Carolina Panthers great Cam Newton may have stated the obvious, even though he said he wouldn’t.
On Wednesday’s episode of his podcast 4th & 1, the franchise’s all-time leading passer and only Most Valuable Player gave his thoughts on the fluctuating state of his former team. He told guest Dan “Big Cat” Katz, following Monday’s firing of head coach Frank Reich, that the Panthers and owner David Tepper should’ve just made the popular choice back in January.
“Without stating the obvious, he never should’ve gotten rid of Steve Wilks,” Newton said.
Wilks, who led the Panthers to a relatively impressive 6-6 mark following last year’s axing of Matt Rhule, was passed up for the opportunity this offseason in favor of Reich. The 54-year-old Charlotte native would then move on to land the defensive coordinator gig for the San Francisco 49ers shortly after.
Newton then expanded on his thought, stating that Tepper’s Panthers lack an established culture.
“When you look at it through the lens of coaching, I think Tepper has not found out—during my time there, first time there—was the importance of continuity in a locker room,” he later added. “He flushed the toilet. Got rid of a lot of key guys—the Ryan Kalils, myself, TD [Thomas Davis] and Luke [Kuechly] was just already one of those guys that, for health reasons . . .
“And when you’re expecting a guy who doesn’t know the game off the field, and his talent hasn’t really produced anything on the field—it’s hard. It’s hard to run a locker room where you got guys that may be kinda gettin’ distracted during the year.
“And I don’t think he valued that and it shows. He does not have a culture there, by no stretch of the imagination. And his presence is more so business rather than team.”
Tepper has now fired three head coaches—Reich, Rhule and Ron Rivera—in his six-year run as owner. The Panthers, who do not have a winning record in any of those seasons, are a combined 30-63 since the team changed hands in 2018.
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