Mr. Scot

From Darin Gantt's latest article on Panthers.com... Among his first moves was to get the former players back into the building, and on the walls. Panthers legends became staples on the practice fields of OTAs and training camp, and not just the ones who live in the neighborhood. But in the blank spaces in the locker room, there are now huge photos of Sam Mills, of Julius Peppers and Jordan Gross, of Jake Delhomme and Greg Olsen, and more. There's a huge Steve Smith in the team meeting room in full flex, next to the words: "Stay ready so you don't have to get ready." But lots of coaches have slogans. That message lands differently when Smith himself's out there volunteering as a coach in rookie minicamp, working with second-rounder Jonathan Mingo on his route-running, and then taking the time to talk after practice to a bunch of guys who are long shots at best (only 12 of them are still here, between the roster and practice squad). ... That's Reich's doing, the open invitation for Luke Kuechly to come talk to the team when he wants, to put the current players in the same continuum of Panthers history with Dom Capers and him and his former teammate Sam Mills. Reich was here from the start of the organization, so that history has personal meaning for him, too. So when he met linebacker Shaq Thompson, his first request was for Thompson to pass along what he learned. (Thompson was a rookie on a 15-1 team in 2015 with Kuechly and Thomas Davis.) "He just wants us to teach the young guys," Thompson said. "Just drop some knowledge on them and just help them along the way. Just be good examples and leaders." ... And Reich then followed by doing the same thing. As with Brown, Thompson said one of Reich's first conversations with him included the Wilks-sized elephant in the room because last year's interim was also willing to harken back to 2014 and the 7-8-1 division champions when he was trying to drag the 2022 team on an improbable playoff push (which almost worked). "I mean, he's bringing it back," Thompson said of Reich. "The biggest thing was the history, the good things that happened before us, all the legends that came through here. Start with Sam Mills, he's bringing them back. What Keep Pounding means, and he knows them around here because he was around. "And it's just good to see, you know what I mean? Just bringing the culture back into what was instilled. It was instilled in him before everybody was here. And that's kind of an extension of what Steve was doing." ... In a way, it's kind of easy to invoke the name Sam Mills when you walk into Bank of America Stadium. He said the thing, and is in the Hall of Fame. It's a lot harder to invoke the name of Steve Wilks when you're walking into his former office. And not everyone is secure enough in themselves to say the quiet part out loud. "We went through that, and it's done, and you've got to move on, right?" Thompson said. "And I think he's come in here and done a phenomenal job. Since he walked in, it's business. We sat down and talked about it. "And just being out there in practice, you can just see everybody bought in already. And it really helps out when you have the leaders showing that they have bought in and showing that they're working hard. It really shows you how fast this team really bought in." Listen, learn, lead: How Panthers head coach Frank Reich got to know a new team This is one of the longest articles I've seen in a while, but it's a good one. With info like Luke Kuechly having an open invitation to come and speak to the team and talk about the amount of trust Reich is putting in veteran players to lead, it's well worth your time. Whether or not we're going to succeed under current leadership, I don't know. One thing I can say definitively though is that Frank Reich's style of coaching is diametrically opposite that of Matt Rhule. Reich knows he's dealing with men, not boys. And he treats them as such...

We saw plenty of Williams during his days with the Bucs. Really hate to hear that he's passed so young.

Horrible news

This could get interesting

As to expectations, if you're going into this season having any at all, it's probably a mistake. This is a total reboot with a new staff, new quarterback and everything. Who knows what the first season will look like? Me? I don't care. I just want to see progress that builds toward next season. That's when expectations can really start.

That would have been a big "screw you" to Steve Wilks. He may not have earned the head coaching job here, but he did at least deserve the chance to do so.

I would have hired Livvy Dunne but, that's just me (it's probably not just me)

That's not real

Without the trades of McCaffrey and Moore, we don't get Young.

You aren't. “No fault to anybody who is not participating,’’ Burns said. “But we’ve got something special, and I’m a big part of it, so I can’t miss no time. I’ve just got to be here.’’ ... But just because Burns never thought about holding out doesn’t mean the contract hasn’t been on his mind. “Of course it’s been on my mind,’’ Burns said. “This is personal, but I’ve been working on my relationship with God. I left it in his hands. I just did everything I could in my power to be on this field with my teammates. I feel if you live the right way, good things will happen to you.’’ "I've got to be here" : Why Brian Burns isn't holding out

This guy again? Didn't 4Yzor just ban him under one of his other 'D' screen names? Apparently the D stands for Dumbass

I thought it was Chosen Anderson. Did he change it again?

I don't think they included any of the new head coaches.

Probably comes with being coach of the Jaguars...

Wonder if Verge was in on that conversation

BOA comes in 24th on this one.

Nebraska coach throws player under the bus after fumble After the game, Matt Rhule seemingly called out one of their players for making a crucial mistake, per HuskerExtra. The Nebraska football coach said that RB1 Anthony Grant had ball security issues, and urged the player to protect the football better. “In the scrimmage he fumbled the football. He's fumbled it a couple times. We know that Anthony can make a ton of plays. He has to protect the football.”

I feel pretty comfortable they'll at least hit 2-0

Hasn't Burns pretty much stated that he won't hold out?