Doug Farrar and Luke Easterling discuss the Carolina Panthers’ firing of head coach Matt Rhule, and where the Panthers should go from here.
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It comes as no surprise that on Monday, Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule was the first head coach to be fired in the 2022 season. What was the root of Rhule’s downfall with the Panthers, and with Defensive pass-game coordinator/secondary coach Steve Wilks taking over as interim head coach, where should the Panthers start looking for their future head coach?
Doug: The shorthand version of Rhule’s downfall is pretty simple – like a lot of successful college coaches, he thought that it would be just as easy to run things his way in the NFL. But Rhule never gave himself a chance. He fired offensive coordinator Joe Brady, the man behind Joe Burrow’s 60-touchdown season at LSU, because he wasn’t happy with Brady’s run/pass balance. When you devolve from Joe Brady to Ben McAdoo, I’m not sure what else you can expect. Rhule completely mangled the quarterback situation during his time with the Panthers, and that’s the other thing that will get you fired on a no-matter-what basis.
I do think that Rhule made a wise decision in hiring defensive coordinator Phil Snow before the 2020 season – Snow can dial up some stuff, and the Panthers do have a pretty good defense to go with their unwatchable offense. So, I think team owner David Tepper needs to aim for an offensive-minded coach who has the credibility and authority to turn this thing around.
One Eric Bieniemy comes to mind, of course.
(Note: After this video was shot, the Panthers also fired Phil Snow. So… *shrugs*)
Luke: A month ago on this show, I said Matt Rhule would be the first head coach fired in the NFL this season. You pointed out the biggest reasons, and we’ve seen them play out over these first five weeks, and really throughout all of the 38 games Rhule coached in Carolina. He seemed like he was in over his head from the very beginning, and never could get above water. I think he can still go back and be a successful college coach, but this was always a risky move for the Panthers, and it’s not surprising that it backfired this quickly.