Reich expressed to ESPN. “I found seminary was for everyday living, including being a football coach.”
Sports Spectrum reported, “Between football and faith, Reich’s roots in Charlotte certainly run deep. So does the optimism that he is just the man to turn around a franchise that hasn’t had a winning season since 2017-18. He’s surrounded himself with a star-studded coaching staff that includes former head coaches Jim Caldwell and Dom Capers, kept a talented young defensive core intact, and re-tooled an offense to put Young in the best position to succeed.”
So far, the Carolina Panthers are 0-3 in preseason play, but Reich hopes to turn their luck around in their first regular season game this Sunday. The Panthers will face the Atlanta Falcons as they hope to gain their first win of the season.
