shula is a symptom, not the disease

[Lumps]

Uh yea... obvious statements to those not homer blind or mentally challenged. I've been blaming JR for years and have always said this team will have more success under a new owner...even though that isn't very hard.

Sometimes the huddle receives it well, sometimes the huddle bashes statements like that. JR is the real issue and always has been; he's a horrible employer.

I've also never liked Rivera or Shula. Didn't like them day 1.

I can't believe I agree with Fiz, I'm going to kill myself now.

[igor]

alright im drinking by myself because im in asheville and i don't know anyone so here are some words

 

the panthers really don't have any talent on the offensive line, and their running backs are all dead. yet for the past two games they've tried ineffectively to establish the run. Their QB is no real threat to run the ball (RPG down from 7 to 2 this year) and defenses aren't even biting on the read option anymore. 

 

This doesn't mean they can't run the ball. There are other ways to to pick up yards on the ground, namely stretching out the defense and getting them out of the base alignments. For those that have no idea what that means, when you put more wide receivers on the field, defenses will likely take out fat dudes and put in more skinny fast dudes. Theoretically, the fewer fat dudes you have, the better your chances are of blocking successfully, especially since your fat dudes have the benefit of knowing what's going to happen. 

 

Obviously the Panthers haven't done this this year. Even down three scores against the ravens on sunday, the Panthers were running primarily out of base sets: 1-2 TE, 2 WR, FB, RB, etc. This is like 1970s football and its very easy to gameplan against. Take out the read option and this is the most simple offense in the world to guard against, especially when you physically don't have the players to run it. Run blocking is theoretically easier than pass blocking, since all your fat dudes are doing is running real hard and hitting someone. No one told our fat dudes this. 

 

so yeah i think the injuries and lack of talent are revealing the flaws in this playcalling, and I don't think shula or rivera are capable or willing to deviate from the script, which means, uh, not good things. 

 

but to my point, the blame has been far reaching. Shula is the obvious candidate and obviously he's an untalented hack who only has a job because of his last name. I've never been a fan of ron rivera, i thought last year was an anomaly, and i thought his "riverboat" nickname was misplaced. I argued this point extensively and boy howdy do i look correct right now. Gettleman's name gets dragged through the mud, but I don't really think that's fair. He's working with zero cap space, cleaning up hurney's mess, and you can't fix every problem at once. He's put a great set of WRs out there, more than made up for smith's departure IMO (even though it was handled terribly) and done what he can with his back against the wall. I would have preferred he drafted 7 pro bowlers too but what can you reasonably expect?

 

The real problem is jerry.

 

i've been following this team since sweating my chubby 9 year old ass off in clemson and every single year they've been the same. they're gonna run the ball, establish the run, and play suffocating defense. This is what you'd expect an owner to want who played football in the blood and guts era, or back when defenses could actually play defense. The problem with this constant striving for a very specific, antiquated form of football is it hasn't been very successful. The Panthers have had a whopping 5 winning seasons in their two decades of existence. With the exception of one year when the defense just couldn't stop anyone (glorious 1998) and arguably the 2003 playoff run when Jake Delhomme reached his final form, they've prided themselves on being a running team that tries to stop the run. It hasn't worked. 

 

4 former DC head coaches, 4 ish GMs, no sustained success, and no real hopes for the future. Even when Chud was brought in to run his ZANY OFFENSE, it was still predicated on running, just with a QB. Now Shula is running his dad's playbook. True, around this time last year, everything started coming together, but I just don't see it. The dline is a shambles, the plug in play safeties aren't nearly as good as last year's batch, and we don't have the coaching to overcome offensive line inadequacies. 

 

But hey, every five years or so it all comes together, right? 

 

Problem won't change until Jerry is dead. Sorry if that's morbid. 

 

But Jerry could see the error in his ways. There's a solution, and it's just like 6 hours down the road....

 

jerry is deff part of the problem 

[*FreeFua*]

Now JR problem is loyalty. He would let something drag out and get crusty old before he make changes.

This.

Winning isn't a top priority for JR and that's what's most frustrating about this franchise.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

so shula = burning sensation when you pee

 

 

that sounds about right

[Marguide]

Good thread.

 

I agree JR's conservative world view is holding us back. The only flashy hire we've ever had was Seifert (at the time he was a hot candidate) and that blew up in Jerry's face. I'm sure he thinks he learned his lesson from that experience and is unlikely to change going forward.

 

Last preseason, they did an interview with the Eagles owner during our Philly game. He talked about hiring Kelly and how he understood it came with risks but they wanted to swing for the fences and strive to be something special. I remember thinking at the time that the Panthers would never do the same. Jerrry wants conservative coaches that he can hire inexpensively until they prove themselves. Once they do (like Fox), he pays them well, but you are not going to attract a top candidate without a corresponding big salary, and I don't think JR will go that route as long as he's in charge.

 

We have some good pieces though, and this team could still put it together despite our plodding, conservative style.

[WUnderhill]

If you're fine with the GM, how can u be against the guy who hired him?

Jerry isn't to blame for our oline problems.

I think he's a great owner. He let's guys do there jobs, doesn't meddle, and occasionally even inspires. He's also a player favorite, despite what the media would have us believe.

[dunnlx]

Well considering I'm drinking in a bar in Seattle this has been a decent read.

Do you in Seattle man, I'm south of you in the shithole known as Tacoma, lol!

[WUnderhill]

Good thread.

I agree JR's conservative world view is holding us back. The only flashy hire we've ever had was Seifert (at the time he was a hot candidate) and that blew up in Jerry's face. I'm sure he thinks he learned his lesson from that experience and is unlikely to change going forward.

Last preseason, they did an interview with the Eagles owner during our Philly game. He talked about hiring Kelly and how he understood it came with risks but they wanted to swing for the fences and strive to be something special. I remember thinking at the time that the Panthers would never do the same. Jerrry wants conservative coaches that he can hire inexpensively until they prove themselves. Once they do (like Fox), he pays them well, but you are not going to attract a top candidate without a corresponding big salary, and I don't think JR will go that route as long as he's in charge.

We have some good pieces though, and this team could still put it together despite our plodding, conservative style.

Guess who won COY last year...it wasn't Chip fugging Kelly. How can you acknowledge our one really bad HC hire as also being our one splashy hire and then say he's wrong for not making more splashy hires?

[frash.exe]

so shula = burning sensation when you pee

that sounds about right

I'm only taking a half day today

My shulas are acting up

[cbarrier90]

Gus Malzahn in Carolina makes too much sense, so it will never happen.

[CatMan72]

If you think JR is the problem the good news is that by all accounts he's handed the keys to Gettleman. It will be interesting to see what happens to Rivera at the end of the year if things don't go well this season.

I think Rivera is a good coach, but I'm not sure if he has what it takes to get us to the promised land.

It's only fair to mention that Rivera is hampered by our cap situation as much as Gettleman. You can't expect him to make chicken salad out of chicken sh*t.

[PhillyB]

ugh. fiz is right and i hate it. i remember last year bemoaning the fact that jerry richardson sat at the head of all this failure and that our approach to football operations was fundamentally fuged and that the good-every-five-years trend was no accident, but a result of ineptitude at the structural and philosophical level, and that its matriculation into the ranks meant we as fans were basically doomed.

 

in fact, i wrote the following letter to jerry richardson after the buffalo loss:

 

Greetings Mr. Richardson:

 

Yesterday I spent my Sunday watching as my Carolina Panthers fought through adversity to put up late points against the Buffalo Bills. I clutched my beer with trembling, clammy palms as I watched. This tale wasn’t a new one; I’d seen a similar story unfold before my eyes over and over for two years. This time I’d seen enough to know exactly how this story would end, and as cold sweat streamed from my forehead the Bills marched down the field with less than two minutes on the clock and scored a miraculous last-second touchdown that won the game. Our Panthers trod off the field, once again having, against all odds, snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and, once again, Panthers fans were left with a dead glaze in our eyes and our hearts sputtering helplessly in our laps.

 

Jerry, I’ve debated writing you this letter plenty of times before. I almost wrote you one after we lost to the Vikings in 2011, but I scrapped it because, well, it was a rebuilding year and our franchise quarterback was still earning his wings. I almost dropped one in the mail last year after the debacle against the Falcons ruined my week, and I’d have written you one when the Panthers allowed the Buccaneers an effortless overtime drive for the win in our house had the crushing weight of failure not bore so heavily on my chest that the mere thought of football was too nauseating to expend the effort.

 

So I waited. I spent this past offseason, as I always do, investing hours in your football team every day, following fan forums, contributing heavily, counting down the days as I always do, ready for the 2013 Panthers to take the field, hoping against all hope that our fanbase’s collective worries about your decision to hang on to head coach and noted milquetoast Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Shula would be for naught, that our team would rise finally to its glorious potential, that at last, at long last, our suffering would manifest itself in the redemption of a winning season.

 

Instead we lost to the Seattle Seahawks and followed it up, as I have already documented, with the most heartbreaking possible to the lowly Bills.

And now I’m writing you this letter. I’m writing this letter because I care too much about this team, I invest too much money in monthly sojourns to Charlotte to spend hard-earned dollars on tickets and overpriced concessions, and I spend too much time defending Jerry Richardson and Ron Rivera and the coaching staff and the players – regardless of what I think of them - on the online Panthers forums not to. I cannot in good conscience be apathetic. So here we go:

 

Jerry, this fanbase had your back for years. We were undyingly grateful, in spite of our on-field travails, to you for having brought a franchise to the Carolinas. We unanimously, even the most pessimistic among us, considered you to be one of the best – if not the best – owners in the National Football League. We were ok with sitting through abysmal seasons and the stale come of mediocrity because we knew in our heart of hearts that as long as Jerry was at the helm we’d come out alright in the end.

 

And then came the lockout. Then came Jerry refusing to pay for a new coach because cutting the current one would affect his bottom line. Then came the infamous pie chart, the ominous outward manifestation of Jerry’s priorities; then came the oft-quoted “who is Jim Harbaugh?” press conference, and as Panthers fans our epistemic comfort blanket had been snatched suddenly and quite ruthlessly from our tearful grasp. Suddenly we questioned everything. Suddenly, the lens of brand loyalty, of emblazoned, eternal passion had cracked, the intricately-woven web of fierce loyalty had torn… for the first time as fans we no longer viewed problems as isolated, autonomous incidents. Suddenly the finger pointed at Marty Hurney was pointed to the man who chose to place a beat reporter in charge of a front office; suddenly the accusations of foolhardy, outdated football philosophy in head coach John Fox were elevated to the level of the man who controlled his hiring; suddenly, and collectively, we as a fanbase came to the realization that incompetence was not individually fostered and manifested, but rather matriculated from the top down.

 

We realized, after years of denial, that we had a culture problem, and and the common denominator in all of them was none other than Jerry Richardson.

 

Here’s the heartbreaking thing, Mr. Richardson: no matter what happens, you win. If you continue, through meddling in football operations with a football philosophy better suited to the 1970’s Steelers than to modernity, to place an inferior product on the field, you’ll still have countless Panthers fans footing the bill and placing obscene profits in the pockets of you and your shareholders. You’ll still benefit from Charlotte’s identity as a city of transplants, with invading away-game fans from New York and Pennsylvania inflating ticket sales and allowing your electric blue seats to be filled with howling yellow-clad fanatics from the north. No matter how many times my heart gets ripped out on Sundays you’ll still line your pockets. And frankly, Jerry, we’ve all gotten the impression that that’s all that matters to you anymore. Four winning seasons in 17 has made that as clear as it’s going to get.

 

Football is a national sport, inextricable from our culture and the identity we as Americans craft for ourselves on a weekly basis, and by placing your profits in front of providing a winning football team for Carolinians held captive by their cultural context you are shirking your due diligence as one privileged by the forces of fate to positively determine the fate of the emotions of millions of citizens spread at home in the Carolinas and abroad. Human agency is a lie, a clever trick, an illusion: social structure produces humans, not the other way around. And you, Mr. Richardson, are no exception. You have a social responsibility to provide the structure which created you - enabled you, endowed you with your abilities – a winning football team, or at least the priority of creating one, or at least a passable illusion of doing so (and right now absolutely no one is fooled.) I do not speak merely for myself; what was once a rippling tide of discontentment among your team’s fanbase has reached a boiling crescendo.

 

The great French existentialist philosopher Blaise Pascal once declared that at the end “…the last act is tragic, however happy all the rest of the play is; at the last a little earth is thrown upon our head, and that is the end for ever.” Perhaps a little maudlin, but no less effective for it: Pascal here is speaking to the basic human truth that no matter our course in this life, no matter our gain, no matter the things with which we occupy ourselves, no matter how rich or how poor or how smart or how dumb we manage to be during our brief instant on this pale blue dot hurtling through time and space, at the end the king and the pauper share the same fate: and the only thing which continues to matter is the legacy which we leave behind.

 

What we do in this life echoes in eternity, Jerry. Speaking for the Carolina faithful I hope you choose accordingly.

 

If you would like to reach me for further discussion, I may be contacted by my above-listed contact information; additionally I would be happy to meet you for lunch or a beer to discuss it in person. I’ll buy.

 

 

Kindest Regards,

 

PhillyB

 

 

jerry never wrote me back, and after we beat the giants the following week my rage subsided, and after we beat the rams and the bucs i began to rethink my letter. we started stomping teams left and right and my fears, that bitter tinge that'd sat in my stomach as i contemplated our problems disappeared with the surge of wins. i began to think that maybe we'd transcended these problems, that maybe jerry had struck gold, that his ideas had found life.

 

and now i'm doubting that again. i'm wondering if that was just our half-decade spike, if all of the flaws manifest in jerry's archaic philosophy are once again matriculating and resulting in what we've begun to see on the field. it's a taste in my mouth that's familiar and repulsive. i recognize it, and i don't like it.

 

hopefully i'm wrong and we'll beat the bears and i won't need to write another letter.

[pstall]

If you have ever read Phil Steele you know the year over year difference close losses or wins make.

Panthers lived a charmed life.

Go back and watch the Lions game and see how they went out of their way to give us the game.

Been a loooooong time since we cracked 30.

[Marguide]

Guess who won COY last year...it wasn't Chip fugging Kelly. How can you acknowledge our one really bad HC hire as also being our one splashy hire and then say he's wrong for not making more splashy hires?

 

I think you read Chip Kelly and then missed the whole point of my post.

 

JR's risk taking days are probably behind him. That can be both good and bad, but nonetheless it seems a fair characterization of where he's at. And yes, I'm sure some of it comes from Seifert failing so miserably.

 

So when top candidates (read, in high demand) are out there, we aren't a likely landing spot. And while that may avoid abject failure, it also probably lessens your odds of getting a superstar. That is the aspect of JR that may be limiting the organization.

 

Two more things: 1) yes, Ron was COY, and I was very happy for him. Hopefully we got lucky and he will lead us to multiple Super Bowls. I see him as a good, but perhaps not great coach, and 2) I did not want us to hire Kelly even with Rivera being on the hot seat.