Hekker gives props to new staff

[ladypanther]

Did another Carolina Panthers player just throw another thinly-veiled shot at former head coach Matt Rhule? Well, it sure sounds like it.

A few weeks ago, it was tight end Tommy Tremble, who stated that this spring is the first time he’s felt like he and the team have been “coached up.” And on Wednesday, it was punter Johnny Hekker, who said the following about new head coach Frank Reich and his staff during his interview on 104.9 Fox Sports Upstate’s Game On with John Ellis:

“There’s no guessing going on,” he stated. “You know the information that you’re getting is vetted, tested, coming from reliable sources. I mean, really generational coaching lines have started with some of the coaches on our staff, and there are some that are up-and-comers from other coaching trees that are on staff, too.

“Coach Reich has been an incredible leader thus far and just a real clear communicator of what he expects from us, what he wants from his coaching staff, how he wants us to collaborate and, really, approach this season of growth together. He realizes—just like any good team or organization or company—in order for you to become a success, everyone has to be communicating clearly, openly and honestly.”

...........

Hekker continued:

“So I think that, really no matter what way you look at it, players aren’t guessing, ‘Does this coach really know what he’s talkin’ about and does he really have my best interests in mind?'”

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2023/06/22/panthers-johnny-hekker-frank-reich-matt-rhule/

[ladypanther]

Plus...a link to Smitty's comments on Rhule:

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2023/02/03/panthers-steve-smith-sr-matt-rhule-thought-he-was-in-college/

“Now, I’m listening to him make this whole media tour,” Smith Sr. said of Rhule. “He’s talking about what kind of coach he’s gon’ be, what kind of players he want. I find it very interesting . . . Mr. Bojangles over there changing his tune now in Nebraska when I saw him up close here in Carolina and I’m going, ‘Wow, this dude is a college coach trying to run an NFL team like these his boys.’ He thought he was in college. He thought he could control everything.

“Man, I heard so many stories about Matt Rhule and what he was trying to do and orchestrate. He thought he was at college where he could tell the ticket office what to do, he could tell these guys what to do, ‘Hey, I need these guys to be on advertisements, I don’t want these guys. These guys are okay to interview, these guys are not.’

“And people are starting to write reports and articles about what we’re saying on our podcast, so ‘preciate it. I thank you. But I’m telling you, Matt Rhule did some things in the pros that he thought he was in college and it didn’t fly well.”

[Mr. Scot]

43 minutes ago, ladypanther said:

Plus...a link to Smitty's comments on Rhule:

https://pantherswire.usatoday.com/2023/02/03/panthers-steve-smith-sr-matt-rhule-thought-he-was-in-college/

“Now, I’m listening to him make this whole media tour,” Smith Sr. said of Rhule. “He’s talking about what kind of coach he’s gon’ be, what kind of players he want. I find it very interesting . . . Mr. Bojangles over there changing his tune now in Nebraska when I saw him up close here in Carolina and I’m going, ‘Wow, this dude is a college coach trying to run an NFL team like these his boys.’ He thought he was in college. He thought he could control everything.

“Man, I heard so many stories about Matt Rhule and what he was trying to do and orchestrate. He thought he was at college where he could tell the ticket office what to do, he could tell these guys what to do, ‘Hey, I need these guys to be on advertisements, I don’t want these guys. These guys are okay to interview, these guys are not.’

“And people are starting to write reports and articles about what we’re saying on our podcast, so ‘preciate it. I thank you. But I’m telling you, Matt Rhule did some things in the pros that he thought he was in college and it didn’t fly well.”

Lord have mercy

[kungfoodude]

Good. I hope more and more of this crap becomes public so that people who still think he wasn't the absolutely worst coaching hire in franchise history can see.

Also so that they can see how he was one of the worst in NFL history.

[Chief Keek]

The guy really thought he was still at a Big XII school.

[CarolinaRideorDie]

Avoid Nebraska players in future drafts! 

[ClawOn]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Good. I hope more and more of this crap becomes public so that people who still think he wasn't the absolutely worst coaching hire in franchise history can see.

Also so that they can see how he was one of the worst in NFL history.

Are there really any of those people left?

[Sgt Schultz]

1 hour ago, kungfoodude said:

Good. I hope more and more of this crap becomes public so that people who still think he wasn't the absolutely worst coaching hire in franchise history can see.

Also so that they can see how he was one of the worst in NFL history.

The only thing that saved him from being thought of among the very worst was the fact his reign of terror (or incompetence) overlapped with one Urban Meyer.  His competition is Meyer, Schiano, Petrino, Kiffin, Hue Jackson, Nathaniel Hackett, Cam Cameron, Jim Tomsula, Mornhinweg, David Shula, Spurrier, Marinelli, and Richie Kotite.  I would personally add McDaniels to that list.

Some, like Tomsula, were just incompetent.  What sets some of these guys apart was that they were not only incompetent, they believed it was the NFL's fault that they looked like 6 feet of man in 13 feet of water.

The NFL is guilty of a lot of things that damage the game, but making The Process, Schiano, and Meyer look clueless is not one of them.

I don't know what McDaniels' excuse will be.  He'll want another NFL coaching job somewhere, so he will probably slink quietly away.

[Mr. Scot]

2 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

Good. I hope more and more of this crap becomes public so that people who still think he wasn't the absolutely worst coaching hire in franchise history can see.

Also so that they can see how he was one of the worst in NFL history.

With a full two seasons and offseasons of work theough five games this past season, I'd be willing to bet there's a sh-tload of stories yet to be told.

Most of them probably never will be, but as a Panthers history buff I'm up for as many as we can get.

[kungfoodude]

4 hours ago, Sgt Schultz said:

The only thing that saved him from being thought of among the very worst was the fact his reign of terror (or incompetence) overlapped with one Urban Meyer.  His competition is Meyer, Schiano, Petrino, Kiffin, Hue Jackson, Nathaniel Hackett, Cam Cameron, Jim Tomsula, Mornhinweg, David Shula, Spurrier, Marinelli, and Richie Kotite.  I would personally add McDaniels to that list.

Some, like Tomsula, were just incompetent.  What sets some of these guys apart was that they were not only incompetent, they believed it was the NFL's fault that they looked like 6 feet of man in 13 feet of water.

The NFL is guilty of a lot of things that damage the game, but making The Process, Schiano, and Meyer look clueless is not one of them.

I don't know what McDaniels' excuse will be.  He'll want another NFL coaching job somewhere, so he will probably slink quietly away.

I genuinely think only one of those guys on that list is worse and that is Urban Meyer.

[kungfoodude]

4 hours ago, ClawOn said:

Are there really any of those people left?

I hope not but we both know there are.

[UnluckyforSome]

5 hours ago, kungfoodude said:

I genuinely think only one of those guys on that list is worse and that is Urban Meyer.

Yeah, there is a whole bunch of bad in that list. Petrino quitting in mid-season with what was essentially a form letter counts for something. 

[onmyown]

I got absolutely thrashed on this forum for saying Rhule was trash and should’ve  been fired year before last.

There are absolutely idiots left here. You know who you are. Actually, you probably don’t.

There are some posters here who think literally everything and anything this franchise does is the right move (despite being one of the worst record wise) and anyone who says otherwise they just give poo to.

[NAS]

Rhule hire (with the 7 year contract) and the Rock Hill disaster have made Tepper a laughing stock of the NFL.  

Hiring this coaching staff and letting them do their thing will either make or break him.  This may be his last chance to repair his reputation among the rest of the league.  

The other thing, if he was smart, would be to put the grass field back at BoA and show that he cares about his players and not just the bottom line.