Chris McClain | Host 102.5 WFNZ Charlotte

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Visit Carvana.com or download the app to get an instant offer today. We're pleased to say Happy New Year and good morning to our friend Chris McLean, who is co-host of the Mac and Bone show on our Charlotte affiliate, WFNC. Chris, big picture this season. How would you describe the year that David Teppers had? First of all, Happy New Year, Amy. He did not have a happy year and I hope 2024 somehow is happier for him and Panther fans. It's been miserable.

I can't imagine... It's hard to imagine an owner having a worse year. This one's got to rank in the top three or four years for an owner. I mean, it's the sixth straight losing season and I think we've all been able to deduce now that he is the biggest problem on this football team. We have a mini Daniel Snyder situation. Obviously, some of the stuff away from football with Snyder, David Tepper hasn't gotten anywhere near there yet.

But just in terms of just not being able to stay out of things. I mean, it's crazy for someone who you know in his line of work where he's immensely successful, has accumulated a worth of over $20 billion. You know he wouldn't listen to just anybody in that line of work.

But yet that's what he does with his football guys. He wants them to do what he wants and it's so frustrating and I just feel like, you know, everybody in Charlotte associated with the Panthers has been frustrated all year and it just felt like it came to a head in Jacksonville on Sunday. Any chance that he can read the room now and recognize that he's a detriment to his team winning? Do you get any sense of that?

That's the big question. I mean, as a Panther fan, I like to be an optimist, Amy. I have had the optimist beaten out of me here over the last six years. It's been hard, but I like to have some belief as a fan.

So you kind of cling to that. You know, we've seen other owners do in the past. I know a lot of Boston media has talked about Robert Kraft and kind of initially he had to learn that lesson in terms of a step back. Obviously he hires Bill Belichick, steps back, you know, and they went on their run. But I would like to think how smart he is that eventually he can figure out, okay, I got to just put the right people in place, which he hasn't been able to do that either in fairness, and then step back. But if you're asking me, like, would I bet, you know, a paycheck or two that I believe fully David Tepper is going to read the room, look in the mirror and step back? I don't know. I don't think I'd be doing that.

Okay, so other than him, someone who's actually either on the coaching staff or on the field, where do you point the fingers for how this has gone horribly wrong? I mean, I don't have enough fingers. I only got 10. I have fingers.

I need 30 more of these things. I mean, it's just been, I mean, first of all, you got to start with the, I mean, you got to go to Scott Fitterer next. And that's why, you know, we, a lot, you know, many of us here wonder, is Scott Fitterer in his final week of working over there? Like, could the Panthers be searching for a coach and GM simultaneously here in about a week? Because, you know, the personnel moves that this team has made have just been troubling for a few years now. I mean, you know, trades up in the draft to get Matt Corral, and Matt Corral's gone a year later, and they draft Bryce Young. That, you know, the McCaffrey and Moore trades, and they've already used all but one of the McCaffrey draft picks, and we're wondering if there's really a return on those picks as well.

It's just decision after decision that's been made. Again, some of them, I'm sure Tepper's getting his hands in. Some of them, Matt Rule, you know, was involved in in the past.

But, you know, but again, who hired those people? You know, it was David Tepper. So, to me, it all comes back to Tepper, but I don't think, like, Frank Reich. Frank Reich, you know, was doing things that didn't make sense to any football people.

No motion in the offense at all in 2024, when the best offenses in the NFL run motion. Bryce never under center. I mean, he refused to have Bryce run a quarterback sneak, and all of a sudden, a week and a half ago against Green Bay, Bryce runs a quarterback sneak, and he gets two yards and a first down. And we're wondering if this is the Christmas miracle we've been waiting for. Like, Frank Reich had us thinking, this little fella just can't run a quarterback sneak.

He brought in Andy Dalton to run a quarterback sneak early in the season. So, I mean, the free agent signings, other than Adam Phelan, have been brutal. So, it's ugly. It's ugly, and again, man, can you tell?

I could go on forever about the issues here, my lord. Yeah, I actually have to apologize, because the last few times we've had you on the show, it's all been for negative and really just some tough storylines. Baker Mayfield and everything that happened with him last year. I'm sure you heard him say he's really looking forward to this game at Carolina. There's no way that he misses that one. It's just been a comedy of errors, but also it's been disheartening, I'm sure, for Panthers fans who want to be hopeful.

Chris McLean is with us here from WFNZ, our Charlotte affiliate, after hours on CBS Sports Radio. Let's accentuate the positive, then. What are a few moments or player performances or highlights that you can take from this year? Well, the highlight of the season is going to happen Sunday when the clock hits 0-0-0.

I just want to make that clear. That would be the highlight when this damn nightmare ends. I think the defense, I think what Aguero, the first-year defensive coordinator, has done with this defense has been pretty remarkable, considering all the injuries they've had on that side of the ball. They've gotten no help from the offense outside of maybe two games, and they've kind of pieced it together. Derek Brown has had an unbelievable season. The fact that he did not make the Pro Bowl is a joke, and I blame it 100% on the fans across America, many of whom might be listening right now, that did not have him in the top ten as an interior defensive lineman. He's two tackles away from the all-time record for a lineman in the NFL. He's going to have 100 tackles at defensive tackle. He's been an absolute beast, but because he plays on a 2-4 team, I get it. People weren't in a hurry to vote for Carolina Panthers to the Pro Bowl, but he's taken his game to another level.

I would focus on that side of the ball. Bryce Young had a really nice two-week stretch recently with the Atlanta game, where they had the game-winning drive and the horrendous rain. Then he came back and played his best game of the season against Green Bay, and they almost came from two touchdowns back in the fourth to win that. But then, as this season has gone, Amy, just when you think you might have turned a corner, you realize you have not.

Bryce and the offense had probably their worst game against Jacksonville. I don't know, man. This is a huge offseason for this team, but the fact that David Tepper is picking the new coach and might be picking the new GM who is going to lead this huge offseason, it all comes back to that.

Why should we believe David Tepper is all of a sudden going to figure out who to hire? Let me give you an example, Amy, that I continue to prove I can ramble. You're like my therapist, by the way. I'm in a production room, laying on a couch right now. This is literally like therapy.

You're welcome. But let me give you two examples about David Tepper's ability to conduct interviews and hire people. One is Brian Deball. As good of an offensive guy as he is. His agent reached out during the Matt Rule, the search that ended in Matt Rule. His agent reached out from what I've been told to Tepper and company, hey, give my client an interview. And the Panthers said, no, we're good.

We don't need to talk to him. And they hired Matt Rule instead. And then last year, I was told that Shane Steichen just had a bad interview. He interviewed with the Panthers, but man, he kind of bombed that interview. And look at Shane Steichen and the job he's doing now.

Those are two coaches that I think that have this offense a bit more competent than this, and they weren't good enough for Tepper and the Panthers. It's just, ah, you know? And again, you know it. If you have a bad owner in pro sports, it doesn't matter. You know what I mean?

Everything else is not going to function, not going to work. It's almost impossible to succeed when you have that type of a situation at the top. So then, just out of curiosity, what direction would you go in the search for the new head coach? I'm kind of intrigued by Harbaugh. I'm kind of intrigued, which is ironic, which is weird because as a college fan, I can't say I'm Jim Harbaugh. I'm a Penn State fan, and the guy makes me angry. But I can at least put that aside and realize everywhere he's going, college and then in the NFL, he makes that program better, you know? He improves a program. So, I love the work he did with Alex Smith and Kaepernick both in San Francisco, so I'm kind of intrigued by him. How can you not be intrigued by Ben Johnson and what he's done with that Detroit offense? But again, and my goodness, here we go again.

It all comes back to a theme. Who's going to want to work for David Tepper? He is considered the meddlesome, impulsive, drink-throwing owner.

And if you have options, other than him throwing all his Teffy Bucks, throwing this huge money at a coach, I find it hard if someone has options that this is the place they're going to want to come. Your co-host thinks that I should throw a drink on you. I just want you to know that. I need one.

He's undermining you. No, you need to drink one, not throw one. Yeah, I need to drink a bunch. It's too early for that, Amy. No, I know. It is.

And you have a show coming up on our Charlotte affiliate. All right, so before I let you go, Chris, obviously the jury's still out on Bryce Young, not to the point yet where we know if he's going to be a viable option. So if you're not going that direction and actually there to add insult to injury, the number one pick is Chicago's. It's not even the Panthers. What else do they need?

All right. So if you're not talking about quarterback, as we don't know yet, what else do the Panthers need to focus on the offseason? To me, it's all about, you know, getting Bryce more help so you can have a legit evaluation of him. It's really hard to evaluate a quarterback when his offensive line has allowed him to be sacked 59 times.

And he's had 30 other that he has escaped. There's been pressure on him constantly. The line needs to be improved.

Then you look at the weaponry around him. You know, Adam Phelan had a really solid year. But other than that, I mean, D.J. Chark had one good game. Other than that, he's let us down. Jonathan Mingo with a quiet rookie season. Hayden Hurst and I hated for him that he got hurt with a serious concussion.

I hope he is getting better. But he and Miles Sanders were disappointing in terms of productionist free agent signings. They completely whiffed, which is another reason why the GM could be gone in a few days.

They completely whiffed on putting the weapons around him. So I think they need to focus and put every egg in the basket on how do we help this quarterback. And then it goes back to the coaching hire, too. Whoever's running this offense, man, that's a critical hire as well. But I haven't given up faith in Bryce, but I acknowledge it's hard to evaluate him. It's hard to know one way or the other right now. It certainly is. Do you believe the rumors out there that the coaching staff wanted C.J.

Stratton's head? I've heard mixed things on that around here. I mean, I know that's definitely the national narrative that's taken off. I do think that Tepper was, from what I've heard, I do think Tepper was kind of so gung ho on Bryce that maybe there might have been, you know, some coaches that just kind of didn't really speak up and jump on the table for Stroud the way maybe they would.

I'm not saying they didn't like Bryce, but I feel like David Tepper might have made it clear this is the guy we like the most, you know, which again is a problem, I guess. So many. There's so many. But I hope that you feel better getting all of this off your chest, and plus you have a show coming up, so you do have the daily option of being able to unload and vent where many other fans just kind of, they yell in the mirror. You actually get to talk to people. Thank God for that.

I will send you a check for these therapy hours. It's on the house, man. Congratulations, Amy, on your nuptials. I'm happy for you. At least somebody has happiness and joy in their heart. Stop it!

It's just football. Come on now. You got this.

You can do it. You can find Chris on Twitter at MacWFNZ. Mac and Bone Show coming up on 92.7 in Charlotte. Always appreciate the chance to connect. I hope you feel better. We'll talk soon.

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