Panthers Let the Great Be the Enemy of the Good.

[TheMaulClaw]

    I learned nothing from Matt Rhule. A coach who came in over his head with gimmicky sayings and an unauthentic feel.  I don't remember much of the Rhule era, it's all a blur.  A systemic response designed to prevent emotional drama, memories of Rhule have been cast out of my memory bank in an attempt at preservation.  Matt Rhule had many sayings that he used and stored for speaking engagements.  They were all hollow, non memorable, and unauthentic. His firing was a weight lifted off the city of Charlotte.  Collective exhale.  Collective relief. 

Enter Wilks.

   Wilks was able to use nostalgia as a weapon.  He knew Panther fans associated him with better times, and he seized the opportunity to recreate that mantra.  Keep Pounding and it's real meaning became a spirit rekindled.  The effort on the field.  The determination and focus in Wilks' eyes were striking.  Wilks' hyper-discipline was palpable. Yet behind his serious nature, you could see a glimpse that he was also deeply empathetic, and wise with leadership.  Relatively speaking he was a man of few words, but occasionally he would share some wise sayings.  Sayings so good we can apply it in our own lives.  "Don't let the great be the enemy of the good."  What a wonderful saying.  What thoughtful advice we can use in our own lives when it comes to risk assesment and decision making.

   Here is the thing about Charlotte, the Carolina Panthers, and winning:

The coach of the Panthers just isn't the coach of a football team.  They are Charlotte's coach.  Whenever the Panthers have been successful it's not only because the coach has galvanized the players.  It's also because the coach has galvanized the city.  In a short period of time Wilks accomplished this.  The team improved greatly.  Each week with Wilks at the helm, it felt like we had a shot.  The city of Charlotte and Panther fans felt acknowledged because of the return of our mantra, and our tradition. There is no coincidence that Wilks was able to draw the best out of the players by understanding this. This is a sign of a man who truly understands the importance of that connection. 

The Carolina Panthers obviously weren't expecting Wilks to succeed.  I actually find it hard to believe that they ever even considered Wilks.  They hired Reich's daughter weeks ago.  In retrospect, an obvious tell.  The Panthers did a false flag operation.  They leaked that WIlks was a finalist, and that he interviewed well.  They pretended like it was a painstaking decision, when really Wilks was never in consideration.  They were not honest with WIlks the way Wilks was honest to the players. It's a shame and a burned bridge that could have been saved.  A Tepper tactic that is making Carolina fans and city officials very leary.  We see this same dishonestly play out in land development deals surrounding Tepper's other ventures.

From the Panthers' perspective, they evaluated what they needed from a coaching perspective prior to firing Rhule.  They had a direction they wanted to go.  They want the quarterback situation fixed.  They want to go offensive.  It all makes sense.  It follows the latest trends.  Frank Reich is a good man, an ex Panther, and a good coach.  This isn't his fault. While the team was good under Wilks, it has the potential to be great with Reich finding a qb.  They think.

The Panthers were likely to be good next season with Wilks at the helm.  Albeit Wilks wasn't perfect.  Decisions in the Bucs game we're questionable, and the Steelers manhandled us, but we saw enough to see a clear trajectory.  We were going to be good, and that's what this city needed.

Good is not good enough for the Panthers.  Now they've put the pressure on themselves.  They better be great, because otherwise they ran a good man, and coach out of town for nothing.  I have a sneaking feeling that the Panthers let the great be the enemy of the good.

[TLGPanthersFan]

It is hilarious how you Wilks cult members are convinced Wilks is the next great coach and will lead the Panthers to multiple Super Bowls and multiple winning seasons with no proof that he will except a mediocre 6-6 season and a terrible 3-13 season. 
A 6-6 season where he got blown out by the Bengals, Steelers and Bucs. 
Steelers and Bucs losses doomed him. 
You know what would likely happen if Wilks became HC. Mediocrity at best. Wilks wasn’t gonna be the next Jeff Fisher. He likely wasn’t going to lead the Panthers to success. 
Not saying Reich will either but I’ll take him over a coach whose coach systole is stuck in 2003. Sick of Rivera style coaches. 
 

[ForJimmy]

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

[TheMaulClaw]

3 minutes ago, TLGPanthersFan said:

It is hilarious how you Wilks cult members are convinced Wilks is the next great coach and will lead the Panthers to multiple Super Bowls and multiple winning seasons with no proof that he will except a mediocre 6-6 season and a terrible 3-13 season. 
A 6-6 season where he got blown out by the Bengals, Steelers and Bucs. 
Steelers and Bucs losses doomed him. 
You know what would likely happen if Wilks became HC. Mediocrity at best. Wilks wasn’t gonna be the next Jeff Fisher. He likely wasn’t going to lead the Panthers to success. 
Not saying Reich will either but I’ll take him over a coach whose coach systole is stuck in 2003. Sick of Rivera style coaches. 
 

We actually didn't get blown out by the Steelers or Bucs.  

It is reasonable to say we would have likely improved next year with Wilks.  I think 6-6 was really impressive after the abysmal start. 

Also I don't think it's unreasonable to say the Panthers mismanaged their communication with Wilks through this process.  The hiring of Reich's daughter several weeks ago is very peculiar.

I am just not sure if Reich represents such a massive upgrade that warranted not just holding Wilks.  Frank Reich is growing on me, but he hasn't been truly great as an HC either. Reich didn't have a great qb situation, but Wilks went 6-6 with how many qbs?  He didn't do a bad job managing qbs.

[WarHeel]

11 minutes ago, TLGPanthersFan said:

It is hilarious how you Wilks cult members are convinced Wilks is the next great coach and will lead the Panthers to multiple Super Bowls and multiple winning seasons with no proof that he will except a mediocre 6-6 season and a terrible 3-13 season. 
A 6-6 season where he got blown out by the Bengals, Steelers and Bucs. 
Steelers and Bucs losses doomed him. 
You know what would likely happen if Wilks became HC. Mediocrity at best. Wilks wasn’t gonna be the next Jeff Fisher. He likely wasn’t going to lead the Panthers to success. 
Not saying Reich will either but I’ll take him over a coach whose coach systole is stuck in 2003. Sick of Rivera style coaches. 
 

I’m sure the “cult” also finds it funny how so many of you are convinced that every new age offensive minded coach is going to become the next McVay.

[TLGPanthersFan]

1 minute ago, TheMaulClaw said:

We actually didn't get blown out by the Steelers or Bucs.  

It is reasonable to say we would have likely improved next year with Wilks.  I think 6-6 was really impressive after the abysmal start. 

Also I don't think it's unreasonable to say the Panthers mismanaged their communication with Wilks through this process.  The hiring of Reich's daughter several weeks ago is very peculiar.

I am just not sure if Reich represents such a massive upgrade that warranted not just holding Wilks.  Frank Reich is growing on me, but he hasn't been truly great as an HC either. Reich didn't have a great qb situation, but Wilks went 6-6 with how many qbs?  He didn't do a bad job managing qbs.

What is the success rate of interim HC made into full time HC? 
Oh, yeah, really freaking low. 

[TheMaulClaw]

8 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. 

Me too, no one mentioned average.

[BrianS]

Wilks is a good guy.  A good story.  A guy you can root for.  But philosophically, he's not the guy we need to compete in the NFL today.

Wilks would make a great college coach at the mid-major level.  If he isn't retained, I'll certainly root for him.  For the Carolina Panthers however, I'm happy to see we are setting our sights higher.  Even if we miss, we are trying.

[TLGPanthersFan]

Just now, WarHeel said:

I’m sure the “cult” also finds it funny how so many of you are convinced that every new age offensive minded coach is going to become the next McVay.

Cry. Because I love drinking your tears. 

[TLGPanthersFan]

Just now, TheMaulClaw said:

Me too, no one mentioned average.

Yet you certainly love average. 

[TheMaulClaw]

1 minute ago, TLGPanthersFan said:

What is the success rate of interim HC made into full time HC? 
Oh, yeah, really freaking low. 

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.

[musicman]

I really liked and have som much respect for Wilks (met him personally a few times) but I understand the offensive minded approach the Panthers wanted to go. What Wilks did with a wounded team what great. I bet if we didn't collapse during the Bengals game and had a better showing at the Bucs it might be different. (Falcons loss wasn't on him). I would like to believe if he did get the Panthers to the playoffs, that would have been enough to get the long term job. 

But what sucks in the NFL is if you have a great coordinator, they get taken and you can't build consistency. Look at the Bills this year vs last without Daboll. You almost need an offensive minded HC to keep the QB and offense consistent. That, IMO, is probably why they didn't go with Wilks. If they hired a defensive minded coach, they everybody would have rightfully screamed foul and may have been right, but they didn't.

[TheMaulClaw]

2 minutes ago, TLGPanthersFan said:

Yet you certainly love average. 

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

[TLGPanthersFan]

3 minutes 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.

Excuses. Wilks would have sucked. End of story.