Mr. Scot

I don't think anybody debates that Fitterer wanted Young. And no, they weren't likely to be alone either. The person most heavily in contention is Frank Reich (Josh McCown likely second). And although I'm not generally a fan of judging things by social media, It's pretty hard not to find the fact that Reich's daughter is liking posts saying that he wanted Stroud... interesting.

Two videos of Mike Lombardi from the Pat McAfee show... The idea of Reich being "broken" from some of his prior experiences actually make a lot of sense. As mentioned before, some of his choices here were just baffling. Also, his statement that the job could be considered desirable if it comes with a 6 year guaranteed contract is consistent with what's been said elsewhere. And McAfee's final comment is correct: Tepper still has to make the right choice.

The flipside narrative that everybody wanted Bryce as the first choice isn't exactly plausible either. I seriously doubt they went through that process with no disagreement whatsoever.

Wrong. His specific statement was that Tepper was not the only one who wanted Bryce. That very statement includes that Tepper wanted Bryce. He just wasn't alone in it. Then you put that together with his confirmation that Tepper did indeed chime in on the decision. Outside of that, there aren't any more specifics.

And one day, you might stop getting banned and making new screen names

Joe Person sums it up...

That line was actually just a rehash of what he said in his original tweet, not exactly earth shattering. People were using the original tweet to try and suggest that Tepper wasn't involved. That's not at all what Norris said.

He went 11-5 with Philip Rivers coming off his couch. IIt's incorrect to say that Reich never had any success.

You mean the same guy saying that Tepper claiming he didn't chime in on the decision was "rich"? Norris' statement that Tepper didn't "overrule everybody" doesn't mean he didn't influence the decision. He actually clarified that directly in a response to his tweet about Tepper claiming no involvement.

So what then is a post talking about other posts?

A little behind the scenes info... Anybody surprised?

Yet people are confidently saying that Tepper is telling the truth, despite reporting to the contrary. If "no one knows" then why should that viewpoint be believed either?

More...

That echoes what Stephen Holder said about it being "an open secret" around the league.

It says that Tepper is full of sh-t. (and it's true)

Doesn't mean I can't talk about it, or that I have to support it.

From Joe Person's summary in The Athletic... Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper said he does possess patience despite firing three coaches in-season since buying the team. Boy, If that line doesn't say it all

It's far from a unanimous take, and that includes among trusted sources. You can also go back to the discussion that was had around draft time and see differences as well. And if we're being both on a stand realistic, the notion that some wanted Stroud while others wanted young is a whole lot easier to believe then this idea that there was unanimous consensus Young was the best choice. That kind of thing is pretty rare in football organizations.

Our version of play action. And "half-assed" is honestly a pretty good description

And as a general rule, opposing defenses don't tend to get fooled by it

So we lowly fans should all just sit back and accept that our billionaire owner runs a sh-tty team and be happy that we're getting to watch football regardless of whether it's good or not? Thanks for the suggestion, but I think I'll decline. I don't think anybody here is of the mind that conversing on a message board is going to change anything, but it's what fans do in a sport talk forum.

Pretty sure nobody believes that it was Tepper versus everybody. The idea that coaches preferred Stroud while scouts preferred Young and Tepper wound up tipping the balance isn't exactly farfetched though.

To be clear, I'm not defending Reich. The system mismatch with our personnel has been one of my pet peeves all season. I'm just not a big fan of front office interference in coaching, but when the coaching is failing I get that stuff is gonna happen. As to Russini, One of her big points was that leadership was satisfied with the construction of the roster in all areas except offense, the area that was supposed to be Frank's thing. If that's correct, that means they might see the problem as strictly coaching.

I get the part about alignment, but that doesn't necessarily mean two people have to be hired together. It just means they have to work well together. Mind you, I would have no problem with hiring a coach and GM together, as long as the GM is the one hired first. Coaches picking their GM sucks. As far as the roster, I can tell you from reporting that Tepper feels the roster is well constructed as far as defense and special teams, only the offense is an issue, and that of course was Frank Reich's area. The impression I get from that is that Tepper may not be looking to make major changes to the front office.

There's also a thing as too much collaboration. And to be clear, if the vibe from her articles is correct it doesn't sound like Scott Fitterer is likely to be fired because it would mean he's in lockstep with the owner. Hard to say at this point, but that's what I get from her reporting.