Tag: Chase Blackburn

Chase Blackburn says goodbye to Panthers organization after firing

Chase Blackburn, who had spent eight seasons with the Panthers as both a player and a coach, said goodbye to the organization on Tuesday.

After a terribly disappointing 2021 campaign, the Carolina Panthers will be undergoing a bit of a facelift this offseason. And unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) for special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, he won’t be around to see this latest one through.

On Tuesday morning, head coach Matt Rhule fired a trio of his assistants as he tries to preserve himself revamp much of the team’s braintrust. Blackburn, who was part of the bunch that also included now former offensive line coach Pat Meyer and defensive line coach Frank Okam, took right to Twitter just minutes after the news broke to thank the organization and the city of Charlotte.

Before trading in his cleats for a headset, the ex-linebacker played 10 seasons between the Panthers and New York Giants. His time with Carolina, mainly as a special teams ace, saw the University of Akron product total 39 tackles from 2013 to 2014.

In 2016, Blackburn hopped back on with the franchise as an assistant special teams coach under Ron Rivera. He’d then, to much acclaim, be promoted to the coordinator spot in 2018.

The feeling around the league is that Blackburn, given the respect he’s earned amongst both his fellow coaches and players, will not be without a job for long. And while all good things must come to an end, new ones will assuredly be in store for the 38-year-old.

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Panthers fire trio of coaches on Tuesday

With Matt Rhule’s job seemingly still not safe, the Panthers fired three assistant coaches on Tuesday.

Well, it looks like the Carolina Panthers will have more than just the offensive coordinator position to fill.

As reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport on Tuesday morning, the team fired a trio of coaches off the heels of “Black Monday.” That now departed bunch includes special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn, offensive line coach Pat Meyer and defensive line coach Frank Okam.

Blackburn, dating back to the Ron Rivera regime, has served as the Panthers’ special teams coordinator for the past four seasons. He was promoted to the post back in 2018 after acting as an assistant in 2016 and 2017. The current campaign saw Carolina allow the fourth-most yards per kickoff return (26.5) and average third-fewest yards per punt attempt (42.5)

Meyer and Okam, who were brought on by head coach Matt Rhule, are now gone after both spent the past two years with the team. The Panthers’ offensive line, which has been of particular note, relinquished the fifth-most sacks in the league in 2021 (52).

Including the in-season firing of former offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Rhule has now parted ways with four different coaches on his staff this season.

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Chase Blackburn comments on Panthers’ kicker situation

Slye is younger and cheaper, but that doesn’t make it an easy decision.

The only coach on the Panthers’ staff who has kept his job from last year is special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn. One of the first decisions he will have to make along with head coach Matt Rhule is who the kicker should be going forward.

Right now, there are two options on the roster: the veteran Graham Gano and second-year kicker Joey Slye. Speaking with reporters in a Zoom call on Tuesday, Blackburn said both are talented and a lot of teams would be happy to be in Carolina’s situation.

 

Both kickers have points in their favor.

Not too long ago, Gano was the most accurate field goal kicker in the NFL. During the 2018 season, he made 29 of 30 field goal attempts – a league-best 96.7%. As a rookie, Slye showed off some impressive range, including a successful 55-yard attempt.

However, both come with some baggage.

In Gano’s case the question is regarding his health. He sat out the entire 2019 season due to a serious leg injury and there’s no telling how that will affect his game at this point. For Slye, the potential issue is confidence. He started out the year hot but his performance took a dive in the second half. Slye bottomed out Week 12 against the Saints, missing a chip-shot field goal and two extra point attempts, costing a critical win.

Slye is younger and cheaper, but that doesn’t make it an easy decision. It will be made more difficult by an abbreviated offseason program and a potentially shortened preseason.

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Report: Panthers poised to retain Chase Blackburn as special teams coordinator

Chase Blackburn has been the special teams coordinator for the Carolina Panthers for the last two seasons.

Chase Blackburn has been the special teams coordinator for the Carolina Panthers for the last two seasons. Everything could be changing with Matt Rhule coming in and building up a new coaching staff, though. Over the weekend, we learned Blackburn interviewed for his own job, according to Sirius XM.

According to Joe Person at the Athletic, Blackburn has actually interviewed with Rhule multiple times for the role and all signs point to him being retained.

This wasn’t a great year for the Panthers’ special teams. They had issues in coverage, punting and kicking at different times of the season. Football Outsiders wound up ranking Carolina No. 31 in special teams DVOA.

Blackburn may be able to turn the unit around, but he might need a serious infusion of talent to get it done.

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Report: Matt Rhule interviews Chase Blackburn for special teams coordinator

Panthers head coach Matt Rhule interviews Chase Blackburn for special teams coordinator, a position he’s held 2 years.

According to a report by Alex Marvez at Sirius XM, today the Panthers interviewed special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn for the position that he has held for the last two seasons.

Before he became a coach, Blackburn played linebacker the last two years of his career for Carolina (2013-2014). He spent most of his time in the NFL with the Giants (eight seasons). Blackburn was hired by former coach Ron Rivera, who is taking several Panthers assistants with him to the Redskins.

This was an off-year for a normally solid special teams unit. The collapse in Indianapolis that saw Nyheim Hines score two punt return touchdowns was only the worst example of the decline.

It will be interesting to see if new head coach Matt Rhule decides to keep Blackburn around or go in a different direction.

As for his other top positions, recent reports indicate Rhule wants Baylor’s Phil Snow as defensive coordinator and LSU’s Joe Brady for offensive coordinator.

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