Monday felt like the day Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Thomas Brown actually became the Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator. He spoke about the feeling on Tuesday.
Brown was given the reins to his unit yesterday, as head coach Frank Reich officially handed over play-calling duties to the first-year coordinator. But will he be holding those reins from a box upstairs or straight from the sidelines?
“Be on the sidelines,” he replied emphatically when asked where he’ll be calling those plays. “I’m a pretty energetic dude, one. So I like to kinda move around a little bit. But also being able to interact with the players in between drives. That’s where I’ve kinda been for the most part. I’ve had a chance to be in the box before. I think there’s different perspectives of both of those. But I love the in-between drive interaction with the players, Kinda just fits me better.”
Brown was then asked if we’ll be seeing any radical changes to the offense—one finished Sunday ranking 23rd in yards per game and 18th in scoring.
“Radical would not be smart for what we are right now offensively,” he replied. “I think being able to understand how to keep the continuity together, and I think what you have time-on-task does a really good job of helping you build kinda going forward.
“I think over time, we’ll have subtle changes here and there. But, again, I’ve been a part of this offense from the get-go. So he’s [Reich] kinda giving me full reign to do what I want to, but it’s always gonna be a collaborative effort.”
So while that collaborative effort will stay collaborative (and on the sidelines), perhaps a small shift can help create big changes for the 0-6 Panthers moving ahead.