Every season there is a team that makes a huge jump under a new head coach. Could the Panthers join this list?

[hepcat]

Over the last decade there is a team every season that gets a new head coach and the team greatly improves their win total. Here's a quick overview of some of those teams. Could the Panthers join the list as one of these teams? Why or why not?

2019 Green Bay Packers - 7 game win improvement. In his first year as head coach of the Packers, Matt LaFleur inherited a HOF QB that had been underachieving and turned out a 13-3 season, one year after the Packers finished 6-9-1. I'd give him little credit for the turnaround, other than maybe not having a toxic relationship with Aaron Rodgers.

2018 Chicago Bears - 7 game win improvement. Matt Nagy took control of a sputtering 5-11 Bears team to get the most out of Mitch Trubisky for one season. A strong defense and major trade for Khalil Mack turned this team around quickly.

2017 Los Angeles Rams - 7 game win improvement. Sean McVay took over a wildly underachieving Rams roster that had been stuck in the miserableness that is a Jeff Fisher coached team. McVay got the most out of Jared Goff and created a powerhouse team that went on a Superbowl run the next season.

2016 New York Giants - 5 game win improvement. Ben McAdoo inherited a talented veteran roster that was sick of Tom Coughlin. Some key additions to the defense catapulted this underachieving team into a competitive 11-5 record.

2015 New York Jets - 6 game win improvement. Todd Bowles took over a terrible Jets team coming off a 4-12 season in Rex Ryan's last year as head coach, to propel the Jets to a 10-6 record behind some some Fitzmagic and a solid defense. They narrowly missed the playoffs with a 10-6 record.

2014 Detroit Lions - 4 game win improvement. Jim Caldwell inherited a decent roster from the previous coach Jim Schwartz, and got the most out of a talented roster to improve the Lions to a 11-5 record and a tough fought playoff berth.

2013 Kansas City Chiefs - 9 game win improvement. The Chiefs completely turn around their franchise in one season by hiring Andy Reid and trading for Alex Smith, after the worst season in their history, going 2-14 under Romeo Crennel in 2012 (one of those wins being against our Panthers!!) 

2012 Indianapolis Colts - 9 game win improvement. The Colts draft Andrew Luck and first year coach Chuck Pagano/Bruce Arians guide the Colts to a strong 11-5 record, a year after going 2-14 in the weird year between Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck.

2011 San Francisco 49ers - 7 game win improvement. Jim Harbaugh takes over a talented but wildly underachieving roster and creates a powerhouse in the 49ers, finishing 13-3 behind a rejuvenated Alex Smith and a stingy defense. Maybe the best comparison that can be made to the Panthers new head coach Matt Rhule, plucking a good head coach from the college ranks and hoping his success translates to the NFL.

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

most of those teams had talent that we dont have. like that 49ers roster harbaugh got was stacked af

 

[Seltzer]

14 minutes ago, Sean Payton's Vicodin said:

most of those teams had talent that we dont have. like that 49ers roster harbaugh got was stacked af

 

Yep. I am 100% on board with the Rhule hire, but this is a team that won 6 games last year and then proceeded to lose an incredible amount of talent.

I like what the team did in the draft and FA, but this season presents an almost unprecedented challenge with the roster and coaching turnover. And that's before all the pandemic-related issues including no OTAs or preseason.

This is a 2-4 win team on paper, especially with our division and schedule. 

I'm a Panthers homer, but most objective people view us rightly as a bottom dweller in the division, conference, and league for all these reasons.

Anything over 6 wins this year IMO will be a combination of great coaching and Covid 19 unpredictability.

I would love to be proven wrong.  And i think Rhule stands a great chance of winning coach of the year. Just probably not this year.

[Jeremy Igo]

Good thread. That would be amazing but I have doubts. 

[hepcat]

If this list is narrowed down to teams that had a new coach and a new QB, the only teams that would be on the list are the 2015 New York Jets, 2013 Kansas City Chiefs, and the 2012 Indianapolis Colts. You'd have to go back to some teams like the 2008 Atlanta Falcons and 2008 Baltimore Ravens to see the last few teams that had a new QB and head coach the same season that had a winning record. It's admitedly very rare to see a team get a new head coach AND QB and see success their first season.

Of all the teams that have a new head coach in 2020 (Cowboys, Redskins, Browns, Giants, Panthers), the Panthers look like maybe the least likely or second least likely team to make a win jump (aside from maybe the Redskins). The Browns or Giants seem like a more likely candidate to make a drastic jump in win total. The Cowboys don't really count because at 8-8, they weren't really a bad team and a big win total jump would have to be a 13-3+ type season. 

My best guess would be the Browns finally get out of the cellar this season. 

[nogoodbum]

How many of the listed teams had rookies [basically] at OC & DC?

[LinvilleGorge]

Usually the teams that make a jump are teams that had a lot of good pieces in place and were looking for a coach to get them over the hump, not a team looking at a complete rebuild. Look at our roster turnover this off-season for evidence as to which category we got into.