What kind of a record would make Richardson pull the trigger?

[rayzor]

we have seen 7-9 before......but this ain't a team lead by Foster and David Carr. This team happens to have probably one of the better offenses in the league w/ some GREAT and healthy talent on D.

all the more reason to get someone in who can take advantage of that talent. if fox can't get it done with these guys then we need to get someone who can. he has this year. if he can't then we need to get someone here who can.

[bleys]

3 of 7??

We went 7-9 his first year here-coming from 1-15.

Every year he's been here-we've been a winning team.

We have had losing records, courtesy of devestating injuries and such, but every year Fox has been here, the Panthers have been in the hunt for the playoffs come December.

Fox is a VERY underrated Coach who will land a job somewhere days after we cut him.

'04 and '07... other than that, care to explain further how we have devastating injuries "and such" every year..? Seems to me our issue is finding valuable depth.... And still, that falls on the coaching staff... Injuries happen.

The bolded part... what were you implying? This isn't necessarily targeted at you alone.. but to all those I hear making that statement.

I hate hearing that statement. WTF does that have to do with anything?

I don't give a damn who picks him up and how fast it happens. That doesn't mean poo to this team and the same inconsistency we face. Not to mention the stubbornness that is John Fox and his inability to fill glaring holes like FS, DT, WR (if they didn't hit a home run on Smitty, how do you think we would look for the last several years?), OLINE (up until last year) and to some extent a FUTURE QB..

He does an impressive job at taking impossible circumstances and making us break even at the end of the year (yes, consider 7-9 breaking even in '04) and raising the bar of success.. But when we have good teams already, he doesn't seem to make them great.

He has a system that will make most horrible teams average. Detroit might pick him up the day after he "resigns". but what does that really mean? (not a damn thing to me..) However, that same system seems to keep that team from becoming dangerous.

This is my frustration... ignore it at will.

I sure as hell wish he would prove me wrong... I've been backing this team for a long time now. At some point, the time comes to make a change. I thank Fox for giving us some good years, but it's about that time to move on. I suspect we'll end up average, this team will not go 5-11, but we will never consistently threaten the league either.

[rayzor]

there are unemployed coaches with more wins and more rings, more playoff appearances than fox who would get jobs before fox does.

the league isn't looking for retreads (which fox would be) they are going with newer HCs. how many HC changes has their been in the last 3 years? how many of those teams have picked new coaches?

there is only one former coach who teams have been after and that is cowher.

fox might find a job but it is far from certain.

[Gman was right]

Oh, I don't know... 0-16?

Why would the team owner want to ditch the winningest coach in team history? A coach that never posted a record lower than 7-9? One who took the team to the Super Bowl? Or got them to the playoffs three times in six years?

Maybe he would fire him if enough weenies on fan forums gnashed their teeth and typed all in caps? Get real.

Look at it from the business side. Fox brought the team respectability and he did it quick. His record and coaching brought us spots as the featured national game (MNF, SNF, TNF), rather than being the also rans way back in the national coverage.

That respect has put butts in the seats at the stadium, has driven better TV ratings, sold tons of merchandise, extended the season three times (thereby GREATLY increasing team revenues from all sources) and he has been a steady, solid performer that hasn't had any incidents (like punching out an assistant coach, flipping out at a news conference (Playoffs?!!?! Playoffs??!!?? They are who we thought they are!).

He also hasn't courted TOs, Favre's or Plaxicos out of desperation, hasn't had team alcohol problems like the Bengals or Vikings, hasn't had tampering charges leveled against him, courted a college coaching HC job, or just simply given up on the team during a rough spot.

Pull the trigger because he got out coached for the season opener and then lost a nail biter against a strong division rival in their house? After coming off a 12-4 season that ended in a butt whooping from a Super Bowl team on the rise?

Yeah, right. Fox is really about to get fired. Really. Pink slip already warm and in the printer. Stack of empty copier paper boxes right beside his desk. Yep, on his way out. Security is on alert and the doorman is WD-40ing the hinges.

Ain't gonna happen forum dweebs unless they find Foxy with a dead hooker or a live boy, to quote the old political axiom.

Being the best HC of a mediocre and inconsistent franchise thats only been around for 15 years doesnt make you a great HC. It just means you were the best out of a mediocre group. Fox has only averaged 8 wins a year in his 7 year stint. Im not interested in going 7-9 every other year and only making the playoffs every now and then. This team should be a legitimate playoff contender year in and year out. Fox has lived off the one super bowl year from six years ago long enough. Its time for a change. He has taken this franchise as far as he can go.

[Gman was right]

3 of 7??

We went 7-9 his first year here-coming from 1-15.

Every year he's been here-we've been a winning team.

We have had losing records, courtesy of devestating injuries and such, but every year Fox has been here, the Panthers have been in the hunt for the playoffs come December.

Fox is a VERY underrated Coach who will land a job somewhere days after we cut him.

No, a winning team is a team with a winning record PERIOD which we have only had 3 out of 7 years under Fox. Injuries is just an excuse! Every team has them. Im not interested in being in the hunt in December. im interested in being in the hunt in January. Sorry, but I cannot lower the bar to your level.

[bleys]

Being the best HC of a mediocre and inconsistent franchise thats only been around for 15 years doesnt make you a great HC. It just means you were the best out of a mediocre group. Fox has only averaged 8 wins a year in his 7 year stint. Im not interested in going 7-9 every other year and only making the playoffs every now and then. This team should be a legitimate playoff contender year in and year out. Fox has lived off the one super bowl year from six years ago long enough. Its time for a change. He has taken this franchise as far as he can go.

Foster holds the most rushing yards for this franchise.....

I think that's a good comparison......

[Gman was right]

Foster holds the most rushing yards for this franchise.....

I think that's a good comparison......

Exactly! Another good comparison is Jake Delhomme holding all the passing records for this franchise. It doesnt get any more mediocre than that.

[doghead28]

6-10

[panthers55]

Fox's contract run through 2010. He will coach until then unless he absolutely implodes this year. At 5 million a season they are going to keep him around plus they will give Meeks and his staff this year and next to prove themselves. If they go 7-9 or better he will be here for his last year. If morale is poor and Fox has lost the support of the players then he will be gone after this year. Richardson is an ex-football player and knows that the record doesn't always tell the whole story. But he knows that when a coach loses the respect of the players and they stop playing for him, then he has to go. Both Capers and Seifert lost control of the team and they were gone the next year. That to Richardson is the most important issue. Winning at home is a close second.

[Gman was right]

Money isn't an issue.JR fired capers 2 years into a 10 year extension.JR has to be sick of going 7-9 by now.Fox was nearly fired after the last 7-9 season.No more inconsistent football!

[magnus]

I would agree if it werent for the fact that Cowher is all that you just mentioned and also avaliable to us. Cowher runs the same philosophy... only better and he would command ALOT of respect when hiring new assistants and coordinators.

Cowher by that same standard would've been fired four times over here. 6-10 twice, took 14 years to win a Super Bowl, after losing one and taking a decade to get back. People who think that getting a guy who's won a Super Bowl suggests winning a Super Bowl, clearly didn't learn from Seifert or the league as a whole - guys can be good at this. Cowher is. But guarantees don't come with these hires at all.

Of course, it's two losses into the year and a ton of quitters who expect their team to play hard every snap, has taken to replacing these players they expect to put their bodies on the line every snap along with the coach that brought them together. So for those of you saying it's "a business decision", realize that business is made rationally and we are not going to fire a coach three games into a season. This isn't Madden, this doesn't come with a reset button.

[fignewty314]

he fired his sons before we lost a game,so i'd say 0-3 and then he'll sell the team to ryan seacrest

[bigdog10]

I don't think that it is the record that will do fox and hurney in as much as it will be the poor personel decisions: Peppers, Jake, Gamble, trading 1st round picks, no depth...etc

[Sam Mills Fan]

i guess the bar is set pretty low around here. as long as you can keep the team from being 1-15 you're ok and even then, since you took the team to the superbowl years ago you could probably stay longer.

awesome. mediocrity rules.

I agree. Some of our fans are pathetic. The damn goal of a franchise shouldn't be 7-9 to 9-7 every year. It's disgusting that they're satisfied with mediocrity every year. If you're not competing for Super Bowl trophies, then what you're doing is pointless. We will never win a Super Bowl with John Fox as head coach. For that fact alone, a change should be made.