Steve Wyche: Negative Vibe Inside of Panther's Organization

[TylerDurden]

Wow... Some things are starting to make more sense now. Steve Wyche of NFLN, said that this week isn't just a must win to keep us from going 0-3 to start the season. He said according to two sources inside the organization, there is a negative vibe permeating within the franchise and the stadium (BofA). Said he was told there are serious morale problems within the team and organization.

He said he was told by these sources that the negative vibe started during last season when some of the members of the organization didn't receive their shares of a "playoff bonus" and then continued from there. He then went on to mention the mass exodus of assistant coaches as part of the fallout and he said that if we don't win this game Monday that there is going to be a serious snowball effect.

He said the negativity has continued into this season and that there are serious morale issues b/c of it.

It was obvious there is something not right with this team. And despite our start, and that I expected to lose Monday, I was still holding out hope that John Fox would work some magic and dig deep and get these guys to play their best when it mattered. It's sounding more and more like that isn't going to happen. I hadn't heard of the withholding of playoff shares before... Then the coaches leaving (including Trgovac who was offered a contract), and then the Richardson sons leaving... I just don't know what's going on right now, but it's not good.

[ncguy2184]

Whatever it is it needs to be fixed and fixed in a hurry.

Thats all

[monstercat]

We will see. I'm always skeptical when people quote Panthers sources. More often than not, it turns out that they either took something out of context, or they just colored what they heard with their own opinions. "Moral issues" could be as simple as players and coaches being down because they lost, which is nothing out of the ordinary.

[mr beauxjangles]

Was he just speaking on NFLN or did you get this from an article?

It's no real surprise that there are morale issues with the team right now. That's natural. If and how they overcome them is the issue. That's what professionals are supposed to do, and we as fans expect the leadership to right the ship when you have solid pieces in place.

The issue of playoff bonuses is interesting though.

[OneBadassCat]

Is he referring to the players when he talks about playoff bonuses? If not I do not see how that should affect our teams ability to perform. We've got all the tools we need to be a successful team. But our defense has to get mean and fast.

And honestly after the ARZ game why the hell should they get bonuses.

[Mother Grabber]

While this is just a rumor, it sure would explain a few things.

[Jangler]

The BS over Peppers didn't help the psyche of this team one bit.

[TylerDurden]

Was he just speaking on NFLN or did you get this from an article?

It's no real surprise that there are morale issues with the team right now. That's natural. If and how they overcome them is the issue. That's what professionals are supposed to do, and we as fans expect the leadership to right the ship when you have solid pieces in place.

The issue of playoff bonuses is interesting though.

He was just speaking on NFLN "Around the League" and made his picks on each game. When they got to our game he mentioned all this... And the playoff share bit was new to me as well. It's on live right now.

BTW, it sounded like he was inferring that the withheld bonuses were from front office personnel. At least that's what I took out of it, b/c it sounded like that was where his sources were coming from as well. I also assume that if players had their bonuses withheld that we would've heard a big fuss about it from the players union.

[guyinchesapeake]

'Playoff shares' are mandated by agreements within the league structure, such as the players union. Coaches and others are protected as well. I wonder if anyone connected with the team promised 'bonuses' of some sort and they weren't made good on? That's the only thing that makes sense.

[Sam Mills Fan]

Makes sense. Don't forget that the team laid off at least a dozen workers as well. I'd like to think that starting anew with a new coach and new GM might help things, but who knows, maybe the problem is starting to be Jerry Richardson himself. No way of knowing since he never ever gives interviews.

[Sam Mills Fan]

To elaborate on the layoff thing, I'm sure other team employees that work in the front office or stadium or wherever were a little peeved when they saw a dozen of their colleagues fired from their $50,000 a year jobs the same month that Peppers was tendered for $16 million and soon after Jake received a $20 million extension after his worst game in his career and the worst playoff performance for an NFL quarterback in history. Certainly not a morale booster.

[Mother Grabber]

I think there's no question that we have to start looking at JR. The whole organization is unfriendly and closed, and frankly has a bit of an arrogance about it. It's starting to implode on itself, though. We'll see what shakes out.

[Sam Mills Fan]

You have no chance of winning anything if you have an owner that no longer knows what he or she is doing. You can't point to a single team that has won a Super Bowl in the past twenty years that has had a poor owner. You know what DOES happen when your owner goes south? You become the Bengals and the Raiders and the Lions.

[Matt Foley]

I know many people who still work there. One of them told me this exact thing.