Why is Fox out the door?

[The Don]

I keep reading all these posts about how John Fox is out the door after this season, or he'll need to have a winning season if he wants J.R. to even consider keeping him around... but has anyone thought that maybe this whole CBA thing has J.R. at a stand still with any kind of signings, minus the rookie and FA signings of course? Think about it, Fox is a winning coach. Yeah, he may have an off season and then a winning season... but it's better than the Raiders, or Rams, or Browns, or Bills... The list goes on. The point I'm trying to make is that yeah, Fox is in a "lame-duck" year, but I honestly think that when all is said and done, he and his crew will be back here in 2011 because J.R. believes in stability and he knows that Fox can get him to the Super Bowl because he's done it before.

[God]

doubt fox will be back.

[mmmbeans]

pretty sure fox will be back.

[Murph]

Maybe Fox will be back

[g5jamz]

Remember in 2007 where Deshaun Foster gave us the best chance to win?

Remember in 2009 where Jake Delhomme gave us the best chance to win?

Remember when *fill in aging player and give a huge contract* gave us the best chance to win over *insert young player that ended up excelling on another team because we let walk due to cap*

[CRA]

Fox is a great coach. Doesn't mean he is a great fit for us anymore. Fox would be ideal for a franchise that needs to get back on there feet. Fox could take a 2-4 win team and get them around .500 playing Foxball. Last year proved you can get Foxy a great team....and his flaws are just as bad as his positives. He is the sole reason (not Jake) that team didn't have double digit wins and make the playoffs. Poor management of a great roster.

Fox will also never dominate if given the roster to do such. His style of play gives other teams the chance to win just as much as Carolina.

[Sloth]

You don't allow a coach you plan on keeping around reach the end of his contract, lockout year or no. He's got a very good reputation and a very good record. What are we going to do, ask him to sit out of 2011 and we pinky swear to extend a contract once football starts up again? He'll laugh and sign a deal somewhere else, probably pretty quickly.

[CatMan72]

I think the Panthers have already decided to move on from Fox after this season, but they chose to keep him around instead of paying him to sit at home or coach somewhere else because they don't want to enter into a contract with a new coach with the possibility of a 2011 lockout looming.

It also makes sense for coach Fox, the Panthers are paying him well, he's comfortable here and he didn't see a job opening he was particularly enthusiastic about this year so he decided to stick around and finish out his contract. He knows he will be a very hot commodity when his contract expires, so he has nothing to lose: either some team pays him big money to jump or the Panthers pay him big money to stay.

[AceMan]

Eh...I think the 2008 playoffs and 2009 season has left a bad taste in the mouth of the fans. Especially with everything about Delhomme/Fox coming to light...Fox has to do something amazing this year.

[CatMan72]

You don't allow a coach you plan on keeping around reach the end of his contract, lockout year or no. He's got a very good reputation and a very good record. What are we going to do, ask him to sit out of 2011 and we pinky swear to extend a contract once football starts up again? He'll laugh and sign a deal somewhere else, probably pretty quickly.

Agree, if they had any future plans that involved coach Fox they would not risk allowing his contract to expire.

[Sword]

It might not be the Panthers organization that decides to move on..Fox himself may want to go to a different team and get paid...he's held in higher regard around the league then compared to the fanbase: such is the life of being a coach.

[guyinchesapeake]

Fox is a GOOD coach, but there's no evidence he's a great one. His teams have consistently underachieved. The inability to overcome modest scoring deficits in recent years underscores that (pardon the pun). We've had the talent to go far into the post season, in fact, all the so-called experts had us pegged as being able to walk into the SB in the 2006 season. The team has looked at times as having given up, in other words, quitting when things got bad.

Our predictability on offense and special teams have contributed mightily to our shortcomings. We have a young QB group on the roster, and a failry young team overall. With the uncertainty about the league after this season, it makes sense to cut Fox loose and bring in someone who might be able to meld this group into a good one that might be contenders for several years. Unless we win the SB this year, I think it's time for Fox to move on..

[thefuzz]

Fox is a great coach to have on an underperforming squad...Raiders, Rams, Detroit..etc.

We no longer need him, we need a coach to get us over the hump, and to another NFC title game, not get us to .500.

I am not knocking Fox, I do somewhat like what he has done here, but we need to go in a different direction.

He is a .550 coach that has taken a team that is close to the top of the cap number to the playoffs 3 times in 8 seasons.

[pantherclaw]

While many of you are giving reasons he'll be gone (which I genuinely believe that you same fans hope he's gone... he has better reasons to stay. This is the team that hurney and fox has built. As long as the team doesn't have a losing season..I am sure that fox will stick around. Hurney is the gm...if signs his extension like many think he will, hell prolly want to keep fox around, rather go in a new direction.