Be careful what you wish for....

[Davidson Deac II]

Spot on. You know what's funny? Seifert was in this same predicament. He knew that the only way to get the picks was to purge the team of veterans and, as he put it, "stick your balls out there".

The 2001 draft produced Morgan, Jenkins and Smitty. George went with young guys, finished 1-15, and was fired before the next draft produced Peppers, Foster and Witherspoon.

As for QB, the only coach I can think of who could win Super Bowls (plural) without a franchise quarterback was Joe Gibbs.

Definitely true. Gibbs won three superbowls, and the only QB that was arguably better career wise than Delhomme was Theisman. Joe was great at putting together an offense that recognized a teams strengths and weaknesses. Even though Gibbs didn't have quite the success when he came back, he still had more success than any other Skins coach since Gibbs retired.

But Gibbs always found a way to make his QB successful in the passing game, thats something Fox can't seem to do with Jake this year. Or maybe Jake has just lost it and no one can succeed with him.

I can only think of one coach since who has won one without a good to great QB (Baltimore and Billick).

[Davidson Deac II]

But I agree with your premise that getting a new coach will be risky. Truth is that the odds are we will be worse, not better. The majority of new coaches end up failing.

[Matt Foley]

But I agree with your premise that getting a new coach will be risky. Truth is that the odds are we will be worse, not better. The majority of new coaches end up failing.

I wanted Martz gone in the worst way, and when he left I felt like we were finally going to see some sensible play calling and talent evaluation. Whoopsie.

[Snake]

lol, coughlin got Steve Spagnuolo

Fixed it for you.

[Kevin Greene]

As for QB, the only coach I can think of who could win Super Bowls (plural) without a franchise quarterback was Joe Gibbs.

Gibbs has gotten some great QB work in Super Bowls.

No one's ever had a better quarter of football than this guy:

[panthers55]

If we let Fox go we might be the next Tampa, They bitched and complained about Gruden and how poor he was (funny how some people here think he is the answer, ask most Tampa fans what they think) and then replace him with Morris. Now they know how bad things can get. At this point it would be worth it to can Fox and see if all the problems he is getting blamed for are even remotely correct. Problem for me is that I want the Panthers to win no matter who the coaches are since I am a Panthers fan not a fan of any particular coach or player.

Nonetheless since Fox is the cause of all our issues just like Gruden was in Tampa, I am sure just like them that if we replace Fox everything will be instantly better next year.

[Jaxel]

If Fox had a decent QB playing we wouldn't be 3-5. No one predicted Delhomme playing as bad as he has played. Comes with taking the risks my friends.

Keep Fox, draft a QB.

[Fiz]

We will have a easy schedule next year. And that's the way Fox likes it, easy years make him look like a good winning coach.

be honest: you don't know how the schedule works, do you

[letha]

And the Panthers won't be playing the last placed NFC teams. Tampa Bay has that locked up.

Tampa Bay will get Washington and Detroit. Carolina will get the Giants and Green Bay.

who we play in the NFC West .oh never mind because Fox owns that division

[unicar15]

Fox's flaw isn't an inability to coach...its an inability to see flaws in his team. He left himself without an excuse when he failed to prepare for Jake Delhomme.

Not drafting a QB the year Delhomme had surgery was inexcusable. Not playing Deangelo to see what he was really made of before drafting Stewart was inexcusable. He could have had Flacco and Otah but failed to see the flaws in his team early enough. Say what you want but he has ridden Jake Delhomme all the way out of town...

[JJT]

im sorry fox wont change.the same qb will be starting next year if he is here.and so would conservative football.

In fairness, we should consider the possibility that the overly timid (not conservative) play-calling comes from JR rather from any head coach.

[JJT]

To compound it, instead of trying to "win" now the team is regulated to "keeping it close" and "hope to win at the end"

Seems to me that has been the constant strategy since Capers. Ergo, it comes from ownership.

[Woodie]

The first thing we need to remember is that this team has a very good core group of players. There are some holes, for sure, but as a whole, there is a lot of good talent on this team. So if we did make a change, the cupboards would not be bare for the new HC as they were for most of the other examples used as a warning.

I think the reality of the situation is that Fox is basically a good coach that, barring major injuries, will usually produce a decent team that will contend for a playoff spot...but not be annual contenders for the SB. In other words, his ceiling is limited, and unfortunately, I think we have hit his ceiling. The problem is that he plays it far too safe. It's fine to be a conservative team, as long as you also know when to ratchet it up and when to go for the jugular. Unfortunately, Fox doesn't.

[Woodie]

To build on my last post, take yesterdays game as an example. We had NO down 14 points and on their heels. Rather than go for the kill and put more distance between us, he lets off the gas and goes into his ultra safe game managing mode. I know Jake has not been good this year, but even when the Saints were bringing nine in the box, and run blitzing almost every play, he still refused to throw it to try and take some heat off the backs and make the Saints pay for cheating. Instead, he continued to run it almost every time, and often right into the gut of that nine man front.

The same thing happens on defense. When we play with some aggressiveness, we usually do a good job of containing the opponent’s offense, even the high caliber ones. But once we get a lead, he is so desperate to protect the lead and prevent any big plays that he starts playing softer and trying to keep everything in front. Unfortunately, that softer style usually results in big gaps that allow the opposition to chip there way downfield 5-7 yards at a time.

The ironic thing is that I believe this team is built to be aggressive. Not intentionally mind you, but that is they way it turned out. We have a lot of speed and big hitters on defense and some offensive weapons that could be very dangerous if used better. And what's really funny, almost every time we are forced into being aggressive, we take over and often dominate. But once we get that lead, or get the game close again, he goes back into his safety shell.

So yes, I think it is time for Fox to go. He would be great for a rebuilding team to get them back to respectability, but not for a team ready to take that next step to SB contender...in a way, the anti-Seifert.