Coach John Fox shifts blame to Panthers' 'personnel people'

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Fox is a free agent. How is a team ever going to justify to its fan base that they just hired the coach of a 1-15 team. Well when the presser comes out as the Panther front office tied his hands....he took this team to a super bowl... chews gum really hard...

He is going to have to throw someone under the bus when he is getting hired to a team saying sure you were 5-11 but Im awesome...I will coach you to around 8-8..and even if I had a pick of the pro-bowl rosters I still would never win my division and miss the playoff every other year...whats not to like I have the job right?

He has a good sound bite where he say I never finished worse than 7-9 and I will not do it this season...oops.

[Matt Foley]

Fox is trying to extricate himself from this excrement. Exclamation point.

[cdandi1]

I understand that the front office went cheap...but like someone said earlier the bucs did last year with a rookie coach and looked better than we have this year. You can also argue our defense is better than the bucs defense last year and our oline and running backs are better than the bucs were last year. So, I don't blame the front office competely. Brian Billick did say from a broadcast earlier this year that "you can win with a young qb, or at least be competitive. But it all starts with the coaching staff." implying that alot of blame falls on fox, his shitty offensive and qb coaches.

[tarheelpride]

Does anyone else see Hurney getting fired right after Fox leaving? I think somehow he takes a fall as well.

And I do think we need to start brand new, from the front office on down

[Kakarot]

No other team in the league has treated their players and coaches this way this year. It seems like every team tried to get better (okay maybe not the Bills) despite the CBA. So to me and I bet a lot of players see that JR is willing to sacrifice a year of a career for money. And what will happen the next time a disagreement between players and owners comes up? No, this is gonna haunt the Panthers for some time. IMHO

I'd rep you if I could, but this post is right on the money.

Gotta look at this from the players point of view. Who would want to play for a man, that has just put them through all this. A season like this has to be hurting every guy out on that fields pride. I wouldnt want to play for an owner like that, and Im positive that this has crossed many players on our teams mind. This has been my biggest concern since the offseason, and I see us suffering from this past offseason for some time. I really really hope Im wrong, but Im sure JR has rubbed a lot of people(mainly our players, and future free agents) the wrong way.

[AceMan]

Does anyone else see Hurney getting fired right after Fox leaving? I think somehow he takes a fall as well.

And I do think we need to start brand new, from the front office on down

I think it's 50/50. Depends on how bad the hate is for Hurney in the offseason

[carpanfan96]

No other team in the league has treated their players and coaches this way this year. It seems like every team tried to get better (okay maybe not the Bills) despite the CBA. So to me and I bet a lot of players see that JR is willing to sacrifice a year of a career for money. And what will happen the next time a disagreement between players and owners comes up? No, this is gonna haunt the Panthers for some time. IMHO

Sadly, I have to agree...I think this season and what JR has done will have a negative impact for a while.

[g5jamz]

Fox won't be fired by JR because it would cost money to fire him/hire replacement.

JR holds the NFL organization in higher regard than he does the Panthers organization.

Can't Rozinski-me, JR.

[Khyber53]

If you're a big time conservative, this season is a really good example of how far ownership will go to harm the customers to kill off a union. I'm beginning to think he'll NAFTA this team if the players come out with a better CBA than the last one.

[Anybodyhome]

The gaping wound JR and Hurney inflicted upon the fans of this team and the players will take a few seasons to heal. The players will quickly heal themselves by leaving; the fans are another story.

Don't be surprised to see DeAngelo, Kalil, Charles Johnson and a few other free agents decide to listen to other offers from around the league.

As for Fox and his comments- who cares. The guy has made a living out of saying nothing for years and now, when he finally decides to put together a complete sentence, it only serves to make himself look sad by throwing blame elsewhere. Not saying he should shoulder all of it by any stretch of the imagination, but he doesn't exactly have a proven history of developing young players into studs.

Fox hasn't looked as though he's cared about anything happening on the field of play the last few weeks as he strolls up and down the sidelines. What difference would it make if he left tomorrow, next week or at the end of the season?

[tarheelpride]

I think it's 50/50. Depends on how bad the hate is for Hurney in the offseason

I would think he's gone, right behind foxy. I don't see a scenario where he stays, even as a cap specialist. We need some fresh blood

[KillerKat]

Just trying to save face. Whatever, he won't be here next year. Keep telling these things to yourself over and over Fox. You'll end up believing them and can go back to thinking you can coach in this league. No matter how false that is.

[frash.exe]

yea... keep buckpassing, johnny

you had teams that Hurney and Richardson got personnel that you wanted for years and it's gotten us nothing substantial the last five years

[mick eye]

Fox won't be fired by JR because it would cost money to fire him/hire replacement.

JR holds the NFL organization in higher regard than he does the Panthers organization.

Can't Rozinski-me, JR.

The organization needs to move on. Promoting from within say Meeks and throwing money at a OC of a college team makes more sense than continuing down the path we are on.