Rhule decided he didn't need a former head coach on staff

[Mr. Scot]

...because he could call Tom Coughlin and Dick Vermeil for advice if he needed it.

From Jourdan Rodrigue's post Combine article in The Athletic (link)
 

Quote

Rhule’s staff feels like a fraternity

The Panthers hired another assistant coach, as we reported last week. Not surprisingly, it was another young guy with ties to the coaches already in place.

LSU offensive analyst D.J. Mangas, who played and coached with Panthers offensive coordinator Joe Brady at William & Mary, joins a staff that is heavy with Baylor and Temple connections, and on the light side in terms of NFL experience.

Rhule, whose only NFL experience was one year as the Giants’ assistant offensive line coach, interviewed former NFL head coaches Mike McCoy, Ben McAdoo and Scott Linehan, but passed on all three. (Linehan took Brady’s old job at LSU; McAdoo was hired as quarterbacks coach in Jacksonville.)

Rhule said he had initially planned on hiring a former head coach, but believes his ties to a couple of former coaches, combined with his staffers who do have NFL experience, will be enough.

“Getting Pat Meyer and the experience he’s had as an offensive line coach, and getting Jason Simmons, coming in as a pass game coordinator, kind of used up some of those spots that I was planning on using,” Rhule said.

“And then as I went through it, the ability to get on the phone with Dick Vermeil (and) Tom Coughlin, I said to myself, ‘I have these amazing resources from Hall of Fame coaches.’ So I’ve utilized that probably more than anything else.”

Among Rhule’s 22 coaches, 10 have NFL experience, including five with nine years or more: Simmons, defensive line coach Mike Phair, defensive run game coordinator Al Holcomb, running backs coach Jeff Nixon and quarterbacks coach Jake Peetz.

Peetz and special-teams coordinator Chase Blackburn are the only two holdovers from Rivera’s staff, though Holcomb also coached under Rivera previously.

At the combine, it was rare to see any one coach alone. Former Baylor and Temple players also commented several times during media sessions on the closeness of the group, which was apparent all week even between the former Baylor coaches and less-familiar faces like Brady and Peetz.

While many details of the Panthers’ next few months are unclear, one thing is certain: They won’t have to waste any time getting to know each other.

Not real sure how I feel about this.

[bigpoppa]

I can see him on the phone during the game. "Um, Tom, this is Matt, can you call me back? no rush, just in the next 40 seconds or so would be great."

[thefuzz]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

...because he could call Tom Coughlin and Dick Vermeil for advice if he needed it.

From Jourdan Rodrigue's post Combine article in The Athletic (link)
 

Not real sure how I feel about this.

Could be good, could backfire.

If he thought that the NFL guys that he interviewed were to rigid or stuck (in the NFL way of doing things) in their ways....maybe he chose to not be encumbered by their ideas?

Not sure about the move, but I had really wanted us to have a vet on staff.

[Jesse]

Sometimes it’s good to not have a guy telling you what to do because he’s been there before. It’s gotta be someone who you can trust and wont bark down your back 24/7.

[Mr. Scot]

Rhule strikes me as a guy who's very confident in himself.

That's not a bad thing if it's warranted.

It can be a disaster if it's not.

[thefuzz]

Just now, bigpoppa said:

I can see him on the phone during the game. "Um, Tom, this is Matt, can you call me back, no rush, just in the next 40 seconds or so would be great."

In game isn't as big of a deal as setting up timetables for the off season, planning TC/practices, how to handle the media and backlash from players, etc...all the stuff behind the scenes of him being a CEO, instead of a rah rah guy.

I can see him being overwhelmed with game time decisions, but most new NFL coaches are...the good news, he isn't going to be calling plays, I see that as a plus for a young, inexperienced HC.

[DubE_4MR]

Tom Coughlin a phone call away. I'm ok with that.

[bigpoppa]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Rhule strikes me as a guy who's very confident in himself.

That's not a bad thing if it's warranted.

It can be a disaster if it's not.

Confidence is the food of the wise, but the liquor of the fool.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, bigpoppa said:

Confidence is the food of the wise, but the liquor of the fool.

Truth be told, this statement applies equally well to David Tepper as a team owner.

If we were talking about business decisions, I'd trust Tepper implicitly. Whether or not he knows what he's doing when it comes to football matters is still up for debate.

Thus, we have an owner and a head coach who both may be wise or may be fools.

"May you live in interesting times."

[bigpoppa]

Just now, Mr. Scot said:

Truth be told, this statement applies equally well to David Tepper as a team owner.

If we were talking about business decisions, I'd trust Tepper implicitly. Whether or not he knows what he's doing when it comes to football matters is still up for debate.

Thus, we have an owner and a head coach who both may be wise or may be fools.

"May you live in interesting times."

Agreed. Frankly I would take either over just being mired in mediocrity. I like Rivera but it felt like he just got to the point where as hard as he tried it didn't work. The switch to the 3-4 was the most obvious example. We were just stuck in the middle of the road.

A great man once said, "If you ain't first, you're last"

 

[ellis]

I don’t buy it, but it’s not my staff. I guess let me put it this way: this is exactly the opposite of how I would build an NFL staff, if I was a head coach. It may work wonders, but keep this in mind: the staff is vastly less experienced at the NFL level than Chip Kelly’s Eagles staff was. 

[WOW!!]

25 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

...because he could call Tom Coughlin and Dick Vermeil for advice if he needed it.

From Jourdan Rodrigue's post Combine article in The Athletic (link)
 

Not real sure how I feel about this.

Didn't Rivera think the same thing??

[Ship]

I think as head coach if you are panicking in a game and need your assistant to make a decision for you then you’ve got a bigger problem. However, I think this is just as much Rhule not getting or not finding a coach he wants. He didn’t want Mike McCoy and that sounds like his only true option.

[LinvilleGorge]

This whole experiment is going to be a raving success or an absolutely abysmal failure. I honestly don't see any room for gray area in between. It's either going to really work or it really won't.