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The Way of the Panther (Jonathan Jones)

Mr. Scot

By Mr. Scot,
in Carolina Panthers

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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Jonathan Jones does his version of a post mortem on Matt Rhule here, and it's...insane 😳

Former Panthers coach Matt Rhule failed to meet standards he set at start of tenure in Carolina

At the heart of the story is a document entitled "The Way of the Panther" in which Rhule set out "our way to win" and sought to foster an "us vs them" mentality within the organization. He then proceeded to fail to meet his own standards and create an environment in the building that was more everybody vs him.

Ultimately, Rhule's "Way of the Panther" is just a retooled version of "The Brand" from Baylor (that particular phrase and its verbatim description are used therein). And according to Jones, by the time Rhule was fired it had become a massive joke among team staffers.

Bottom Line: People hated this guy, and it shows.

Excerpts follow:

Obviously the wins (11-27) weren't there. The team could never find a franchise quarterback in the post-Cam Newton years (that also included Cam Newton!). And there were references to the NFL being a "limited resource business" (i.e. don't encourage trading away so many draft picks to be so far away from competing) and that there should be more balance between the head coach and general manager moving forward.

The answers were vague but both plausible and acceptable. Ultimately, no one within the Panthers building should have been surprised by Monday's firing.

...

A document, obtained by CBS Sports via a source, titled "The Way of the Panther" is purported to have been created by Rhule early in his time as Panthers coach.

It amounts to a three-page treatise on the team's process and vision under Rhule.

"Pepsi tastes like Pepsi 24 hours a day! We have a Brand at the Panthers," the document reads. "This Brand defines us both on the field and in everyday life. We are: The Toughest, Hardest Working, Most Competitive Team in the NFL."

...

The first point was "don't beat ourselves." From the start of the 2020 season when Rhule became the coach through Week 5 of the 2022 season -- a timespan that will be used for all the statistics here and to follow -- the Panthers had the 11th-most penalties in the NFL. Their minus-three penalty margin was 13th-best in the league.

Rhule wanted big explosive plays on offense and to limit them on defense. Carolina ranked 29th in offensive plays of 20-plus yards while giving up the 13th-fewest plays of 20-plus yards on defense. He wanted to win the turnover battle, but Carolina had a minus-14 turnover differential that ranked tied-for-25th in the league.

Rhule desired to "Win the Line of Scrimmage." Carolina was 24th in yards per carry and 15th in yards per carry allowed. In seeking to protect its quarterback and affect the opponent's, Carolina was 23rd in sack percentage allowed and 21st in sack percentage.

He also sought to win on third down and in the red zone. Carolina had the second-worst third-down offense in that timespan and the 25th-ranked third-down defense. Its red-zone offense was third-worst in the NFL and its red-zone defense ranked 27th.

And a key point was to win the "middle 8" and "final 5." That meant the final four minutes of the first half and first four minutes of the second half, along with the final five minutes of the game. Carolina had a positive 11-point margin in the middle 8 (good for 16th in the league), but its minus-52 point margin in the final 5 was 29th in the league.

...

The document states that "if you can't write down" this plan and "the Brand," the staff member is "not OOU." That is an acronym commonly used in the building that stands for "One Of Us." OOU was used regularly in the draft and free-agency process to determine what players Carolina should and should not target. The acronym came to be mocked regularly by some staffers in the last year-plus.

Tepper said he had a "short, cordial" conversation with Rhule upon firing the head coach, calling him a "true gentleman." Tepper had allowed Ron Rivera to have a farewell press conference upon his 2019 firing, something rarely seen in the NFL. In the six days since Rhule's firing, the team has yet to even post a thank-you message on social media.

Edited by Mr. Scot
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Cary Kollins Experienced

Cary Kollins

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Dear god that OOU stuff is nauseating. It really was so much worse than it looked, and it looked awful. The motivational youth pastor shtick in press conferences was just the freaking tip. What an absolute clown show. Much like 2010, maybe we’ll at least get a franchise QB out of it.

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Adb6368 Proficient

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I genuinely feel bad for the guy because he just wasn’t ready to coach in the nfl. But I see all the jobs this guy cost and I can’t help but have a certain disdain for him because of the lack of respect our team now gets. Even in the worse years I feel like the Richardson owned panthers would get some respect. Which brings me back to who I genuinely can’t stand at this moment… tepper 

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Mr. Scot Grand Master

Mr. Scot

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Really can't believe there were players still defending this guy. I mean I get the reason why (it's what they do) but damn 😳

Robbie Anderson in particular is the guy with arguably the deepest connection and the strongest defense. It almost feels like Robbie has to be traded now because of his association.

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