Steve Smith Reports No Changes Expected With Panthers Head Coaching Job

[Matthias]

How much y'all willing to bet we lose this game, and Rivera isn't let back on the team plane?

[Cam's New Arm]

All I heard was "this year". Didn't say poo about the off season.

[MHS831]

8 minutes ago, rayzor said:

accepting the status quo for another year would be a fail.

It would.  You could argue that we have been to the playoffs 4 of the 8 years he has been here, but once we had a losing record.  We have a ton of talent that is starting to age out--while RR pisses away games by playing the wrong players and managing the clock like a drunk sailor. 

[KillaCamNewton]

1 hour ago, SpeedOFLight said:

I really think Ron shouldn’t get fired. New offense. Patch work o line. Injuries in the secondary. Bad execution which is on the players. We were having issues with the basics such as tackling. Even Luke had those issues. I think Ron is a good coach. We will be fine. Draft some pass rushers, safety and o line. We will be fine

This type of thinking was JR to a T and the reason this franchise bathes in mediocrity. Players are gonna get hurt. Coordinators are going to leave. Good coaches make adjustments and plug and play guys and overcome adversity. Any time this team faces any sort of inconvenience it gives Ron a built in excuse. A team like the Seahawks can lose 3 hall of famers on defense and still put a decent defense on the field yet we lose a coordinator and the entire unit goes to poo. 

[SpeedOFLight]

6 minutes ago, KillaCamNewton said:

This type of thinking was JR to a T and the reason this franchise bathes in mediocrity. Players are gonna get hurt. Coordinators are going to leave. Good coaches make adjustments and plug and play guys and overcome adversity. Any time this team faces any sort of inconvenience it gives Ron a built in excuse. A team like the Seahawks can lose 3 hall of famers on defense and still put a decent defense on the field yet we lose a coordinator and the entire unit goes to poo. 

I get that but the grass isn’t always greener on the other side. I just want to win. No matter what that means 

[SOJA]

More likely he talked with Hurney IMO. 

I think both Hurney and Ron are completely safe after this. Rivera probably made his case to hire a bonafide d-coordinator. 

Not a fan but it's out of my control. 

[Mr. Scot]

55 minutes ago, MHS831 said:

Hurney's  free agency (Key contributors in BOLD, Injured Reserve in italics) :

FS Reid and Searcy (IR), CB Cockrell (IR, after Breeland fell through), WR Wright and Smith, OL Sirles (IR), NT Poe, DE Peppers, K Gano.

I am not a Hurney fan after trading first rounders to save his job before and drafting Clausen after 2 teams (KC and Minn) that desperately needed QBs passed on Clausen in that draft in both the first and the second round.  Then Armanti Edwards, then Kevin Norwood--terrible.  But he did OK in free agency with what he had.  I give him a B-.  Best signing (Reid); Easiest signing (Peppers); and best value (Wright).

Hurney's draft: Moore was a great pick and not an easy one.  Ridley was the consensus #1 WR most of the year, but Moore gives us a dazzling rookie and future NFL star.  Jackson in the second round has proven to be a great pick as well--where would we be without him?  Hurney historically does well in the first and lays an egg in the second.  He did not this time.  Gaulden was declared "developmental" when we drafted him, so the jury is still out-I have seen little to establish confidence in him, but I can wait.  Who did not like Thomas in the fourth?  I think we have something in him and his time to shine could be 2019.  I still do not get the Haynes pick.  I thought we might go after OL depth here, but we did not know at the time that Hall would be so terrible (I thought so when we drafted him, benefiting from playing opposite Garrett).  Still, Haynes cannot play 4-3 DE--maybe a situational pass rusher?  Not smart if you ask me today.  Carter and Smith proved to be solid special teamers and have some potential.  Norton sucked in preseason and will never play for us, even though he has a practice squad spot.

I give this draft a B.  We found 2 starters for this season and possibly 2 starters (Thomas and Gaulden) for 2019. 

So does Hurney deserve to be fired?  You could argue this--he does not deserve to be fired for what he does, he deserves to be fired for what he does not do.  Good point.  He tends to neglect some positions (historically) and we shall see how he does when the pressure is on.

I still say that Rivera will be fired at the end of this season if we go 1-3 the rest of the way--he might get fired if we finish 8-8.   If New Orleans sits their starters week 17, RR could get that victory that makes him seem respectable (9-7).  Give Tepper some time--he will get tired of RR and his game management, lack of adjustments, etc. and realize that Cam and Luke are the only reason he has his job.

The thing about Hurney is that individual offseasons may not be devastating, but there's a cumulative effect. The longer he's in charge, the worse things get.

But the coming offseason is a different story. With the team set up for a major retooling, no way in hell I want that left in Hurney's hands. He could do enough damage in one offseason to set us back for years to come.

[Mr. Scot]

1 hour ago, ForJimmy said:

His source is more than likely Hurney. If Ron gets fired, it will be Tepper stepping in and doing it...

Makes sense.

I believe Rivera being safe "this year" as in the next four games is true. I don't buy that the offseason decision is made yet.

[TheSpecialJuan]

1 hour ago, Panthera onca said:

His source is Ron.

lol

[KillerKat]

I'm not buying into anyone's sources at this point of the year. If by some chance Ron is still coaching next year, well that just frees up my time on Sunday's because I refuse to watch anymore games with him as head coach.

[mc52beast]

Said this already... Ron ain’t going anywhere this year. Hurney could be fired and Dave hires a GM to evaluate Ron next year.

[TheMaulClaw]

So I've slowly begun coming out from underneath the ether of our 4 game losing streak.  For the first 5 days or so after the loss last week I began looking around at various hardware stores, searching for the highest quality pitchfork I could find for under 75 bucks. It might have been needed for my possible visit up to Charlotte, just in case I was needed to join a forming mob outside of BOA.

Slowly that feeling of wanting to start something similar to the French Revolution in Pantherland faded.  I started to think about what truly was best for the team. So hear me out.

What is the best way for Tepper to attract great coaches and GM candidates in Carolina?  I say it's to let Ron Rivera finish out his contract.  David Tepper (aside from his money) is a relatively unknown commodity in terms of his ability to be a good employer to work for.  Ron Rivera has ultimately been a great coach for us up to this point and is very well connected in the league.  It would be prudent to make sure we end things gracefully with him so we can attract great coaching talent.  Tepper doesn't need to be looked at like a Dan Snyder.  If Coaches know he has the money and he also treated Rivera fairly we'll be able to assemble a very good staff. Additionally it would be a minor bonus if Tepper didn't have to make a coaching hire until the new practice facilities are built.  I know it's not popular opinion.  

Additionally it's hard to know at this point in Cam Newton's career if a change would even be a good thing.  He's only had one year of Norv Turner, if things are new again for him next year....I'm not sure it would be a good thing.  If this team doesn't improve in the future...unfortunately Rivera and Cam would probably need to go down together.  That's a risky move for us, but it's true so we better make damn well sure this is what we want.  A new coach is signaling the end for Cam. The truth is Cam needs a year of good health for us to go deep.  It seems less likely every year that will happen....and that really sucks.

[Cookie Lyon]

Smitty must have forgotten that JR isn't the owner anymore. Ron will get the boot. No doubt in my mind. Also, I don't believe one bit that he has any sources, so bloop!

[Proudiddy]

Damn...

I love Steve, but f this news.

Also, what if Steve's source is Hurney?  Which would make sense bc he wouldn't have had anything to do with the Gettleman regime.  And if that's his source, it isn't very reliable bc if Tepper plans to clean house and bring in his own guys, it wouldn't matter what Hurney thinks about Ron.