Mr. Scot

Word it is that Peyton Manning has been told he made the Hall of Fame (I'm sure everyone was wondering if he'd make it). Also some chatter that Drew Brees will be officially announcing the decision about his future next week, with the general expectation being that he's retiring. Said it before, but I really hope he enjoys his retirement, because I know I will At the other end of the spectrum, Justin Herbert has been named the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Year. No shock there either... And lastly, I think we're all hoping to hear news that Sam Mills is finally getting inducted into the Hall of Fame. I know his family is hopeful. Scott Fowler actually wrote a pretty good article about that which you can see here (hopefully...pay wall)

I remember hearing once that the Panthers used to have a female business executive or some such who built very good relationships with some of the players

Seeing word now that the Eagles are mostly but not completely opposed to trading Carson Wentz. Don't see him here, but he could be one of those "dominoes". Can't help wondering about Frank Reich and the Colts.

Being an ass takes a lot of work... ...so I'm told

From the comments I read during the GM hiring process, I've come to believe that's not really his thing. Rhule officially has final say over the roster and he'll certainly have input into the personnel processes, but I get the impression that Fitterer is pretty much going to be king of that domain. Maybe part of the reason Marty's not here is that Rhule realized he needed somebody who knew what they were doing over there.

I do know what those are

Speaking of other quarterbacks... Don't see us getting in on this one but it could affect the market if something were to happen with him. (I don't think it will)

I'm not one to pile on but I do have to admit after reading this I wondered what his last conversation with Bridgewater was like.

Given recent context, I figured this was about David Newton.

There are some who think that sort of coaching style isn't going to work well with today's players. I don't really see Rhule changing it though. And it certainly seems to work for the aforementioned Nick Saban.

I can see where that would be bad if you needed a rake or a shovel instead

My office managers never called me a dumbass and made me run laps. Granted, there were times I probably would have preferred that

Call me old if you wish, but I don't know what a "thot" is. I see the term sometimes but I don't know what it means.

I've pondered that. There's no promotion from head coach in the NFL. This is it, and at this level taking an underachieving program to moderate success doesn't get you a pat on the back. It gets you the door. Rhule's in a different world than before, one that's going to ask a lot more of him than the prior ones did. Seriously hope he's up to it.

Thank you for helping illustrate Rhule's coaching style

In that vein, I'm reminded of Dick Vermeil. Super nice guy but also set high standards and had high expectations.

Kinda wondered if that might change once he got to the NFL. Didn't take long to find out. The article notes that Phair was one of the few coaches that didn't have a prior connection to Rhule. I think Pat Meyer was the only other one that applied to.

My first thought was Bill Parcells, but...same thing. I know he had Tom Coughlin as something of a mentor.

When I started playing pee wee football, I learned a lot of new and interesting words. My mom wasn't too happy about that but the coach was my best friend's dad.

Not that it's directly related to the Watson story, but given what happened with Eric Bieniemy in Houston this comment from Watson's agent is kinda

The article includes similar feedback from players. There was chatter out of the Senior Bowl about Rhule yelling at his coaches just as much as he did the players. Sounds like that was legit.

Apparently our head coach, while generally a nice guy, isn't always an easy man to work for...or play for Pretty good read in The Athletic (subscription required) After joining Matt Rhule’s Baylor staff from Rice, Frank Okam was fired up about making the jump to a Power 5 program. Then the first game happened, and Okam wondered if his might be a short stint in Waco. After Okam’s defensive line had a choppy performance in the 2018 opener against Abilene Christian, the Bears’ first-year assistant called his girlfriend to let her know he’d endured the wrath of Rhule. “The headsets were crazy and there was a lot of yelling going back and forth. And coach Rhule in frustration said, ‘Frank, this might be your last game here,’” Okam said last week. “So I called her after the game. I was like, ‘Hey, I think I might be fired from Baylor. So I’m not sure, I’m gonna show up to work tomorrow and see what happens, see if they’ll let me in the building.’” Okam’s job was safe: A calmer Rhule explained the following day he was just trying to get the most out of him and his players. But it was a bit of a system shock for Okam...

I think it was more like someone saying, "Well I guess we have to assign somebody to cover the Panthers. How about we just stick Newton on it? He's in the area anyway. We'll save some money."

Well, I'm not the one saying brilliant things like "just because they put him second on the depth chart doesn't mean they view him as second on the death chart"

I have no more idea who the Panthers are going to draft than anyone else here. (hell, right now even the Panthers themselves don't know) I do take the possibility of drafting Mac Jones seriously though.