The Carolina Panthers scooping up Frank Reich to be their head coach after he was fired by the Indianapolis Colts seemed like a home-run hire.

Of his four full campaigns at the helm for the Colts, Reich had three winning seasons. That, despite no stability at the quarterback position. Give him a talented young QB to mold and some time, the thinking went, and the Reich hiring would pay dividends.

After eight games, is Reich out of time already? Although unlikely, Reich being one-and-done cannot be ruled out, per ESPN's Adam Schefter (h/t WFNZ's Anthony Pagnotta.)

During an appearance on the Pat McAfee show, Schefter opined that “I don’t think anyone has a long rope there because of the type of season their having.”

Schefter continued: “One thing about David Tepper is he’s not very patient. I don’t think that people are thinking that there’s trouble right now with those people. But would anybody be surprised with anything that happens in Carolina after this year?”

Things have gone South for Panthers

Although the Panthers weren't pegged as likely playoff contenders, surely more than one win in eight tries seemed feasible. While the team sold off Christian McCaffrey last season and initiated a full-on rebuild, they still play in the NFC South.

The current division leader, the New Orleans Saints, has a 5-4 record. The Atlanta Falcons are 4-5, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are 3-5.

Hardly a gauntlet.

Bryce Young and the Panthers earned their first victory of the 2023 season

But Carolina's lousy record, coupled with the struggles of number-one overall pick QB Bryce Young, have observers wondering if Reich is guaranteed to be back in 2024. It doesn't help that C.J. Stroud, taken directly after Young in the draft, is working wonders for the Houston Texans.

Big decisions loom in Carolina

NFL coaches being one-and-done is rare, although not without precedent. In fact, the Texans recently gave David Culley (2021) and Lovie Smith (2022) one season each before landing on current head coach DeMeco Ryans. Presumably, Ryans will get a second season.

Still, changes might be coming to Carolina, although that doesn't necessarily mean Reich.

“I think the first level of heat falls on (GM Scott) Fitterer,” The Athletic's Joe Person opined to WFNZ recently. “He’s been around longer, he had a bad free agency this year, some of his drafts…there’s just not a lot of impact guys, and some of the trades he made up for guys.”

“I think if things continue trending downward, I think Scott Fitterer would really be in jeopardy.”