Mr. Scot

Why? They don't give a sh-t about us. Even if they did, who do they have that's any good who's gonna want to cover the Panthers?

Hell, at this point David Tepper may actually be a real life Mr. Burns. There's certainly some pretty significant similarities between the two.

Wouldn't surprise me at all.

Bears effort and attitude strongly support Nagy Players supported Seifert too. It's pretty common for them to defend their coaches (out of a sense of responsibility if nothing else). That's the public face, though. Privately, there's still been rumblings of players "not buying into the process" and such. Ditto the stories about people in the building disliking Rhule.

You know the answer to that question

I've got loads of it.

Rhule and Tepper are supposed to be having an end of season meeting to hash things out, so this seems premature. Plausible scenario though

I do. He's not a good gameday coach either. If you need confirmation of that, just go back and watch the film of every third quarter this season.

If David Tepper keeps Matt Rhule for another year, it will be for one reason and one reason only... He has no clue what he's doing.

Yeah, they were fishing for clicks. The title of this thread is kind of inaccurate too. That's not what was being reported.

Make sure you ask Joe to ask Scott Fitterer about Nathaniel Hackett

From Person's roster analysis in The Athletic... Stays or goes? Stays The Panthers would listen to offers for McCaffrey, who’s one of the league’s most versatile players. But it’s hard to imagine teams would give up much for a player who’s missed 23 of the past 33 games and still has $44 million left on his contract. Analyzing the Panthers roster: Who's in, who's out?

And while I'm repeating myself, I'll repeat this too. When we heard the story of how Matt Rhule got hired, how they went into "recruiting mode" just 90 minutes into the interview and all that bullsh-t, I couldn't help but picture an elderly person intently listening to a fast talking insurance salesman. That Tepper and Hurney came out of that meeting feeling like they just had to have this guy (so much so that they weren't even going to interview Josh McDaniels) made it sound like 100% emotional, suspend logic, "feel it in my gut" decision making. Hell, Marty pretty much said that when he was describing the process. And coming from Marty, that's not a surprise. He always trusted his gut, even though more often than not his gut was full of sh-t. But from the guy who was supposed to be a believer in analytics...well, it showed that when it comes to football, his gut rules his decision making too. (and it's equally full of sh-t)

Mentioned it elsewhere, but the Eagles reportedly invested big in having a sports science department a while back. A few years later, they realized it wasn't really helping much of anything so they dropped it. That absolutely strikes me as something David Tepper would do, even though somebody's already done it.

For all the talk about analytics, just about nothing David Tepper's done has indicated an analytical approach. That started from the beginning with keeping and trusting Marty Hurney, whose record absolutely did not justify it.

Yeah, that one made me

There definitely are things I hope get done in this hiring cycle, but my big fear is that we're totally going to screw it up. Unfortunately, Panthers history makes that a pretty reasonable fear.

It's not like everything Matt lRhule has ever said or suggested turned out to be a lie. Admittedly though, there damn sure have been a lot of those coming from his mouth

The original idea behind The Athletic was basically to try and corner the market on all the best sportswriters. I doubt that strategy changes even if the operational structure does. Obviously they're not going to stop covering NFL teams so the dumbass suggestion that they're just gonna kick Joe Person to the curb is silly. Could they replace him with someone better or higher profile? I suppose, but if you were The New York Times would you want to do that for the Panthers?

Breer on the Panthers... I think he’ll get a third year with the Panthers. The only thing that makes me hesitate on that would be how the postseason meeting with owner David Tepper goes. Tepper is very involved in Charlotte, and it’ll be interesting to see if he demands a certain level of change in staff. Rhule’s fiercely loyal to coaches he’s got long-term connections to (like coordinators Jeff Nixon and Phil Snow), and he’s brutally honest, so we’ll see how things go when owner and coach sit down and debrief. I know people have been talking about the idea that Rhule would have to fire some of his current guys and hire outside his circle. Again, it's really hard to see that happening.

From Albert Breer... Here’s what I’m hearing heading into Week 18. • The Jaguars have already interviewed ex-Eagles coach Doug Pederson and ex-Lions and Colts coach Jim Caldwell, and sat down with Buccaneers DC Todd Bowles earlier in the week. They also plan to interview Cowboys OC Kellen Moore and tried to get Dallas DC Dan Quinn in too (he’s thus far declined). Pederson is said to be well-positioned here, and there’d be merit to his hire, without question, in that he has head coaching experience, and experience developing a young quarterback. But my understanding is that the Jaguars’ plan is to do the opposite of what they did last year—and run a wide-open search, and not pigeonhole themselves into a certain type (i.e., offense vs. defense, CEO vs. guru, young vs. old) and let that search take them where it will. One thing that’s created hurdles already is the team’s decision to hang on to GM Trent Baalke. There are potential candidates who simply won’t go there now, because of Baalke’s history with coaches. • The idea that the Raiders could stick with Rich Bisaccia shouldn’t be completely ruled out—owner Mark Davis likes his interim coach, and came out of the Jon Gruden mess wanting to give him a real shot. It’d be more economical too, and Vegas is a win on Sunday night from the playoffs. Now, the Raiders have done their homework on outside candidates. So while they haven’t taken advantage of the new rules that allow interviews (I’m told they held off on that because they wanted to take their one shot at playoff-bound coaches during the conventional time early in the postseason, rather than scramble to do interviews with the regular season still going on), they are prepared to start a search when the time comes. For now, general manager Mike Mayock’s status is up in the air. • One name that’s been connected to the Raiders consistently for the last month or so is Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. Does he want back in the NFL? Maybe. My understanding is, despite what’s been said publicly, he wasn’t happy about having to take a pay cut last year. He accepted it only after exploring NFL openings (the Jets and Chargers were among the teams who were asked about him) and finding no interest. After a bounce-back year, and now aligned with an NFL-centric staff, there’s renewed curiosity in him from the pros. So is the NFL noise happening to make the people who made him take a pay cut last year squirm, and leverage more money out of Michigan? Or would he pull the trigger and go? It’ll be interesting to watch this one over the next couple of weeks, since he’s had unfinished business in the league (getting so close to a championship and falling just short), and leaving Michigan now would constitute going out on a high note, having beaten Ohio State and won the Big Ten this year. He just turned 58, so it’s hard to say how many shots he has left to do it, especially if this fall’s success in Ann Arbor isn’t duplicated. • The Bears have been connected to both Harbaugh and Saints coach Sean Payton—but I don’t think they’d get into any sort of bidding war on either. And assuming Matt Nagy’s gone (GM Ryan Pace has a decent chance to survive), I’ve heard they won’t be focused solely on quarterback-developers like they were when they landed Nagy in 2018, with their focus likely on leader-of-men types. It’s also worth noting that owner George McCaskey has been very involved in the NFL’s diversity efforts, and the league has been bullish on the candidacy of Bills defensive coordinator Leslie Frazier. Frazier, a star corner on the vaunted 1985 Bears defense, has been raised to me repeatedly in regards to Buffalo’s plans. I’ve heard a few younger candidates that project as leaders, like Patriots LBs coach Jerod Mayo and Colts DC Matt Eberflus, will be in the mix too. (Obviously, for these types, a plan for developing Justin Fields will be important.) • There’s a lot of talk through the grapevine about Payton’s future. I think he’ll probably stay with the Saints, where he has a really good setup from a football standpoint and is making very good money. That said, tires will likely be kicked. My sense is he’ll say no on going home to Chicago. And I’ve heard networks are readying to make a run at him, and throw real money at him, to see if he’d leave the sideline for television. Eventually, my bet is he’ll do that. I just don’t think it’ll happen yet. Also, for whatever it’s worth, if Payton were to leave, I think we’d see some shuffling in New Orleans, but not an overhaul—with GM Mickey Loomis potentially going into a president-type of role, Jeff Ireland replacing him and DC Dennis Allen becoming the head coach. The Saints, of course, want no part of losing Payton, but are pretty well-positioned for whenever it does happen. • Vikings ownership has been meeting on the direction of its football operation, and there’s a feeling that these will likely be Mike Zimmer’s final days in Minnesota. The fate of GM Rick Spielman is less certain, but there is an expectation among those in the industry that he’ll remain in some capacity (whether it’s his current one, or in an elevated executive role with input on picking his replacement). If Zimmer is out, the Vikings are another team expected to cast a wide net in their coaching search. Zimmer, for his part, could well land back in Dallas if he’s let go and Quinn lands a head coaching job somewhere. The Joneses have a strong relationship with, and respect for, Zimmer, to the point where had the Vikings pulled the plug on him earlier, he’d have been a leading candidate to replace Jason Garrett in Dallas. • The Broncos’ situation remains murky. First-year GM George Paton hasn’t been looking for an excuse to fire Vic Fangio and bring in his own guy—he’s got plenty of respect for Fangio as a coach, defensive play-caller and worker, and the two have worked well together in his short time there. The problem right now is results, and not just with the team’s current win/loss record (Denver was actually 7–6 when it lost Teddy Bridgewater in Week 15). The team’s offense and special teams have lagged behind Fangio’s defense, and the Broncos are in the midst of a sixth straight playoff-less year (most for the franchise in 45 years), and a fifth straight losing season (first time in 50 years that’s happened, and equal to the total number of losing seasons the franchise had in the previous 35 years). I’d expect that Paton and Fangio will meet either after the season finale to discuss the team’s direction, and my guess is the Broncos will move on. Paton’s always done his research on coaches, and two names I’ve heard connected to the job there thus far are Quinn (who I think would have an excellent shot at it) and Packers OC Nathaniel Hackett. • There’s no question that Seahawks owner Jody Allen, who took her brother Paul’s place, has questions about the direction of the franchise after a mess of a year that could lead to the exit of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. Thing is, no one I’ve talked to believes Pete Carroll is ready to retire, much less go out after his first 10-loss season, in any capacity, in 27 years. Would Allen fire Carroll? My sense is GM John Schneider is safer than Carroll, and I do think there’s a shot that Allen would decide to go with the status quo for another year. But this one’s at least worth watching, and especially so if the owner’s intent on keeping Wilson. And it’s a little unpredictable, too, given the lack of a track record on Jody Allen. • I still think Joe Judge will get a third year with the Giants. Where New York goes with its GM position will be telling. Assistant GM Kevin Abrams is very well-respected in the building, and I’d expect he’ll get a look. And if he’s hired, I’d say that’s sort of neutral for Judge. If the Giants choose to hire someone connected to Judge, like the Titans’ Monti Ossenfort or Patriots’ Dave Ziegler, that’d be a positive for Judge. If they go outside the organization and outside Judge’s connections, obviously, that would essentially put Judge on notice, and 2022 would become a very big year for him (not that it isn’t already). • The Texans are the only potential wild card. In Wednesday’s mailbag, I laid out the case for keeping David Culley and the case for moving on—there’s merit in both. I’ve also heard that Houston GM Nick Caserio has an idea who his next (and long-term) coach would be (obviously, Patriot-connected names like Mayo and Josh McDaniels come to mind, if you want to guess on who), and isn’t in a huge rush to get him. Take from that what you want. Of the 10 teams we named, how many will actually open their jobs up? Set the over/under at a half-dozen, and buckle up, because there really is less telling where all this goes than there would be in a normal year. And get ready, because if this year’s number is as relatively low as expected, then the 2023 hiring cycle could be really wild. Previewing the 2022 Coach Hiring Cycle

Wouldn't necessarily bet on that seeing as The Times has basically said they expect to take a hit on their profitability for the next couple of years. If they cut anybody up front, it's likely to be the more well known (and expensive) national guys than the local beat writers. But then those guys are the ones that make a lot of people want to subscribe, so that'd be a case of cutting off your nose to spite your face. I'd expect the only local guys who might have to worry immediately are those where the team has more than one writer covering them. That's not the Panthers.

Our OP thinks The Times spent that much money just to shut them down