Tepper's patience, Rhule's growth & the Panthers' evolution begins in earnest

[top dawg]

Matt Rhule has honestly earned his status as the Panthers version of public enemy number one. It wasn't so long ago that there were "fire Rhule" chants in the dwindling crowds at Bank of America stadium, and even in crowds at a Charlotte Hornets basketball broadcast. But that's what happens when you decide to take shortcuts via bad maneuverings. From just jettisoning your brigde QB while paying most of his salary in 2020, to foolishly and 100 percent needlessly extending his replacement in 2021, who had displayed enough stop signs along his journey to Charlotte that a raging bull would cease charging because of continually getting sidetracked and confused in a sea of red. It's no wonder that we all started hearing unsubstantiated stories, or at the very least stories without any context, that painted David Tepper as an upset owner that had lost his patience and set Rhule's seat on fire. We now know that the stories, if true at all, were overblown.

As opposed to flying by the seat of his pants from the ballyhooed "success" of his college experiences and taking seemingly every opportunity to jump in front of the camera with his fast talking style that belied an undercurrent of arrogance and overstated knowledge of the most efficient way to build and sustain a successful team in the NFL, Matt Rhule seems to have finally learned to take a step back, hire guys with professional experience at their particular jobs in the NFL and let them do their thing. The behind-the-scenes part that Tepper has played will probably never be known in its entirety, but at least publicly he has given Rhule his full support. He said that he believes in Rhule. Tepper not only pretty much told you that Rhule is safe not only for 2022, but 2023 and possibly 2024. Some still don't believe it, but I do...at least for the next couple of seasons. 

You see, I couldn't exactly reconcile keeping Rhule and allowing him to wreck the immediate future of the franchise by making panic picks that were in the best interests of a man desperately clawing for his professional NFL life, and not in the long term interests of the franchise, particularly during a supposedly lame duck season, filled with constant pressure while the coach squirms on a glowing orange hot seat. That made little sense to me because at the end of the day it was counterproductive. I said in some thread weeks ago that it may be better to give Rhule a couple of more seasons for that very reason. Well, it appears that Tepper has taken that stance, a stance he appears to have had the day he hired Rhule. Tepper is still learning how to run an NFL franchise himself, and he obviously knows that learning and building takes patience. Some things just can't be rushed with good results. You can't always force things to happen the way that you want them to or you may hurt yourself; sometimes the best tact is to allow situations to present themselves to you, and that takes wisdom, maybe sometimes nerve, and discipline. 

Play-play time is over. Mistakes born of inexperience and sheer arrogance must be minimized if not eradicated. The 2022 draft seems less like an ending to Matt Rhule and company, and more like an ending to a bad storm. You don't go through the motions of hiring a group of key, knowledgeable and experienced coaches only to blow it all up several months later. You don't bolster up your scouting and give people more tools to farm more information in order to have temporary draft success. You don't draft a possible franchise LT at 6, and particularly a possible franchise QB at 94, with as much discipline and steely resolve as our FO did without giving everyone involved some time to see the fruit of such collective efforts. 

It's a new day. Rhule has got his mulligan via a patient Tepper. Rhule is on the clock, but it has always been Tepper's clock (and Tepper's alone). The FO has seemingly learned some bitter lessons from the past two seasons, and has at least started off the next two in a much more settled and prepared mental space. The way that free agency and the draft have been handled and maneuvered should at least give everyone new hope. You may not like Tepper's continued support of Rhule, but at least you should be able to understand the reasoning behind it. Change is in the air. Rhule seems more relaxed and maybe even relieved. He seems less talkative and more reflective (and better kept...). We may not have been able to see any process working in January at 1000 percent or otherwise, but, I dare say that in May, the outlook seems to have  markedly changed, at least 500 percent...for those that want to see it.

 

 

[Waldo]

Everything Rhule has done and said leads me to believe he is exactly who he has been accused. Just a very unlikable human and coach to me. 

The thing is that everything you state is on the bases of Rhule and Co like everyone is on the same page. I'm not sure I can get on board with that at this time. Also, as much as I wish I couldn't say it, I still don't know Tepper even knows how bad Rhule is and how poorly he set this all up in Rhules hands via Marty's meatballs. IDK, lots of assumptions. 

In the end, I can not wait to get rid of Rhule. It was like that with me with Marty so seems natural for Marty's last big move, at least to me. Rhule is a clown and Tepper just has no idea yet. Nothing has really changed there except we got a fugging franchise LT finally!!! But no, Rhule is still a big mistake we haven't finished making yet. 

[Mistuh Jones]

Nice write up promoting some positivity

[DaveThePanther2008]

Nice write up Top Dawg. 

I think the early success of this franchise doesn't help the matter.   People think that once a change is made, success is imminent. 

Tepper's rookie mistake was giving full control to a college coach. I believe Rhule's fate for 2022 was to give up some of that power. Plus get experience coaches. I really hope our new staff gets us moving in the right direction.

I'd rather win with Rhule than have to start over with a new regime. 

[Panthers Rhule]

1 hour ago, top dawg said:

Matt Rhule has honestly earned his status as the Panthers version of public enemy number one. It wasn't so long ago that there were "fire Rhule" chants in the dwindling crowds at Bank of America stadium, and even in crowds at a Charlotte Hornets basketball broadcast. But that's what happens when you decide to take shortcuts via bad maneuverings. From just jettisoning your brigde QB while paying most of his salary in 2020, to foolishly and 100 percent needlessly extending his replacement in 2021, who had displayed enough stop signs along his journey to Charlotte that a raging bull would cease charging because of continually getting sidetracked and confused in a sea of red. It's no wonder that we all started hearing unsubstantiated stories, or at the very least stories without any context, that painted David Tepper as an upset owner that had lost his patience and set Rhule's seat on fire. We now know that the stories, if true at all, were overblown.

As opposed to flying by the seat of his pants from the ballyhooed "success" of his college experiences and taking seemingly every opportunity to jump in front of the camera with his fast talking style that belied an undercurrent of arrogance and overstated knowledge of the most efficient way to build and sustain a successful team in the NFL, Matt Rhule seems to have finally learned to take a step back, hire guys with professional experience at their particular jobs in the NFL and let them do their thing. The behind-the-scenes part that Tepper has played will probably never be known in its entirety, but at least publicly he has given Rhule his full support. He said that he believes in Rhule. Tepper not only pretty much told you that Rhule is safe not only for 2022, but 2023 and possibly 2024. Some still don't believe it, but I do...at least for the next couple of seasons. 

You see, I couldn't exactly reconcile keeping Rhule and allowing him to wreck the immediate future of the franchise by making panic picks that were in the best interests of a man desperately clawing for his professional NFL life, and not in the long term interests of the franchise, particularly during a supposedly lame duck season, filled with constant pressure while the coach squirms on a glowing orange hot seat. That made little sense to me because at the end of the day it was counterproductive. I said in some thread weeks ago that it may be better to give Rhule a couple of more seasons for that very reason. Well, it appears that Tepper has taken that stance, a stance he appears to have had the day he hired Rhule. Tepper is still learning how to run an NFL franchise himself, and he obviously knows that learning and building takes patience. Some things just can't be rushed with good results. You can't always force things to happen the way that you want them to or you may hurt yourself; sometimes the best tact is to allow situations to present themselves to you, and that takes wisdom, maybe sometimes nerve, and discipline. 

Play-play time is over. Mistakes born of inexperience and sheer arrogance must be minimized if not eradicated. The 2022 draft seems less like an ending to Matt Rhule and company, and more like an ending to a bad storm. You don't go through the motions of hiring a group of key, knowledgeable and experienced coaches only to blow it all up several months later. You don't bolster up your scouting and give people more tools to farm more information in order to have temporary draft success. You don't draft a possible franchise LT at 6, and particularly a possible franchise QB at 94, with as much discipline and steely resolve as our FO did without giving everyone involved some time to see the fruit of such collective efforts. 

It's a new day. Rhule has got his mulligan via a patient Tepper. Rhule is on the clock, but it has always been Tepper's clock (and Tepper's alone). The FO has seemingly learned some bitter lessons from the past two seasons, and has at least started off the next two in a much more settled and prepared mental space. The way that free agency and the draft have been handled and maneuvered should at least give everyone new hope. You may not like Tepper's continued support of Rhule, but at least you should be able to understand the reasoning behind it. Change is in the air. Rhule seems more relaxed and maybe even relieved. He seems less talkative and more reflective (and better kept...). We may not have been able to see any process working in January at 1000 percent or otherwise, but, I dare say that in May, the outlook seems to have  markedly changed, at least 500 percent...for those that want to see it.

 

 

This. I've been saying much the same thing for months now and even said something very similar today in another thread. Everyone also seems to forget about Covid and all of the restrictions that went along with that. I don't mean it as an excuse for last season. It was terrible but it is a reality. I agree with you that Rhule has at least 2 if not 3 seasons to prove himself whether people like it or not. 

This was a complete rebuild and the team is coming along nicely. Fitty was a great addition and with his vision I think we are on the verge of something good in Carolina. 

[SmokinwithWilly]

16 minutes ago, Panthers Rhule said:

This. I've been saying much the same thing for months now and even said something very similar today in another thread. Everyone also seems to forget about Covid and all of the restrictions that went along with that. I don't mean it as an excuse for last season. It was terrible but it is a reality. I agree with you that Rhule has at least 2 if not 3 seasons to prove himself whether people like it or not. 

This was a complete rebuild and the team is coming along nicely. Fitty was a great addition and with his vision I think we are on the verge of something good in Carolina. 

I have always had an issue with Rhule's ego. Every coach had to deal with Covid. Rhule was no exception. Rhule's biggest issues, IMO, is that he always thinks he is the smartest guy in the room despite evidence to the contrary and his willingness to double down on his ability to see things that people with much more experience cant see. He has made glaring mistakes that the armchair coaches from the Huddle got right early on in the season. 

TB, Darnold, the trade and his 5th year, Elfein and Irving in day 1 FA, Chinn to FS, Brady, his OL choices, play calling, lack of adjustments even after firing Brady, calling himself Jay-z, 1000%, being told to hire NFL caliber staff or else and the list goes on. I don't see those type of decisions just going away through some type of magical awakening. I have faith the Fitts and Morgan can take this team to new levels. I'm don't believe Rhule is the guy to complete that equation for success. Nothing I've seen in his actions the past 2 years makes me think he's capable of that kind of growth in the past 2 months. 

[CRA]

Tepper said he thinks Sam Darnold is a very good QB. 

Narrator: he does not believe that 

think that about sums up his Matt Rhule comments and very mild public support that he finally gave him.

I think Tepper has been embarrassed by Rhule and realizes he made a mistake.  Which was the reporting. I simply think weighing all the pros and cons of it that he is giving Rhule more time.  And I think a lot of that is because of how Tepper wishes to be viewed….and not a sign of belief in Rhule.  Rhule or new coach, we aren’t a playoff team. Think Tepper has weighed how he would look moving on, how it will impact his next hire, and so on.   

[CRA]

49 minutes ago, Panthers Rhule said:

This. I've been saying much the same thing for months now and even said something very similar today in another thread. Everyone also seems to forget about Covid and all of the restrictions that went along with that. I don't mean it as an excuse for last season. It was terrible but it is a reality. I agree with you that Rhule has at least 2 if not 3 seasons to prove himself whether people like it or not. 

This was a complete rebuild and the team is coming along nicely. Fitty was a great addition and with his vision I think we are on the verge of something good in Carolina. 

This hasn’t been a complete rebuild.   Or I guess a poorly done one is better phrasing.  Which is one of the main problems with Matt Rhule and this failed era. 

[WOW!!]

2 hours ago, top dawg said:

Matt Rhule has honestly earned his status as the Panthers version of public enemy number one. It wasn't so long ago that there were "fire Rhule" chants in the dwindling crowds at Bank of America stadium, and even in crowds at a Charlotte Hornets basketball broadcast. But that's what happens when you decide to take shortcuts via bad maneuverings. From just jettisoning your brigde QB while paying most of his salary in 2020, to foolishly and 100 percent needlessly extending his replacement in 2021, who had displayed enough stop signs along his journey to Charlotte that a raging bull would cease charging because of continually getting sidetracked and confused in a sea of red. It's no wonder that we all started hearing unsubstantiated stories, or at the very least stories without any context, that painted David Tepper as an upset owner that had lost his patience and set Rhule's seat on fire. We now know that the stories, if true at all, were overblown.

As opposed to flying by the seat of his pants from the ballyhooed "success" of his college experiences and taking seemingly every opportunity to jump in front of the camera with his fast talking style that belied an undercurrent of arrogance and overstated knowledge of the most efficient way to build and sustain a successful team in the NFL, Matt Rhule seems to have finally learned to take a step back, hire guys with professional experience at their particular jobs in the NFL and let them do their thing. The behind-the-scenes part that Tepper has played will probably never be known in its entirety, but at least publicly he has given Rhule his full support. He said that he believes in Rhule. Tepper not only pretty much told you that Rhule is safe not only for 2022, but 2023 and possibly 2024. Some still don't believe it, but I do...at least for the next couple of seasons. 

You see, I couldn't exactly reconcile keeping Rhule and allowing him to wreck the immediate future of the franchise by making panic picks that were in the best interests of a man desperately clawing for his professional NFL life, and not in the long term interests of the franchise, particularly during a supposedly lame duck season, filled with constant pressure while the coach squirms on a glowing orange hot seat. That made little sense to me because at the end of the day it was counterproductive. I said in some thread weeks ago that it may be better to give Rhule a couple of more seasons for that very reason. Well, it appears that Tepper has taken that stance, a stance he appears to have had the day he hired Rhule. Tepper is still learning how to run an NFL franchise himself, and he obviously knows that learning and building takes patience. Some things just can't be rushed with good results. You can't always force things to happen the way that you want them to or you may hurt yourself; sometimes the best tact is to allow situations to present themselves to you, and that takes wisdom, maybe sometimes nerve, and discipline. 

Play-play time is over. Mistakes born of inexperience and sheer arrogance must be minimized if not eradicated. The 2022 draft seems less like an ending to Matt Rhule and company, and more like an ending to a bad storm. You don't go through the motions of hiring a group of key, knowledgeable and experienced coaches only to blow it all up several months later. You don't bolster up your scouting and give people more tools to farm more information in order to have temporary draft success. You don't draft a possible franchise LT at 6, and particularly a possible franchise QB at 94, with as much discipline and steely resolve as our FO did without giving everyone involved some time to see the fruit of such collective efforts. 

It's a new day. Rhule has got his mulligan via a patient Tepper. Rhule is on the clock, but it has always been Tepper's clock (and Tepper's alone). The FO has seemingly learned some bitter lessons from the past two seasons, and has at least started off the next two in a much more settled and prepared mental space. The way that free agency and the draft have been handled and maneuvered should at least give everyone new hope. You may not like Tepper's continued support of Rhule, but at least you should be able to understand the reasoning behind it. Change is in the air. Rhule seems more relaxed and maybe even relieved. He seems less talkative and more reflective (and better kept...). We may not have been able to see any process working in January at 1000 percent or otherwise, but, I dare say that in May, the outlook seems to have  markedly changed, at least 500 percent...for those that want to see it.

 

 

I can see alot of this.. I think a combination of Rhule's ego and Teppers impatience has put us here... If they both have learned and been humbled we will see the fruits of that this season..

[BIGH2001]

Ok. When we start 1-4 or 0-5 then the fire Rhule chants will start back even louder than before. Life comes at you fast in the NFL and Tepper still doesn’t get it. No coach should have unconditional job security for the next 3 seasons except two or three of them and they’ve won Super Bowls.

[Move the Panthers to Raleigh]

Edited May 1, 2022 by Move the Panthers to Raleigh

[poundaway]

5 hours ago, top dawg said:

Matt Rhule has honestly earned his status as the Panthers version of public enemy number one. It wasn't so long ago that there were "fire Rhule" chants in the dwindling crowds at Bank of America stadium, and even in crowds at a Charlotte Hornets basketball broadcast. But that's what happens when you decide to take shortcuts via bad maneuverings. From just jettisoning your brigde QB while paying most of his salary in 2020, to foolishly and 100 percent needlessly extending his replacement in 2021, who had displayed enough stop signs along his journey to Charlotte that a raging bull would cease charging because of continually getting sidetracked and confused in a sea of red. It's no wonder that we all started hearing unsubstantiated stories, or at the very least stories without any context, that painted David Tepper as an upset owner that had lost his patience and set Rhule's seat on fire. We now know that the stories, if true at all, were overblown.

As opposed to flying by the seat of his pants from the ballyhooed "success" of his college experiences and taking seemingly every opportunity to jump in front of the camera with his fast talking style that belied an undercurrent of arrogance and overstated knowledge of the most efficient way to build and sustain a successful team in the NFL, Matt Rhule seems to have finally learned to take a step back, hire guys with professional experience at their particular jobs in the NFL and let them do their thing. The behind-the-scenes part that Tepper has played will probably never be known in its entirety, but at least publicly he has given Rhule his full support. He said that he believes in Rhule. Tepper not only pretty much told you that Rhule is safe not only for 2022, but 2023 and possibly 2024. Some still don't believe it, but I do...at least for the next couple of seasons. 

You see, I couldn't exactly reconcile keeping Rhule and allowing him to wreck the immediate future of the franchise by making panic picks that were in the best interests of a man desperately clawing for his professional NFL life, and not in the long term interests of the franchise, particularly during a supposedly lame duck season, filled with constant pressure while the coach squirms on a glowing orange hot seat. That made little sense to me because at the end of the day it was counterproductive. I said in some thread weeks ago that it may be better to give Rhule a couple of more seasons for that very reason. Well, it appears that Tepper has taken that stance, a stance he appears to have had the day he hired Rhule. Tepper is still learning how to run an NFL franchise himself, and he obviously knows that learning and building takes patience. Some things just can't be rushed with good results. You can't always force things to happen the way that you want them to or you may hurt yourself; sometimes the best tact is to allow situations to present themselves to you, and that takes wisdom, maybe sometimes nerve, and discipline. 

Play-play time is over. Mistakes born of inexperience and sheer arrogance must be minimized if not eradicated. The 2022 draft seems less like an ending to Matt Rhule and company, and more like an ending to a bad storm. You don't go through the motions of hiring a group of key, knowledgeable and experienced coaches only to blow it all up several months later. You don't bolster up your scouting and give people more tools to farm more information in order to have temporary draft success. You don't draft a possible franchise LT at 6, and particularly a possible franchise QB at 94, with as much discipline and steely resolve as our FO did without giving everyone involved some time to see the fruit of such collective efforts. 

It's a new day. Rhule has got his mulligan via a patient Tepper. Rhule is on the clock, but it has always been Tepper's clock (and Tepper's alone). The FO has seemingly learned some bitter lessons from the past two seasons, and has at least started off the next two in a much more settled and prepared mental space. The way that free agency and the draft have been handled and maneuvered should at least give everyone new hope. You may not like Tepper's continued support of Rhule, but at least you should be able to understand the reasoning behind it. Change is in the air. Rhule seems more relaxed and maybe even relieved. He seems less talkative and more reflective (and better kept...). We may not have been able to see any process working in January at 1000 percent or otherwise, but, I dare say that in May, the outlook seems to have  markedly changed, at least 500 percent...for those that want to see it.

 

 

Tepper:   Recall we won we when had this running back that has some talent that got injured...his name is Christian Mccaffrey and then we had a center that got injured....

I believe Tepper believes injuries hurt us a LOT last year.  We lost our number offensive weapon and our first round draft pick, half our OL and we traded away a good TE to try to get the CB back.  How many teams would kick ass after that?  Seriously?  Had we not lost CMC, Horn, half the OL, and Dan Arnold, we would have won at least 2 more games. 

I promise you, if CMC, Horn, half the OL and one of the key receiving targets are eliminated again this year, we are going to lose, I don't care who is at QB.

 

[poundaway]

[poundaway]

14 minutes ago, BIGH2001 said:

Ok. When we start 1-4 or 0-5 then the fire Rhule chants will start back even louder than before. Life comes at you fast in the NFL and Tepper still doesn’t get it. No coach should have unconditional job security for the next 3 seasons except two or three of them and they’ve won Super Bowls.

Keep that energy.  We're not going 1-4 or 0-5.   I'm willing to bet avatar for avatar.  I don't even know who we're playing yet and I will take that bet.

Edited May 1, 2022 by poundaway