Fox and Hurney

[firstdayfan]

A lot of people have been questioning this duo for the past few years but isn't it obvious that we are in really good hands when you sit back and think about it? This team was dealt a pretty crappy set of cards this offseason by having two pro bowlers as potential free agents in Gross and Peppers. They didn't have a lot of money to work with but they got both of them back and now through the draft, trades, and cuts they have filled some holes nicely. What they didn't do was panic and go out and sign a bunch of old, high priced, injury rittled vets. What they did do is go out and restock the DT position with young players full of potential. Fox has never finished below 7-9 during his tenure here and much of that has to do with his coaching, philosphy, but also because of this duo's ability to go out and find talent.

Starters like Mike Minter, Ken Lucas, Dan Morgan, and DeShaun Foster have all been replaced with younger players ready to step up at the right time. And there are a host of other players like Duke Robinson, Dan Connor, Kenneth Moore, Matt Moore, Everette Brown, Tony Fiammatta, and Gary Barnidge who are ready to be the future. "Fire Fox"...."Trade Stewart"...."Dumpster Diving", give me a break! We are a team that will be competitive each year because of Fox and Hurney, something the Raiders, Bills, Bengals, Browns, Rams, Lions, and others would love to say. What more do you want? What more can they do?

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

What more can they do?

I agree with pretty much everything you've written, but this is an easy question to answer:

1. Back-to-Back winning seasons

2. Repeat NFCS Champs

3. Back-to-Back playoff appearances

4. Another SB appearance

5. SB championship

6. Repeat SB championship

They are good IMO, but they are not done by a long shot.

[jasonluckydog]

Nice read.

[Sultan33g]

Lets wait till the end of Sunday then we can decide how shi%%y we are...maybe mark jones will be the FA Pickup of the decade!!!!

[firstdayfan]

I agree with pretty much everything you've written, but this is an easy question to answer:

1. Back-to-Back winning seasons

2. Repeat NFCS Champs

3. Back-to-Back playoff appearances

4. Another SB appearance

5. SB championship

6. Repeat SB championship

They are good IMO, but they are not done by a long shot.

I would definitely love all those things too but that is a lot to ask of anyone in the age of free agency. But I do agree, they aren't done at all and I hope they will be around for years to come. With all the coaching turnover that happens in the NFL its nice to be able to reload each year instead of rebuild.

[ItsNotGonnaBeAlright]

I would definitely love all those things too but that is a lot to ask of anyone in the age of free agency. But I do agree, they aren't done at all and I hope they will be around for years to come. With all the coaching turnover that happens in the NFL its nice to be able to reload each year instead of rebuild.

I agree it's a lot to ask, but considering what they've managed to do with the franchise, that's all that is left to ask of them to do. They're on the verge and they just need to find a way to step to the next level, and I have faith that they eventually will find a way to take that next step.

[SMACKDAB]

and I have faith that they eventually will find a way to take that next step.

Out the door?

[panthers55]

I agree with pretty much everything you've written, but this is an easy question to answer:

1. Back-to-Back winning seasons

2. Repeat NFCS Champs

3. Back-to-Back playoff appearances

4. Another SB appearance

5. SB championship

6. Repeat SB championship

They are good IMO, but they are not done by a long shot.

It is good that we have those as our goals. When Fox arrived we had suffered through 5 years of not even having a winning season and were far removed from that 1996 team. I would love for us to to take care of number 1 and 3 this year as well as number 4 and 5.

It could happen.

[firstdayfan]

It is good that we have those as our goals. When Fox arrived we had suffered through 5 years of not even having a winning season and were far removed from that 1996 team. I would love for us to to take care of number 1 and 3 this year as well as number 4 and 5.

It could happen.

Yeah definitely! We have a great shot at 1 and 3 this year. I think fox and hurney have definitely turned this organization around and now we just need a few big wins and we could actually be mentioned in the same breath as the Patriots, Giants, Eagles, Colts, and Chargers.

[Guest BradThomas]

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/2009/09/07/they-are-who-we-thought-they-were/

[Badbak]

FDF you said,"This team was dealt a pretty crappy set of cards this offseason by having two pro bowlers as potential free agents in Gross and Peppers. They didn't have a lot of money to work with but they got both of them back."

You have to remember who delt them those "crappy" cards. Gross or Peppers could have been signed to an extension before last year so they would not have both of them to work with at the same time. Gross could have been resigned before his pro bowl year for a smaller amount of money. You have to lay the blame for that screw up squarly on the front office.

[Mesmer]

Gross could have been signed earlier for a slightly cheaper amount, yes, but they didn't want to. Gross had not yet proven that he could be an elite LT for this team, but he wanted top tackle money. If he went out last year and supremely stunk it up at LT, do you think the team would want to have him signed for a ton of money? Waiting to sign Gross was the right decision.

Now the Peppers fiasco... I can't say I agree with their decision there.

[Badbak]

If they didn't know what they had with Gross after having him on the team for that many years the Panthers need to make some changes. They may have only saved a small amount of money but they would have avoided being put into the position of having to sign Gross so they could tag Peppers. That gave Gross a lot of leverage that he would not have had earlier. At any rate it would have made the front office look a lot better.

[mmmbeans]

they were capable of signing both of them, it's not as though the money wasn't there. should they have assumed as well that peppers wouldn't sign?