The fish stinks from the head to the tail.
There’s a lot wrong with the Carolina Panthers. Their plethora of issues all have contributed to their 5-8 record. When multiple issues plague teams, it is usually the head coach who gets the blame.
On the other hand, with new coaches there’s also a grace period. The benefit of the doubt. However, for the Panthers, the grace period for Matt Rhule is up and he’s in the hot seat.
Everything was “new” with the Panthers in 2020. New ownership. New head coach. New coaching staff and general manager. But two seasons into the Rhule era, it’s the same results. The Panthers stay losing. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady was the first from the new regime to go. Why not explore the idea of letting Rhule go as well?
When players don’t work out, for whatever reason, front offices don’t have any issues with trading and waiving said player. If a player is mediocre, they are cut or traded with no reservations, no conditions and no apologies. These front offices don’t care about how much talent is around, they are cut and the same energy must be kept for mediocre coaches as well.
There are some head coaches from college who find success in the NFL and some who don’t. The ones who succeed realize that what works in college doesn’t work in the NFL and they adapt. Rhule’s problem is he’s too rigid and doesn’t want to adapt. For example, he constantly insists on establishing the run despite the league being quarterback and pass-driven. Another flaw is his tendency to pick players and coaches from his stops at Temple and Baylor instead of picking for fit.
It’s year three in the David Tepper era and right now he isn’t getting a return on his investment. Rhule is moving like a coach who’s earned tenure when he doesn’t have a winning record to justify it.
What Rhule has is a record over a two-year span to justify letting him go.