Takeaways from former Panthers coach Matt Rhule’s media tour
It has been a busy week for former Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule.
A day after Nebraska named Rhule its 31st permanent head coach, Rhule made comments about his time in Carolina on multiple platforms.
During an appearance on The Season with Peter Schrager, Rhule was asked what he would have done differently.
“I think I probably would have taken another job,” Rhule said. “It’s a great place. Wonderful people. But I just don’t know if I was a fit there. You know, at the end of the day, you know, we talked about, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have a four-year plan, a five-year plan.’ You know, if you tell me, ‘Hey, we got a two-year plan,’ then I’m gonna go sign a bunch of free agents and do it. So what was a four-year plan became a two-year-and-five-game plan real quick.”
Panthers owner David Tepper signed Rhule to a seven-year, $62 million contract in 2020. Rhule was fired in October, less than three full years into his tenure. Under Rhule, the Panthers went 11-27, started five different quarterbacks and employed three separate offensive coordinators.
Rhule continued, saying the Panthers are close to winning the NFC South and are on the right path to success.
“I think the trajectory we were on was correct,” he said. “It was to have a team that next year could maybe make a big trade. I think you see the signs of it now. When they play well on offense, they win. There’s a good defense there. I give Steve (Wilks) all the credit, I give the coaches all the credit. But I’m part of that building process. So if that had just stayed through maybe this year and maybe made the big free-agent signing this year to get them over the top ... I think that the Panthers could win the NFC South for years to come.”
Rhule tried to trade for Matthew Stafford in 2020. The Panthers were all-in on embattled quarterback Deshaun Watson until he asked for more guaranteed money. The “big trade” he’s alluding to is the exact move he tried pulling off in Carolina during consecutive offseasons.
Rhule said the Panthers win when they play well on offense. But it was his job to ensure the offense played well. A task that grew more difficult with each retread quarterback, and two offensive coordinators who struggled for different reasons.
Former Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady was not ready to call NFL plays. Rhule fired Brady last December. Current Panthers offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo was hired this offseason. When Rhule was fired, the Panthers’ offense ranked near the bottom of every throwing and scoring metric.
Five games was not enough of a sample size to judge McAdoo, but Rhule ran out of runway overseeing an offense that lacked continuity at four vital spots: quarterback, play-caller, offensive line coach and left tackle.
In addition to the five different quarterbacks and three total play-callers (running backs coach Jeff Nixon called plays after Brady was fired), Rhule also fired former offensive line coach Pat Meyer after last season. The team started several underwhelming left tackles over two seasons before drafting Ikem Ekwonu in April.
Rhule was a part of the process that brought in several core players who project as future Pro Bowlers. Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn and Ekwonu were all first-round picks under Rhule. All three are having career-best seasons and have already been identified as pillars of the organization.
Which is why his comments about his role in the team’s drafting process were odd.
On The Rich Eisen Show, Rhule defended not drafting a first-round quarterback during his time in Carolina while simultaneously undermining his authority. Eisen asked Rhule if he should’ve drafted Justin Herbert in 2020 or Mac Jones and Justin Fields in 2021.
“No,” he replied. “‘Cause there was really no one — ah, I shouldn’t say that, Justin Fields is playing really well and Mac Jones is someone that I have a lot of respect for. Sometimes articles come out after you get fired that go, ‘Hey, why didn’t you guys get Justin Herbert?’ Well, ya know, because he got drafted in front of us. And, ya know, I wasn’t the GM. I didn’t make the picks. I had a lot of input. I worked with two great guys in Marty Hurney and Scott Fitterer.”
According to the team’s website, Rhule did have the final say of the roster after the team hired general manager Scott Fitterer. Throughout Fitterer and Rhule’s partnership, both spoke highly of their collaborative process. From a logistics standpoint, Rhule likely had more influence over the 2021 draft as Fitterer had only been on staff for less than three months.
But by the 2022 NFL Scouting Combine, it was clear Fitterer had gained equal (if not slightly more) control of the roster. Which was by design considering it took a full year for Fitterer to build his scouting department.
Rhule saying he did not make the picks was disingenuous.
Last week, Rhule made his first media appearance on NFL Network’s Good Morning Football. On the show, he expressed his support for interim head coach Wilks while taking a stand for black coaches.
“Steve Wilks deserves a chance to be a head coach in the (NFL),” Rhule said. He’s a leader of men. And if this league needs one thing, if football needs one thing, we need diversity in our coaching hires. We need diversity in coaching searches. I think Steve’s done a really nice job.”
There is no bad blood between Wilks and Rhule. Wilks is still a part of Brian Flores’ lawsuit against the NFL accusing the league of racial discrimination within its hiring practices.
This story was originally published November 30, 2022 at 4:55 PM.
