Frank Reich, the former Carolina Panthers quarterback in the NFL, was appointed the franchise’s newest head coach on Thursday, January 26.

Reich was appointed the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts – where he interned in 2006 and was part of the coaching team from 2011- on February 18, 2018. His tenure ended after he was fired from the job in November 2022.

Pathers tweeted on Thursday saying: “#Panthers agree to terms with Frank Reich to become new head coach.”

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Who is Franc Reich? 

Frank Reich was born on December 4, 1961, in Freeport, New York. He was a former quarterback in the NFL and will forever stay in Carolina Panthers history for being the quarterback in the first-ever game of the franchise. After ending his playing career in 1998, Reich entered NFL coaching in 2006 with the Indianapolis Colts as a coaching intern.

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Reich attended Lebanon, Pennsylvania’s Cedar Crest High School. In 1980, after finishing his senior year in high school, he played quarterback in the Big 33 Football Classic. Reich, a roommate of starter Boomer Esiason, played for the Maryland Terrapins football team for three years after being accepted to the University of Maryland on an athletic scholarship.

Reich was drafted by the Buffalo Bills in the third round (57th overall) in the 1985 NFL Draft. He got his first start for them in 1989 and led them to back-to-back victories. After spending a large part of his career with the Bills, which includes appearing as a substitute for Jim Kelly in Super Bowl XXVII against Dallas, he moved to the Carolina Panthers when the franchise was introduced in 1995. He played one more season with Detroit Lions and retired at the end of the 1998 NFL season.

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He entered coaching in 2006 as an intern at Indianapolis Colts and spent 5 years learning the trade. He parted with the Colts in 2001 and had spells in the backrooms of Arizona Cardinals, San Diego Chargers, and Philadelphia Eagles before again joining the Colts as the head coach in 2018. Under him, the Colts made their first postseason appearance since 2014.