Matt Rhule breaks silence to discuss Panthers’ roster, his firing and football future
Former Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has re-emerged following his October firing.
After six weeks of silence, Rhule took part in a 31-minute interview with The 33rd Team’s Vic Carruci, which was released on Monday. In the interview, Rhule — who went 11-27 during his more than two seasons in Charlotte — spoke about his Panthers tenure, his eventual dismissal and his gratitude for the opportunity.
“They asked me to leave and that’s part of the business,” Rhule said. “It’s hard to talk about improvement when you don’t see the results. But I love that group of guys, and I root for them every week.”
Rhule was fired in October following a 1-4 start to his third season. His lone win of the campaign came in a Week 3 upset victory against the New Orleans Saints.
Rhule said he thought the Panthers could have eventually turned things around if he was given more time to build the program.
“I think that the plan in football has always been the same,” Rhule said. “You get a good group of guys, you develop them, they kind of learn a system, learn a culture, they go through hard times, and then eventually, you hope that they break through. I just kept waiting for them to break through on my watch, and I thought that Saints game was it. It wasn’t.”
Rhule mentioned notable names like cornerback Jaycee Horn, defensive end Brian Burns, defensive tackle Derrick Brown, wide receiver DJ Moore and offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu when describing the young talent on the Panthers’ current roster.
Those five former first-round picks have emerged as the core of the depth chart, which is now led by interim head coach Steve Wilks.
“When I see those guys, I think there’s a young nucleus of talent,” Rhule said. “And that was kind of the plan — let’s do what I’ve seen the great NFL franchises do, let’s do what we did in college, let’s build through the draft, let’s build young, let’s watch these guys grow up and hopefully be able overtake the NFC South at some point.
“Even though I was let go this year — and Steve’s a great coach, Steve will do a great job there — that team that I was a part of pretty much, they’re still 3-1 in the NFC South.”
Rhule said that his desire to bring a Super Bowl to the Carolinas weighed on him throughout his tenure.
He also pointed out that Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and former New York Giants head coach Tom Coughlin all won Super Bowls after being fired in previous stops.
Rhule hopes to join that group eventually.
“I’m proud of some of the things that we did, and I think, in time, it would have worked,” Rhule said. “But to not have that success — I think it’s a great time to be grateful for the people that you had, to really look back also and say, ‘What could I have done better? What will I do differently next time?’ and hope that my story is the same as those guys — that my greatest success happens after this adversity.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
