The excitement at Bank of America Stadium was palpable as thousands of fans attended Fan Fest – the Carolina Panthers’ annual training camp session away from the practice fields at Wofford College. According to the team 39,522 tickets were distributed for the event and demand was so high that fans were seated in the upper bowl of the stadium for the first time in years.
It’s been a while since the vibes have been this good. Fans who were disgruntled with the yearly quarterback carousel and over dissatisfaction with the previous coaching regime have found hope in the new highly touted staff and arrival of number one overall draft pick, Bryce Young.
With all of the hype comes expectations – playoff expectations – NFC South Championship expectations. And while those expectations aren’t out of the realm of possibility, Coach Reich and company are more focused on the process to get to those results than the pressure that comes because of them.
“I’ve felt it for months” Coach Reich said when asked if he can feel the optimism from fans. “I love that. I understand it’s a long season and we want to put our optimism on the process. Yes, we all want immediate results and that’s what we’re all working towards, but I also know as a coach that my job is to keep us focused on the play-by-play, execution, getting better and the results will follow.”
“It’s noise at this point and time,” safety Jeremy Chinn said about the increased optimism. “We know what we have to do. We know we have to show up and have an 0-0 approach. We haven’t done anything yet. There’s still so much that we have to put in and so much work to be done, so we can’t really get caught up in that, but the energy is definitely great. For sure.”
Those within the Panthers’ organization may be tempering expectations and refocusing optimism – and rightfully so – but that’s not going to stop the hype train from riding among a fan base that has been hungry for something to be optimistic about.
