We don’t know what we don’t know

[Stuart Smith]

David Tepper paid 2.3 billion dollars for the Panthers in 2018. Make no mistake, he is an alpha male. He did not buy this team and intend for it to be a last pace team. He will not allow what we saw this year to continue without exhausting all the tools he has in his tool box. He made a mistake by firing a respected coach (Ron Rivera) before the season ended which was almost unprecedented. He made another mistake with the length of the Rhule Contract.  He did not want to make those mistake again and get a reputation as someone who had constant coaching turnover; quality coaching prospects need reasonable security.  (IE: Brian Flores) As much as I question Rhule being the right person to coach the Panthers I understand Tepper’s decision to delay pulling the trigger. I keep seeing post from those who feel he needs to hold a press conference, I understand the frustration but I don’t expect him to hold a press conference. The coaching changes that are forthcoming are a statement from him. I expect there to be a coaching hire that could serve as an interim head coach if the Panthers next season does not begin well. While it may not be stated publicly I do not feel Rhule will have the autonomy over personnel decisions he has had. As much as I feel Sam Darnold is not the answer at quarterback he needs not only an offensive line but more consistent help from the coaching staff. Hiring the best position coaches available will be a huge step in the right direction for the offense. It will certainly be an interesting off season for the Panthers. 

[Jared Patterson]

Still what's the point of a lame duck year for both sides?

[Jared Patterson]

Whats the point of keeping the head coach if he has to fire every single one of his coordinators/assistants for you to trust him? I don't know, I got to think Tepper is smart enough to see through all this BS. Shoot, give me proof of Joe Judge being a worse option as coach? Same record and smacked us head to head. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Jared Patterson

[Ricky Spanish]

OK so

1) I applaud you for attempting to be rational when so many on here (myself included) are not at the moment.

2) Firing Ron was not the wrong move. Sometimes it's just time. Happened with Andy Reid. Happened with Doug Pederson. Happened with Mike McCarthy. It happened with Ron too. 

3) Two years is not too soon to fire a coach. If they don't produce within the first two years or show a downward trend from year one to year two, it's time to cut bait and run. One year can be too soon unless the coach is a complete dumpster fire (ie Urban Meyer). 

4 )"Hiring the best position coaches available will be a huge step in the right direction for the offense" - I have my doubts that a) Rhule can even identify the best available coaches, and b) If he blind squirrels it, Why would they want to work here with Rhule who is a potential lame duck HC who has been throwing assistants under the bus? OC for the Panthers under Rhule is one of the least attractive open positions right now.

5) Rhule should absolutely not have final say on rosters moving forward as he is dildos at talent evaluation, as well as putting players in a position to succeed (See Chinn moving to Safety, Playing BC at Guard all year until injuries forced him to have the best games at T all season, "Short arms", Deonte Brown not getting any significant time to evaluate him in game situations when John Miller is literally the worst starting guard in the NFL, etc.)

6) Darnold is broken and no amount of coaching will fix him. He has been the worst QB in the league the past 4 years. He is a lost cause even if he were behind the Cowboys lines from the 90s. 

[L-TownCat]

I do NOT want to hear about Tepper’s “good reasons”.

This is not a smart way to run a franchise.

He screwed the pooch and now we get to savor the flavor another calendar year.

[rayzor]

I think that's giving them a lot more credit than they deserve. They're not that smart. They're just holding on hoping that something works and they're too cocky to realize they are in over their heads.

[Stuart Smith]

5 minutes ago, Ricky Spanish said:

OK so

1) I applaud you for attempting to be rational when so many on here (myself included) are not at the moment.

2) Firing Ron was not the wrong move. Sometimes it's just time. Happened with Andy Reid. Happened with Doug Pederson. Happened with Mike McCarthy. It happened with Ron too. 

3) Two years is not too soon to fire a coach. If they don't produce within the first two years or show a downward trend from year one to year two, it's time to cut bait and run. One year can be too soon unless the coach is a complete dumpster fire (ie Urban Meyer). 

4 )"Hiring the best position coaches available will be a huge step in the right direction for the offense" - I have my doubts that a) Rhule can even identify the best available coaches, and b) If he blind squirrels it, Why would they want to work here with Rhule who is a potential lame duck HC who has been throwing assistants under the bus? OC for the Panthers under Rhule is one of the least attractive open positions right now.

5) Rhule should absolutely not have final say on rosters moving forward as he is dildos at talent evaluation, as well as putting players in a position to succeed (See Chinn moving to Safety, Playing BC at Guard all year until injuries forced him to have the best games at T all season, "Short arms", Deonte Brown not getting any significant time to evaluate him in game situations when John Miller is literally the worst starting guard in the NFL, etc.)

5) Darnold is broken and no amount of coaching will fix him. He has been the worst QB in the league the past 4 years. He is a lost cause even if he were behind the Cowboys lines from the 90s. 

I agree with the decision about Ron Rivera, just feel like he should have been allowed to finish the season. I am not saying Darnold is the answer. However, receivers not running routes correctly and dropping passes need to be held accountable too. You make some good points. 

[hepcat]

Tepper doesn’t know how to build a winning team. Full stop. The team has made horrible football decisions left and right since he took over. Starting with hiring Matt Rhule who has been nothing short of the fraud I expected him to be. He’s not going to magically turn this team around next year. He’s a bad coach and he needs to be fired immediately.

David Tepper is showing us he is committing to bad results for another season. 

[Ricky Spanish]

9 minutes ago, Stuart Smith said:

I agree with the decision about Ron Rivera, just feel like he should have been allowed to finish the season. I am not saying Darnold is the answer. However, receivers not running routes correctly and dropping passes need to be held accountable too. You make some good points. 

We didn't do Ron dirty. Hell, we gave him a farewell press conference because he was so well respected. It was a mutually beneficial parting in the middle of the season. Ron Knew he wouldn't be back, and Tepper knew he wanted someone new, so Tepper gave Ron a head start to find a new job, and gave us a head start to find and hire the BEST head coach (LOL) candidate available.

[Pejorative Miscreant]

Pie to OP. I don’t necessarily agree with what you laid out but kudos for making an unpopular counterpoint. Fact is, whatever the rationale, our wagon is hitched to Rhule for now.  No matter how many threads we make restating our lamentations, we are stuck with this probably for another season at least  

Lots of frustration all around and I think folks just need time to vent a while more.  

[Fox007]

22 minutes ago, Pejorative Miscreant said:

Lots of frustration all around and I think folks just need time to vent a while more.  

I think you've misreckoned 

This is a permanent fixture atm.

[Mr. Scot]

Yeah, sorry but the whole alpha male, "won't accept failure" thing sounds great in the movies. In the real world, it doesn't truly work.

The problem is you can't just will something to happen if you're not smart enough to make the right decisions. So far, there's been no indication that David Tepper has that kind of intelligence.

And the reality is that if he doesn't have the right sort of smarts, it isn't gonna matter how determined he is.

He's still going to fail.

[glenwo2]

Sam doesn't need an O-Line.

He needs a brain-transplant 'cause his current one is broken and can never be fixed.

He was Carr'd in NY and further Carr'd here.

Add to that.....that he wasn't all that good to begin with and you have a high-quality recipe for SUCK.

Edited January 12, 2022 by glenwo2

[onmyown]

Intelligence is not an ‘alpha male trait’.

Stubbornness and arrogance is.

Tepper simply does not know what he is doing and it’s as simple as that. He needs to hire help. But ‘alphas’ don’t need help.

It’s a really dumb, debunked term but proposed traits of an alpha are really not desirable in his position…or really any position…outside of being surrounded by gullible, insecure morons.