CHARLOTTE – Here is a timeline detailing Frank Reich's life and career before he agreed to terms to become the Panthers' sixth head coach in franchise history on Thursday, Jan. 26.
Dec. 4, 1961: Frank Reich was born in Freeport, New York.
1980: Reich graduated from Cedar Crest High School in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, where we played football, basketball, and baseball.
1980-84: Reich attended Maryland for college and played football for the Terrapins, spending his first three years as a backup quarterback.
Nov. 10, 1984: Reich led a Maryland comeback over Miami, helping the Terrapins erase a 31-0 halftime deficit. The Terrapins won, 42-40, over the Bernie Kosar-led Hurricanes. Maryland outscored Miami 42-9 in the second half. Reich's college comeback was the biggest in NCAA history at the time.
1985: Reich was drafted to Buffalo in the third round with the 57th overall pick. He joined the Bills' roster behind future Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly.
1989: Reich received his first NFL start after Kelly suffered a shoulder injury. He led Buffalo to two straight wins.
Jan. 3, 1993: Reich came in for an injured Kelly again and led the largest postseason comeback in NFL history, as the Bills came back from a 32-point deficit against the Oilers to win 41-38 in overtime. Reich helped Buffalo outscore Houston 38-3 in the second half of the wild card round of the 1992-93 playoffs.
March 1995: Reich signed with the Panthers in their first year as a franchise, becoming the original Carolina quarterback.
1995: Reich started the first three games in Panthers history before Kerry Collins took the reins at quarterback.
1996: Reich signed with the Jets, starting in seven games for New York.
1997-98: Reich signed with Detroit and ended his playing career there, entering as a backup in 10 games across two seasons and starting twice in 1998. He retired after the 1998 season.
2006-07: Reich began his coaching career as a coaching intern for the Colts.
2008: Reich moved up in Indianapolis, becoming an offensive coaching staff assistant.
2009-10: Following Tony Dungy's retirement as head coach, Reich became quarterbacks coach under former Colts quarterback Jim Caldwell.
2011: Reich moved over to coach wide receivers for the Colts.
2012: Reich became wide receivers coach for the Cardinals under Ken Whisenhunt.
2013: Reich coached quarterbacks for the Chargers alongside Whisenhunt after the previous Cardinals' staff was dismissed in 2012.
2014-16: Reich began his first stint as an offensive coordinator for the Chargers after Whisenhunt was hired by the Titans.
2016-17: Reich found success as the Eagles' offensive coordinator, coaching Philadelphia's offense in its Super Bowl 52 win over the Patriots.
Feb. 11, 2018: Reich returned to Indianapolis for his first head coaching job.
2018: After the Colts started 1-5 in Reich's inaugural season, they finished the year 10-6, winning nine of their last 10 games. They made the playoffs for the first time since 2014 in Reich's first year, defeating the Texans in the wild card round before losing to the Chiefs in the divisional round.
2019: Colts quarterback Andrew Luck unexpectedly retired ahead of Reich's second season, so Reich started Jacoby Brissett. The Colts went 7-9 that season and failed to make the playoffs.
2020: Reich made the playoffs for the second and final time as the Colts' head coach, paired with quarterback Philip Rivers in his third season. Indianapolis lost to the Bills in the wild card round, rounding out Reich's 1-2 postseason record as head coach.
Nov. 7, 2022: Reich was let go by Indianapolis after a 3-5-1 start to his fifth season at the helm. The Colts went 40-33-1 under him, a .555 winning percentage.
Jan. 26, 2023: Reich agreed to terms as the sixth head coach in Panthers' history.
