Tag: Matt Rhule

ESPN report suggests why Panthers passed on hiring Bill Belichick

Why didn’t the Panthers hire the greatest coach in the history of the NFL? A new report from ESPN may have provided that answer.

So, why weren’t the Carolina Panthers too interested in hiring the greatest head coach in the history of the game? A deep dive into Bill Belichick’s offseason may have just suggested why.

On Wednesday morning, ESPN published a report about the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and his “failed” job hunt following the 2023 season. Some legwork done by Don Van Natta Jr., Seth Wickersham and Jeremy Fowler resulted in the following tidbit about the Panthers:

The Carolina Panthers briefly discussed Belichick, before he signed his two-year extension with New England a year ago. But this offseason, Carolina decided to pass, a source said. Panthers owner David Tepper often sifts through data to critique his coach’s playcalling. That, according to a source, “is tough to do with Belichick as the figurehead.” The Panthers opted for 42-year-old former Tampa Bay offensive coordinator Dave Canales.

When you have the kind of résumé that Belichick has, power often follows. That was the case with the Patriots, who also positioned him as the team’s de facto general manager over his 24-year tenure.

If Tepper is as hands-on as this reporting hints at, that influence could’ve posed a problem for the dynamic atop the organization. Following Frank Reich’s introductory press conference last January, the billionaire owner had admitted that hiring a “CEO-type” in Matt Rhule—Tepper’s very first choice—was a mistake on his part.

Instead of going down a similar route, the Panthers are rocking with first-year head coach Dave Canales.

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Matt Rhule blown away by Bill Belichick’s football knowledge

Matt Rhule on Bill Belichick: “He can make the complex so simple that it humbles you and embarrasses you.”

Nebraska football head coach Matt Rhule got a chance to spend a couple of days with former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Needless to say, Rhule was impressed with Belichick’s football knowledge.

Rhule is coming off a 5-7 season with Nebraska, as the Cornhuskers look to right the ship in the Big Ten. Belichick is keeping busy, after parting ways with the Patriots in January. The departure has led to mixed feelings from Patriots fans with the winds of change blowing through Foxborough over the past couple of months.

Rhule got a taste of Belichick’s knowledge firsthand when the legendary coach spent four hours talking to Nebraska football assistants during his time in Lincoln. The Nebraska coach and Belichick have formed a connection over the years, and the two crossed paths while Rhule was with the Carolina Panthers from 2020-2022

“He is so smart. He’s seen so much that he can make the complex so simple that it humbles you and embarrasses you,” Rhule said, via KETV 7 in Omaha. “I was embarrassed yesterday listening to him, how smart he is, how simple it was. He went four-and-a-half hours just with the coaches. Forget the clinic. He came in and met with our coaching staff. And three-and-a-half hours in, I was like, ‘Coach, would you like a water? Coffee? Would you like to use the restroom?’ Because I desperately had to use the restroom, you know? And he’s like, ‘I’m fine, Matt.’ I was like, ‘Yes, sir.’

“…I mean, so you have this man who’s a savant, right? He’s been a defensive coordinator. He’s been a special teams coordinator. He’s coached, you know, he could be an offensive coordinator. He’s been a head coach twice. He’s been a GM. And he’s talking about football in a way that just like, I mean, illuminates things, that makes things so simple that you’re like, ‘Oh my goodness.’”

When it comes to football knowledge, Belichick is unmatched. Patriots fans got to see it first-hand as he constructed and coached two separate dynasties for the organization in the early 2000s and 2010s.

It’s been widely talked about that Belichick has one of the best minds in the game of football. It’s even more interesting to hear seasoned coaches like Rhule talk about just how much Belichick knows and can bring to the table.

If anything, Patriots fans are all too familiar with it.

Panthers great Cam Newton explains key difference between Ron Rivera and Matt Rhule

Panthers great Cam Newton: “I would kick it with Matt Rhule.”

There’s no question, even to the most novice eye of the game, that former Carolina Panthers head coaches Ron Rivera and Matt Rhule were two completely different Carolina Panthers head coaches. And a certain someone who played under both men spoke about why.

While talking about the dynamic between pro athletes and their higher-ups on Friday’s episode of 4th & 1 with Cam Newton, franchise great Cam Newton was asked about the differences between Rivera and Rhule. He responded to co-host Omari “Peggy” Collins by saying that Rhule’s lack of a playing background in the NFL showed.

“And that’s not no slight to Matt Rhule,” Newton stated. “Matt Rhule was an unbelievable guy. So much so, that when I say ‘unbelievable,’ I’m like, yo, he’s a guy that I would kick it with. We had great conversations. We had great meetings and great insights on the game, family, religion—just the whole process to how we both got to this situation.

“But it was a little different coming from Ron Rivera. He knew what it was like to be a player in certain situations. Practice intensity, locker room tension, knowing how to get the most out of their players—it’s just certain different tactics you have to go about.”

While the circumstances were vastly different, Newton probably had a much better experience with Rivera—a former Super Bowl-winning linebacker. The two spent nine years together in Carolina, where they secured three NFC South titles and the organization’s second-ever trip to the Super Bowl.

Newton’s time with Rhule lasted just half a season, as the Panthers brought back the 2015 Most Valuable Player to help save their 2021 season. But even Superman couldn’t save that ship from ultimately sinking.

Regardless, perhaps we’ll see Newton and Rhule kick it some time down the line.

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Report: JJ Jansen likely returning for 16th season with Panthers

Longtime long snapper JJ Jansen may be back with the Panthers in 2024.

The longest-tenured Carolina Panther may be tenured even longer.

Joe Person of The Athletic dropped a few bits of info in a new report on Thursday. Amongst the nuggets was one on long snapper JJ Jansen, who is currently set to hit free agency.

But according to Person, the longtime long snapper is likely staying put in Charlotte. He writes:

The team’s previous regime was interested in re-signing the 38-year-old Jansen, who has played in 243 consecutive games since arriving in 2009 in a trade from Green Bay, according to a source briefed on the situation. The sense here is Jansen will be back for a 16th season.

Those 243 games stand as a franchise record, one he broke in the middle of the 2022 campaign. Jansen surpassed former kicker John Kasay, who appeared in 221 games for the Panthers between 1995 and 2010.

Jansen has already played under four different head coaches in Carolina—including John Fox, Ron Rivera, Matt Rhule and Frank Reich. So, will Dave Canales become No. 5?

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Franchise tag unlikely to be an option for the Saints in 2024

The franchise tag is unlikely to be an option for the Saints in 2024, but it carries heavy implications for some of their division rivals:

Never say never, but fans shouldn’t expect the New Orleans Saints to use the franchise tag in 2024. The team did a good jump last summer getting a jump on their upcoming free agents: players like defensive end Carl Granderson,  right guard Cesar Ruiz, and defensive end Cameron Jordan all signed extensions before they would have hit the open market this spring. They lack players the tag’s heavy price tag would justify keeping.

On top of that, they’re so far in the red that they need as many cap-friendly contracts as possible, and the franchise tag is a lead weight on that scale. Once handed out it cannot be restructured, reduced, or otherwise manipulated.

But the tag could make life difficult for some of New Orleans’ division rivals, specifically the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tampa Bay has three key candidates headed for free agency in All-Pro safety Antoine Winfield Jr., firebrand quarterback Baker Mayfield, as well as amateur boxer and wide receiver Mike Evans.

Of the three, Winfield is likeliest to receive the tag. It shouldn’t be hard for the Bucs to hammer out an extension with Mayfield. Evans is a different story. His contract voids on Monday, Feb. 19, accelerating $7.4 million onto their salary cap in dead money, and tagging him isn’t an option. He’s a rare case. If the NFL-estimated cap hit (for wide receivers this year, about $21.6 million) is lower than 120% of last year’s cap number, the team would have to pay the higher amount. In this case, that would be a fully-guaranteed $28.4 million, and the Bucs would have to balk at that.

Another team to watch: the Carolina Panthers. Spendthrift owner David Tepper has managed his money poorly and has been unable to sign pass rusher Brian Burns to a long-term extension, but he’s paid millions of dollars to multiple head coaches he’s fired (Matt Rhule, Frank Reich, and soon, history suggests, Dave Canales). The Panthers balked at both a multiyear deal with Burns and lucrative trade offers from other teams last year, then changed his position listing from defensive end to linebacker with a move to a 3-4 defense.

It means tagging Burns costs a little less (about $1.3 million), which could buy the Panthers more time to work on a longer deal. However, Burns could take them to arbitration arguing he’s a defensive end (with an estimated $23.3 million tag), not an outside linebacker (about $22 million), just as Jimmy Graham did with the Saints back in the day.

Burns will likely be staying in Carolina (largely against his will), but there’s a good chance Evans could be moving on as a free agent, catching passes and starting fights elsewhere around the league. Of course it’s possible the Buccaneers could hammer out an extension with him. They’re just going to have one less tool in their toolbox to negotiate with. The NFL’s two-week window to use the franchise tag opens on Tuesday, Feb. 20 and closes Tuesday, March 5.

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Rhule supported Tony White becoming UCLA head coach

Head coach Matt Rhule recently put in a kind word regarding defensive coordinator Tony White’s bid to take over at UCLA.

Head coach Matt Rhule recently put in a kind word regarding defensive coordinator Tony White’s bid to take over at UCLA. Rhule told the Husker Radio Network earlier in the week that he knows it’s only a matter of time before White gets the opportunity to lead a program.

“I thought Tony would have been an excellent, excellent choice. I don’t want to lose Tony White at all. I love Tony. I want him to go coach here forever, but there will come a time when he is going to have an opportunity to be a head coach and he deserves that. I think we have great young coaches in that room who are ready to be coordinators.”

White was considered a top candidate after Bruins head coach Chip Kelly departed the program to accept the offensive coordinator position with Ohio State. Last season under White, the team finished 11th nationally in total defense, their best finish since 2010.

During the offseason, he also received head coaching interest from San Diego State and a look from USC in what would have been a lateral move to defensive coordinator.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes, and opinions.

What did ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit tell Dylan Raiola’s father before the Georgia flip? ‘I of course did not try and sell Nebraska’

Kirk Herbstreit discusses his alleged role in Dylan Raiola’s flip to Nebraska.

Dylan Raiola’s flip on the eve of the early signing period made waves in the college football world. It continues to do so, with ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit’s “involvement” in the five-star quarterback’s flip from Georgia to Nebraska.

According to Rivals, the quarterback is the second-best player in the nation in the class of 2024.

In a recent interview with Rivals, Dominic Raiola said that Herbstreit, a former Ohio State quarterback who is one of ESPN’s biggest personalities, offered advice to the family in the days leading up to the Nebraska flip.

With his father a former standout at Nebraska and his brother on staff, the decision by Dylan Raiola to leave in-state Georgia for the Big Ten program certainly makes sense. But it is Herbstreit’s involvement that has raised some eyebrows.

There were questions about the appropriateness concerning Herstreit’s involvement in the star quarterback ending up in Nebraska for head coach Matt Rhule’s rebuilding of the program.

In an appearance Thursday on the Paul Finebaum Show, Herbstreit clarified and defended his role.

“When somebody calls and says ‘What do you think of Matt Rhule’ and you like Matt Rhule…are you supposed to say Matt Rhule is a bad guy? Matt Rhule is an idiot? Matt Rhule is a bad coach? Or do you say ‘I like Matt Rhule. I think Matt Rhule is a good coach.’ And the other part of it that he said, I think the family legacy,” Herbstreit told ESPN’s Finebaum.

“I think he mentioned his brother was an assistant coach (Donovan Raiola) there at Nebraska and of course, Dom was a great player there himself, an All-American.

“And I think it sounded like the family, out of their respect for their love for Nebraska, that they were really torn. That’s what he made it sound like.”

Herbstreit said that the story was compelling to him. Before he decided to flip, Dylan Raiola was weighing his current commitment to Georgia, a juggernaut program that has two national championships in recent years.

 

But the heart, Herbstreit said, was tugging for Nebraska.

“I felt like being a guy that went to Ohio State and a lot of it had to do with my dad (Jim Herbstreit was a former Ohio State player and assistant coach)…I just said ‘Wow, the fact that your son can go to any school, any powerhouse that is competing for national titles and because of his respect for his own dad, he’s thinking about maybe going to Nebraska?’ A place that hasn’t competed for national titles in 20 years,” Kirk Herstreit said.

“That says about who the kid is. It’s not just about going to the NFL.”

In closing out his defense, the ESPN analyst made it clear that his advice was not geared toward pushing Dylan Raiola in the direction of one program or another.

“I of course did not try and sell Nebraska and try to tell anyone not to go to Georgia. That’s the most ridiculous thing that anybody would do,” Kirk Herbstreit said.

“But I did compliment Matt Rhule – if I’m guilty of anything, I said that Matt Rhule was a good coach and he’s a good man. I do believe he will bring Nebraska back, like he did Temple and Baylor.”

49ers DC Steve Wilks: I’m not bitter about departure from Panthers

49ers DC Steve Wilks said he’s not bitter about how his exit from Carolina went down.

If Steve Wilks is still harboring resentment towards the Carolina Panthers, no one would blame him for it. But we can put that hypothetical to bed, because it’s not the case.

On Wednesday, the former Carolina interim head coach and current San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator spoke with reporters ahead of this weekend’s Super Bowl LVIII matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs. He touched upon his disappointing departure from the Panthers, which went down around this time last year.

“I’m not bitter,” he said, per Sheena Quick of FOX Sports Radio 1340 AM. “Everything’s a learning experience for me, and I learned a lot there—a lot of what not to do. Learned a lot of what it should look like, particularly coming here. There’s so much respect that I have for this organization [49ers].

“The York family, starting with Jed, they do it the right way—just completely how they run the organization. And really giving Kyle [Shanahan] and John [Lynch] everything they need to succeed—everything down to the meals, the food, how we travel. It’s just top-notch.”

Wilks didn’t exactly get a top-notch exit from the last organization he worked for. The Charlotte native, who stepped in for the fired Matt Rhule in the middle of the 2022 season and nearly led the Panthers to an improbable NFC South title, was passed up for the team’s full-time head-coaching job.

That gig, instead, went to Frank Reich—who was dismissed after just 11 games.

Wilks and the Niners, meanwhile, are on the doorstep of football immortality.

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Matt Rhule claims he wanted Panthers to draft Brock Purdy

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule claims he wanted the Panthers to draft Brock Purdy but was vetoed.

Sure, Matt.

This probably won’t be the first time a coach talks about how he wanted his team to select Brock Purdy in the 2022 draft, and it will only happen more as Purdy has more success in the NFL.

Unfortunately for Rhule it’s unlikely that even Purdy could’ve saved his iteration of the Carolina Panthers. Rhule, now the head coach at the University of Nebraska, went 11-27 in two-plus years as the head coach in Carolina. The club signed Teddy Bridgewater for the 2020 season, and then traded for Sam Darnold to navigate the 2021 campaign before adding Baker Mayfield ahead of the 2022 season.

None of those QBs played particularly well under Rhule, and Mayfield just got done taking the Buccaneers to the playoffs. The likelihood that Purdy would’ve bailed out a disastrous Panthers team seems low given what we saw those other QBs do during the Rhule era.

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If Rhule was telling the truth, though, it says a lot about what the Panthers thought of him as an offensive coach that they wouldn’t let him snag a QB he liked with a late-round pick.

Coincidentally it was a 37-15 Week 5 loss to the 49ers that ended the coach’s tenure with the Panthers. That was the same game Purdy made his NFL debut, taking a knee to end the game and perhaps Rhule’s NFL career.

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Matt Rhule claims he was vetoed from putting Brock Purdy on Panthers’ draft board in 2022

Former Panthers HC Matt Rhule said he wanted to put QB Brock Purdy on the team’s draft board in 2022, but was vetoed.

Was Mr. Irrelevant almost Mr. Carolina?

On Wednesday, University of Nebraska head football coach Matt Rhule revealed an interesting little nugget from his last draft with the Carolina Panthers. He told reporters that he was interested in selecting quarterback Brock Purdy—who is about to play on the game’s biggest stage in a couple of days.

“I think Brock Purdy is an amazing player, because I played against him at Iowa State,” Rhule said during his program’s national signing day press conference. “When I was in the draft room at Carolina, I brought his name up. I said, ‘Hey, guys, he should be on the draft board. I got vetoed on that one.”

Well, he may not be pulling out the ol’ used car salesman pitch. Both Joe Person of The Athletic and Benjamin Allbright of KOA Colorado subsequently noted that there is at least some truth to Rhule’s claim.

Purdy, of course, ended up going to the San Francisco 49ers with the 262nd overall pick.

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