A report Sunday indicated that the Carolina Panthers had began laying the groundwork for a coaching search by conducting background interviews, which general manager Dave Gettleman has now vehemently denied.
What should scare Panthers' fans more, news of an early coaching search or the idea that there isn't any planning for the future? It's a question Darin Gantt asked in his article
If he's to be taken at his word, and there's no reason to believe he's lying, the Panthers are simply making a mistake.
Herein lies the problem: There's no reason to believe anyone is lying. A potential candidate would hurt himself by letting the media know he's being looked into, Rapoport gains nothing by making up a story and someone inside the organization only hurts their career if it's found they're leaking information.
Damage control is a clear motivation for Gettleman, but that's not the focal point. The focus should be on whether starting the search now is wise, which it would be.
Players will likely take the blame later today and justify the loss as 'lack of execution', but as some point in time the architect needs to be blamed when his 10th building collapses rather than the steel shouldering the burden. Ron Rivera is not a good football coach, which hasn't changed since week one of 2011 -- it just took a while to see it.
A 4th and 1 call in the first half is now considered 'gutsy', that's how the far the bar has been lowered.
Honestly, we should hope Gettleman is trying to cover up the report and make everything seem like smooth sailing, because this team needs to start searching for a new coach.