Mr. Scot

Talking strictly in the football realm... Hurney's deficiencies are well known. Tepper pretty clearly doesn't know jack. Drummond? Don't know, but all his background is in communications and public relations. Far as I know, he's never worked in any position that required talent evaluation. Including him in the head coaching search struck me as...odd.

From that same article... Did you hear the guy speak?” Tepper responded when asked about Rhule’s lack of significant NFL experience. “It is what it is. This is a guy who sets a standard … this is an elite manager ... an elite trainer of men, an elite motivator of men.” Ugh My biggest fears at the time of the hire came from.these stories. It just sounded so much like someone falling for a pitch from a really good salesman. At the very least, I thought they should have gone ahead and finished the interviews they had scheduled, but nope.

We are not a smart team.

I don't really think that's gonna happen.

Darnold is a lot like Ron Rivera for me. Super nice guy but not really known to be good at his job. Can he be coached up? Don't know, but I do know the current staff aren't the ones to develop anybody, so again...

Hiring a head coach before you hire a GM is absolutely ass backwards. But that's how we operate here.

Hurney vs Colbert is equally easy, and probably more likely given his connection with Tepper.

You're referring to the same guy who said he couldn't wait to work with Cam Newton? Rhule said prior to taking an NFL job that he wanted the same kind of power Belichick has. He in fact stated that was what it would take to lure him to the NFL. He doesn't do all the leg work, but he holds all the power (just like a lot of bosses do). And seriously, do you really think one of Rhule's Temple guys getting an extension before a better player at the same position doesn't have Rhule's fingerprints on it?

There is for Rhule. Hence, I'd wager the primary factor in this decision is what has the best chance of saving Rhule's ass. Did he make the right choice? Don't know, but he rarely does, so...

He actually has 100% power. Now, he doesn't do all the scouting himself or anything like that, but the final decisions are all his. Pretty sure that's why we extended Robby Anderson before DJ Moore.

I couldn't tell you a single thing Rhule actually did on that front. i do know that Philly built a whole "sports science" department a few years back; then found it didn't improve anything and dumped it. But I'm sure it'll work much better when we do it

Given who's actually in charge, that probably shouldn't come as a surprise.

Technically, he put his trust in a veteran GM the last time. (didn't go so well) Thing is, it's not just Fitterer, but Fitterer and Morgan. And while Fitt is a first time GM, he's got twenty plus years as part of a winning organization on his resume. Still, if you want to have a "guiding hand" in the process, there's at least a decent chance Kevin Colbert will be available. We know Tepper trusts him.

I think that's why Ed Dodds backed out of the process. With Fitterer though, that's the environment he was coming from in Seattle. There are two things relevant to me about last offseason... First obviously is Rhule's influence, but the second is that for the majority of our free agent decisions, Dan Morgan wasn't here. As mentioned before, Fitterer's primary expertise is college scouting. Morgan's is pro personnel. I want to see how that combo works.

I'm never a fan of making football decisions for non-football reasons. That said, I don't trust Matt Rhule's decision making anyway, so I don't really care all that much.

Fitterer's not a pro personnel guy. Dan Morgan is. That's why I want to see what they can do together...without Rhule.

Not a fan of Quinn as a head coach... Related: Word is he just turned down a chance to interview for the Jaguars job (apparently not "interested" enough).

Been some discussion about this in a few threads, so for clarity here are some of the original quotes from David Tepper and Marty Hurney regarding how they came to decide on Matt Rhule. Tepper: We were all sitting there interviewing Matt and it was me, Marty and Steven Drummond. And Marty's going with his toughness and his questions and we're about halfway through the interview and Marty Hurney starts melting down. And you could Marty and he's like 'I've gotta get into recruiting mode now.' So Marty goes from total interview mode to putting on the recruiting mode. And Steve and I looked at each other and looked at Marty and didn't say a word, and we just all went into recruiting mode because we knew we had something special. And something that we could build something up here. I was more than excited. Hurney: (On when he switched to recruiting mode during the interview) We went about five and a half hours, but after about the first hour-and-a-half, you just figured it. This is a guy that has old school principles. Talks about running the ball, stopping the run. Then he's got all this modern-day knowledge with the sports science and making players better, and he had people skills. I had a big thing that said the most successful people have three things: intellect, common sense, and people skills – and he's three-for-three. He had the same vision. We talked about things, we talked about players, he's so easy to talk to. You can just tell we were on the same page through that whole five-and-a-half-hour interview. We had a meeting earlier today, and he was talking to some of the staff. I sat there thinking I feel like a bobble head, because every time he talks I'm just like nodding my head. He really has a lot of the same principles I do, and you can just tell. It's very obvious why he's been successful every place he's been." (On Coach Rhule's proof of being able to adjust and rebuild programs) He's a head ball coach. That's just in plain terms and old school terms – he's the head ball coach. He just loves the game and the energy that he brings. Sitting at the table – again, I can't stress: gets off the plane, goes in the driveway, comes in, sits in the dining room, and he's just instantly there. After an hour and a half, they're right, I just said oh man, we got to try to convince this guy that Carolina is the place for him, because he was just very impressive." (On how different was this process compared to when he interviewed John Fox and Ron Rivera) They were great interviews, and you left that interview and I felt like any one of these guys they can be our coach. You sat down with Matt, it's was the same feeling you get. He's just got it. It's just a feeling I can't describe. When you do it as long as I've done it, you sit down, you just get that feeling, and that's what I got." (On if it was important for Coach Rhule not to leave without an agreement) "Again, it's kind of like I said, there's those certain interviews when you leave and you just get that feeling that hey, this is the guy, this is the guy. So, let's not go any further and try to get this done. Mr. Tepper and Steven (Drummond) were both on board. So, we worked immediately to try to get it done, and we got it. It was a feeling that all three of us had that you did get a feeling. He's got such a vision, just a very shared vision. Sitting there – I spend a lot of time with a head coach talking things out. Basically during these interviews, I'd sit there and it's like I approach it like – we're in my office and we're talking about the team, and we're talking about things we have to work, and you have to work through a lot of hard things, and you have to be able to sit down and disagree. At the end, you got to be able to stay in the room until you get an agreement and walk out on the same page of what's best for the organization. It was very obvious that we could do that." (On the biggest challenge for Coach Rhule coming from the collegiate ranks to the professional) "You know what, that's funny, because that's a question you ask yourself before you go in to talk to him. After about an hour, he's the head ball coach, and he's going to figure out. He's a football coach, and he's going to relate to the players, he's going to do the things that he needs to do to be successful wherever he is. It's a very good question, because that's the obvious question when you're looking at a college coach. After you talk to Matt for an hour, and hour-and-a-half, you don't have that question." (On if he articulated his vision at quarterback to you and Mr. Tepper) "No – again, that's something that we're going to have to sit down and talk about the whole time. We've got a guy that was MVP in the NFL, and he knows that. This is all going to be a process as far as how – he's going to have to know these guys, and get to know the roster, and everything that he said. It's a process day-to-day, but that's what I love about it. Bonus: Comments from Rhule himself, first about staff hiring... "I'll have a diverse staff and a mixed staff. I have, I think, one of the best staffs in football at Baylor. A lot of my guys got to Baylor from the NFL, so a lot of guys have NFL experience. I think two things, there are a lot of guys that I know that are interested in coming here, and there are a lot of people that are really excited about this organization. They're really excited about what Mr. Tepper and Marty have already started. I'm getting calls from guys that say, 'Hey, I want to be a part of that'. ...and also about whether he'd be looking to bring in veteran NFL coaches. "Not really in terms of coordinators, or things like that, because the league has seen – there's been great coordinators who are 60, and there's great coordinators who are 28. So, it's not really that. I think one of the key pieces for me is to bring a veteran guy that can really work with me and mentor me. I've always done that everywhere I've been. I've always tried to have somebody to be there to speak truth to me, speak truth to power, that can be kind of a right-hand guy. I want to have a great mix, and at the end of the day, all I really care about when I hire assistant coaches is are they great teachers. That's really what this game is about. It's about getting players to play their best, and the best way to do that is to have guys who bring out the best in their players. Old, young, none of those things matter to me. I don't have to know them. I just think when you meet guys who are great teachers who bring out the best in others, you kind of feel it. So, we're going to try to do that, but I will try to bring in someone who's been around, and lots of guys like that have reached out to me already, which is great." Links: Full Transcript: Matt Rhule introductory press conference (panthers.com) Transcript: Marty Hurney on the start of the Matt Rhule era

Have heard some speculation that the Bears are gonna go after Pederson.

Yeah, I've read about that one. It's part of Nathaniel Hackett's history too.

Just saw: Dan Quinn is turning down the opportunity to interview with the Jaguars. There's been speculation that the team's decision to keep GM Trent Baalke in place might drive some coaches away. Unknown whether this is related to that...

Honestly, neither of those is a good option. Yeah, he can learn, and I hope he does. Lord knows Jerry never did. Moving on from Rhule would be a very positive sign. Keeping his nose out of the head coaching search that follows would be an even more positive one.

Meanwhile...

Goes back to what I've said before... Jerry Richardson's biggest flaw was that he always seemed to trust the wrong people. I was hoping we'd get away from that with David Tepper, but so far it's still up in the air.