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Panthers Fans Can Change This Team Without Firing Anyone


The "what have you done lately?" nonsense is poison. It's a Dallas mentality and gets you nowhere. There is no magical head coach that will take over this garbage and fix everything in two years or less. If there is, that dummy would be smart enough to know he doesn't want to be in Carolina. I'm not talking about Matt Rhule having a lousy situation. I'm talking about how awful it would seem from the outside if the head coach left after two seasons when the best head coach in team history was fired by the new owner (in the middle of the owner's second season) to bring Matt Rhule. Matt Rhule sucks for now. But people seem to not realize how workplace productivity actually happens. It takes years for people to learn how to do their job adequately.

I don't want people to struggle. I especially hate to see nice people like Sam Darnold struggling. But the more players struggle, the less expensive they are. That gives us the ability to afford more help while young people learn how to become reliable on the job.

Matt Rhule needs to let others do the work he cannot do himself. So does David Tepper. They suck. But that is not a guarantee of what they will be next year at this point in time. Terry Bradshaw hated playing in Pittsburgh his first year or two. Aaron Rodgers was Brett Favre's backup for three years. Steve Young waited for Joe Montana to leave for Kansas City. Peyton Manning sucked for one season with the Indianapolis Colts. Steve Smith sucked as a teammate for a year or two before cleaning his attitude. Even then, five years later, the man assaulted a teammate again in 2008. From these dark times, people learn. It's a game not an emergency.

To quit on the first head coach David Tepper hired after two years would be a horrible mistake. The reason Panthers fans want the coach fired is because we know the coach can be fired and removing the owner is not as easy. But what if we just put our trust into what the team is trying to do and listen to them? This is a marathon not a sprint. We tried the sprint plan and got Cam Newton embarrassed. Let's cheer for the marathon. If it takes another two or three years to see the Panthers in the playoffs, who cares? Teams have taken much longer than ten years for a playoff win. The Carolina Panthers have already seen two Super Bowls and four conference championship appearances. That's quite a feat on its own right.

In the meantime, every win is even better. The team can always enjoy the label as the underdog every week. We can celebrate players who put forth the best efforts in impossible situations. Eventually, our loyalty will be rewarded. The players will soon want to win for their patient fans. They will not want to leave even for more money as easily. The team will be held together better. There will be a better process to transition younger players into long-term answers so that the Panthers do not have to wait this long for a rebuilding period ever again.

If we were more patient, Matt Rhule could have more fun with the situation and not try so hard to save his job. He could become more honest about how the team is. He could even make the games more fun. I mean I didn't really expect the Panthers to be able to beat Tampa and if I had my way, the Panthers wouldn't even try. The only strategy I would have for the Bucs (at least in the first game) is to hit Tom Brady all day long even if he doesn't have the football and it costs us penalties. Make them angry, scare them with big hits, and they will lose their discipline. What do the Panthers have to lose?

It is that kind of coaching that the Panthers need to develop. The Panthers need to play the game not bloodred dirty but just wild. If every head coach is going to be looking over his shoulder wondering if today is the day he gets sent home, he will never be comfortable learning how to do the job. Panthers fans need to stop worrying about winning and going back to 2015. 2015 is never coming back just like 1996 never came back, even though we looked for it all the way through 2002 and even though 2003 never came back. By trying to focus on success stories that were from the past instead of looking forward to how much fun we could have today, the Panthers fans have missed on the Ghano record-breaking field goal in 2017 and Cam's 400 yard playoff game, trying to relive 2015. The Carolina Panthers culture forgot about the wins Sam Darnold had not even halfway through the season because the team has been trying to cook a Thanksgiving Feast in a Halloween microwave.

We are at a time in Panthers history when every win is an upset. That can make the Panthers a lot of fun in spoiling people's seasons. The entire AFC North takes up almost a quarter of the season alone with their lovely charm.

But in any event, that gives the Panthers the element of surprise which might be a good place to be for advancing to the playoffs. The Carolina Panthers demolished the Cardinals. Granted the Cardinals were not the top team in the playoffs this season but they were in the playoffs. 3 of the conference championship teams are facing the Carolina Panthers this coming season. Instead of looking at an upsetting season, we could be a perfect storm for a setup season of upsets.

The Carolina Panthers are going to need a powerful support system for any players and coaches on the team. Everyone needs to be a big deal. Firing people doesn't guarantee hiring greatness. The Lions still have not found a way to overcome their Matt Millen mistakes. The Texans did not solve their problems by losing Bill O'brien.

You don't need to like Darnold or Rhule. But talk about someone else who is good. My God. This team spent ten years harping about how great the field goal kicker was. If we can't find someone worth our attention today, let's go back to reminiscing about Thomas Davis, Luke Kuechly, Dan Morgan, and Madman Muhsin Muhammad. Okay I added the Madman part just now but I'm not apologizing. A team that featured Ryan Khalil, Ricky Proehl, Mike Minter, and Anthony Johnson has some bragging privileges coming our way. It's not like people who talk smack about the Carolina Panthers ever forgot about "John Kasay kicking it out of bounds". Why can't we remember that Muhsin Muhammad blasted an 85-yard touchdown in the Super Bowl against an elite defense and enjoy it until the Panthers get good again? Why can't we laugh about that 38-0 win over the Falcons in 2015? They didn't forget about the other game they played against us that year.

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