Do your best to put a positive spin on Shula's promotion

[fieryprophet]

One of the concerns I had about a possible Hue Jackson hire is that he has a well-earned reputation for hubris. I mean, the man tried to make himself the heir apparent to Al Davis after the man died, for crying out loud. This could have turned very ugly if, when the offense had any kind of struggles or obvious changes needing to be made, he would have balked at implementing them since he would have been here merely as a stepping stone to a new head coaching gig. In fact, it would have been in his interest to NOT take direction from Rivera, since he was already on the hot seat and if he gets canned Hue would get a look at taking over the head spot.

None of these things will be an issue under Shula; he's not on any head coaching shortlists, and if he is successful the credit will probably go more towards Cam than it would to him. But, if the indications about the relationship they have is true, Shula won't care either way. If the offense has problems, Rivera will likely not wait as long as he did with Chud to address them, and Shula will likely prove far more pliable to changes than Chud, who was also eyeing a head coaching job.

Our issue isn't going to be one of offensive philosophy; Rivera has made it extremely clear he has tied his boat to a vertical Coryell offense, and of all the possible candidates Shula has the most direct, recent experience with exactly what we run. If we get a little more conservative and committed to the running game, so much the better. This offense cannot live and die by Cam like it has the last two seasons; he needs to be our biggest weapon, not our ONLY weapon.

Finally, this hire will make or break Rivera, with no hemming or hawwing. This is it; either it works out and he stays on as our head coach or him and Shula are job-hunting next season. And before imbeciles launch into "NUH-UH JR IS CHEAP" rants please remember that Gettleman is going to call those shots; this isn't his staff and he will have free reign to make that determination if the results aren't what they need to be.

[RockyTopVol]

At least we won't have to compete with 8 teams looking for a HC next yr when we are making our hire.

[SZ James (banned)]

JR is fuging cheap dude just accept it

[Bwood]

Our offense will be identical to what we saw towards the end of the season. More power running and pocket passing.

Plus Cam and Shula are already close, and Shula coaches from the field and is more vocal unlike Chud.

[MrBubba]

^{Much easier time finding a parking space near BOA on Sunday's}

^{More elbow room in the stadium}

[Sloth]

By hiring an OC nobody else would allow on their facility at gunpoint and making him responsible for two coaching slots, we save JR a nice chunk of cash.

[Marguide]

Seriously, I will not be surprised if Shula is better than Chud, if for no other reason than I think we will run a more balanced offense.

But this team needs experience in the on field leadership positions. Guys that have been to the playoffs as coaches and won games, not guys that we hope can maybe possibly grow into the job. We may in fact be better next year than this year, but it will be because of the players, not because we have great coaching. The inexperience of our coaching staff is going to hold us back from what we could become, not make us perform above what would logically be expected.

[fieryprophet]

Seriously, I will not be surprised if Shula is better than Chud, if for no other reason than I think we will run a more balanced offense.

But this team needs experience in the on field leadership positions. Guys that have been to the playoffs as coaches and won games, not guys that we hope can maybe possibly grow into the job. We may in fact be better next year than this year, but it will be because of the players, not because we have great coaching. The inexperience of our coaching staff is going to hold us back from what we could become, not make us perform above what would logically be expected.

None of the other OC options fulfilled that requirement. Whisenhunt is the only one I can think of, and apparently there was no contact with him, so either he wasn't interested or we weren't, hard to say.

[Marguide]

None of the other OC options fulfilled that requirement. Whisenhunt is the only one I can think of, and apparently there was no contact with him, so either he wasn't interested or we weren't, hard to say.

I guess I was speaking in more general terms, not just among the candidates we looked at. Imo, what Rivera needed was a strong, experienced voice in his ear that had been there and done that, and the guys we are promoting don't even come close to fitting that criteria.

The good news is we've hired Jim Skipper. Rivera can learn a lot from Skip if he will listen to him.

[FireMarshallBill]

His dad was pretty good.

[iamhubby1]

For me the best thing about the Shula hire is watching the Huddle experts go balistic. Because if you listen to them, the Panthers suck, we are never going to win cuz JR is cheap, and this move cements us as the new laughingstock of the NFL.

You gotta love this place. The hyperbole is amazingly shallow.

[mountainpantherfan2]

Shula hasn't been an OC in the NFL since 1999 when he was 35 years old (started at age 32). Since then he has had several stops as a position coach and has generally been regarded as a good coach in those roles. He also was the HC at Alabama for 4 seasons as well.

At this point in his career he really is an unknown as far as being an OC is concerned. I seriously doubt he is the same coach that became the OC in Tampa at 32 that he is today.

I have no idea if he will be a good OC with the Panthers but I also have no idea if he will be bad either. That's the main problem I think most have with this hire. With guys like Turner, Whisenhunt and Jackson you can point to past successes. But these same coaches are available because of past failures as well, albeit as HC not OC.

There may not be reason now to really celebrate this move it doesn't mean Shula can't step up and be a great OC.

[JawnyBlaze]

Jackson wasn't a failure as a HC though. He took one of the most talentless teams in recent history and made them a top 10 offense and had them at 8-8 if my memory serves me. If he can take the Raiders to 8-8 he should have the talent on this team at 11-5 in the first year at minimum.

[rayzor]

i'm tired of having to try and put a positive spin on losing seasons and making excuses for bad coaches, bad hires, and bad decisions.