Panthers Let the Great Be the Enemy of the Good.

[ForJimmy]

2 minutes ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Me too, no one mentioned average.

Steve Wilks is an average HC. You say “good” but I think some of us are still comparing him to Rhule who is awful. Wilks was a breath of fresh air and looked phenomenal compared to Rhule, but Rhule shouldn’t be in the NFL at all.
 

We had an easy schedule in one of the historically worst divisions and he did manage to go 6-6. Our roster is actually decent and several analysts picked us to win our division before the season started (probably giving too much faith in Baker). So WIlks basically had us playing to the level we should have been all year. The Bengals game and last Bucs game really tell the story. The Bengals simply ran it down our throats with no issue and Brady realized we were leaving our 3rd/4th CB on an island with Evans which resulted in THERE TDs on the exact same play. Oh and the playoffs were on the line…..

I’ll give him credit for the Lions and Seahawks, but those other 2 I mentioned were just embarrassing. That’s what you get with an average coach though…

[TLGPanthersFan]

1 minute ago, ForJimmy said:

Steve Wilks is an average HC. You say “good” but I think some of us are still comparing him to Rhule who is awful. Wilks was a breath of fresh air and looked phenomenal compared to Rhule, but Rhule shouldn’t be in the NFL at all.
 

We had an easy schedule in one of the historically worst divisions and he did manage to go 6-6. Our roster is actually decent and several analysts picked us to win our division before the season started (probably giving too much faith in Baker). So WIlks basically had us playing to the level we should have been all year. The Bengals game and last Bucs game really tell the story. The Bengals simply ran it down our throats with no issue and Brady realized we were leaving our 3rd/4th CB on an island with Evans which resulted in THERE TDs on the exact same play. Oh and the playoffs were on the line…..

I’ll give him credit for the Lions and Seahawks, but those other 2 I mentioned were just embarrassing. That’s what you get with an average coach though…

If we played against nothing but bad run defenses we likely would have been in the playoffs because that seems to be the only teams Wilks could beat. 

[TheMaulClaw]

1 minute ago, ForJimmy said:

Steve Wilks is an average HC. You say “good” but I think some of us are still comparing him to Rhule who is awful. Wilks was a breath of fresh air and looked phenomenal compared to Rhule, but Rhule shouldn’t be in the NFL at all.
 

We had an easy schedule in one of the historically worst divisions and he did manage to go 6-6. Our roster is actually decent and several analysts picked us to win our division before the season started (probably giving too much faith in Baker). So WIlks basically had us playing to the level we should have been all year. The Bengals game and last Bucs game really tell the story. The Bengals simply ran it down our throats with no issue and Brady realized we were leaving our 3rd/4th CB on an island with Evans which resulted in THERE TDs on the exact same play. Oh and the playoffs were on the line…..

I’ll give him credit for the Lions and Seahawks, but those other 2 I mentioned were just embarrassing. That’s what you get with an average coach though…

 Wilks did an absolute phenomonal job with what he had to work with. I'm just not sure if Reich is going to come in and be our missing ingredient and perform drastically better over the next two years. 

I'll support Reich.  But let's not pretend like Wilks only did an average job last year.

[PizzaTheHutt]

If Wilkes was so good then why are no other teams taking him seriously as a head coaching candidate? 

[Mage]

48 minutes ago, TheMaulClaw said:

 The Carolina Panthers obviously weren't expecting Wilks to succeed. 

Ah, yes, the Panthers way.  .500 = success.

[stan786]

Wilks did a fine job, he inherited the job a game back in the very bad NFC South and he finished the year a game back in the very bad NFC South. It was nice seeing the team play up to around where they should have. The guy had a chance to put his foot on Tepper's throat and take the job and he couldn't learn from the past and try and go for the win.

Its time the panthers played to win instead of playing not to lose.

I can very much give Wilks props for doing what he did and I am thankful for his calming and steadying hand during the Season, but it defiantly was not enough to counter the tides of the NFL.

I'm very thankful Tepper understands that the NFL is about offense and Quarterbacks and that we finally have a coach that is competent in both of those. If Reich isnt great he'll have the same steadying hand Wilks has while being able to properly develop our next big investment in whatever QB we draft in the first round. Having your Head Coach being directly involved with your QB is something that cant be replaced even with good OC hires because good OC hires become HCs very quickly. Young QBs need stability.

Ideally Reich is it, even if he's not he'll be pushing us in the direction we need to go and he 100% has more upside than what Wilks would have brought. That is just the truth of the NFL. There is nothing I've seen to show Wilks is an outlier Defensive minded coach that will actually be able to regularly make the playoffs. Currently there seems to be only one of those in the NFL in McDermott and his fanbase is starting to get a little itchy about his lack of success in those playoffs.

[OldhamA]

39 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

I’d rather gamble on great than be content with average. You keep gambling on great until you finally get it right. 

I'd like to make that gamble too - evidently Tepper and the Panthers weren't interested in that though.

They want safe. Mediocre. 

[KillerKat]

Its pretty simple really. If he won against Tampa and wasnt actually part of the reason why we lost and the defense didnt suck, which he is supposed to be defensive minded, also all of this with playoffs on the line, then he would still have the job. However, all of that happened and so he is not.

[ForJimmy]

13 minutes ago, OldhamA said:

I'd like to make that gamble too - evidently Tepper and the Panthers weren't interested in that though.

They want safe. Mediocre. 

If Reich and his record is mediocre what does that make WIlks?

Our strategy is clear now. Reich is the guy Tepper wants to pick a staff (which he is good at just look at the Eagles current staff and another became HC in Chicago), and equally as important pick and possibly develop our future QB. Once we have our QB if Reich can’t get us there we will find someone else who can. 

[WarHeel]

49 minutes ago, TLGPanthersFan said:

Cry. Because I love drinking your tears. 

I’m happy with our HC situation. Nothing to cry about. I just find it funny how quickly you guys turn on personnel. 

[OldhamA]

6 minutes ago, ForJimmy said:

If Reich and his record is mediocre what does that make WIlks?

Our strategy is clear now. Reich is the guy Tepper wants to pick a staff (which he is good at just look at the Eagles current staff and another became HC in Chicago), and equally as important pick and possibly develop our future QB. Once we have our QB if Reich can’t get us there we will find someone else who can. 

My post wasn't in defence of Wilks. Wilks had his chance to make the job his (or at least make Tepper sweat a lawsuit). He repeatedly failed. 

[mrcompletely11]

1 hour ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Frank Reich has been pretty average.  Maybe slightly above.  I would not advocate for Wilks over a home run hire.  I wanted Payton. 

All things considered, he did pretty damn well winning games with a new qb each year.  I am really curious what it looks like once he gets his guy in here and they both get comfortable with each other.  Teaching a new qb each and every off season has to be frustrating

[Mother Grabber]

1 hour ago, TheMaulClaw said:

Live within the meta all you want too.  Wilks did a spectacular job in that role.  I mean not hiring because you read a stat is not very smart.  Have respect for nuance.

spectacular is a bit of a stretch. wilks did a good job, but made it clear he isn’t going to make us a perennial contender. will Reich? we don’t know yet. all we know is wilks was good, but not good enough, so you move on to the next one. if you do a good job in your vetting process, hopefully you increase the probability that you find the one who will take you there, but it’s still not guaranteed.

[TheMaulClaw]

4 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

All things considered, he did pretty damn well winning games with a new qb each year.  I am really curious what it looks like once he gets his guy in here and they both get comfortable with each other.  Teaching a new qb each and every off season has to be frustrating

The point of the post wasn't too poo on Reich.  I understand the intrigue. I understand why people like the hire.  I'm just not big on the fake coaching race between the two.  It was never a race.  It was a little shady.

Edited January 27, 2023 by TheMaulClaw