What a classless move by the Carolina Panthers.

[Big Ed]

Classless Don't see it !

After another good season followed by a 500 season

Fox meets with J R

They decide the weakest link is O C Henning and several of the position coaches

Changes are made

Henning leaves goes to Miami and all you hear the next season is the

W I L D C A T

Jeff Davidson comes to Carolina and the same BORING Offense is still here

After another 500 season

Fox and J R meet yet again

They decide the weakest link is Turgro

and several position coaches

Turgro goes to Packers as a position coach

Meeks is brought to Carolina

Now Fox has changed out all his coaches ,so J R starts clearing out all his VET's to give the roster a new look

J R has changed out all the coaches except Fox and all the Vets to elimanate the 500 season's and move the team foward

So what does J R get for his efforts !!!

JR still respects Fox even tho both men now know FOX is not the answer but the Problem:(

JR and Fox have meet weekly and have known this was coming to this

J R is helping him be toward the front of avaliable coaches come Sunday

Teams know its official and they have all week to make plans to contact Fox or be at game to contact Fox about a new Job

As far as the other coaches

They all have a heavy FOX influence to them , none stood out as an improvement over the coaches they replaced all fell right into the FOX mold

JR could also have a coach in mind that will only come if he can bring his people .

Classless would be demanding replacement of all your coaches to improve the team

Yet the team does not improve

[mwright350]

Calling it classless is a bit shortsighted. There are so many worse ways it could have been handled.

[CatMan72]

Fox and the rest of the staff knew this was coming... have to get the word out now before potential candidates go accepting jobs with someone else.

[Sandy Claws]

Apparently some Panthers players didn't know.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=capress-fbn_panthers_fox-5530779

So I'm glad JR did it early. Now the coach won't need to explain anything to anyone. Because he shouldn't.

I was referring to the coaches involved. This is no different than any other business. They don't normally go to individual workers to inform them that their manager is going to be let go. They talk to the manager, plan the transition, and move forward.

[BBQ&Beer]

You know what John Fox should do? Go out there, and punt the ball every 1st down.

So you think the correct response to getting butt hurt is to throw a tantrum?

[jim stone]

Probly be classless to name a replacement before Fox has vacated the office.

[thunderraiden]

Wait... when I read the title of this thread I thought it was a joke. But it really is serious? Rofl? Fox got fired after the Arizona beatdown, but because he got us to the Super Bowl and 12-4 the prior season Richardson gave him a chance, Fox failed and knew what the outcome would be.

It was just fortunate for him there was labor uncertainty on the horizon and JR gave Fox the option to stay or void the last year of his contract for a more stable job somewhere else. It wasn't a secret because it was announced publicly. So Fox was sure he was fired last season, but because of the CBA was allowed to basically be an interim coach, and just like Leslie Fraizer in Minny, Fox was allowed a chance to retain his job.

Fox failed, you can say what you want about no vets, but there is no excuse for having the leagues worst offense with D. Will, Stewy, S Smith, Ryan Kalil, & Jordan Gross, they don't sound like rookie names to me. Crappy QB? Why demand Clausen make deep throws as a rookie who has tremendous short range accuracy?

Yes I love Luck, but to think a coach that has only been able to succeed with one mediocre QB in all his tenure and commands the leagues worst offense, THE LEAGUES WORST, is able to make a rookie look good, a rookie that the coach has no need or want to develop, is just plain crazy. Yea its fun to bash on Clausen because we have the second coming of Christ possible staring us in the face if he declares Jan. 15th but Clausen is not the problem a lot of the homers on this board would have you believe. He has the intangibles of.... a rookie.... what a freakin' surprise, he was forced out of ND a year early and then is forced to make stupid throws in an offense that doesn't even try to make it simple on him.

So yeah, I hope more than anything we get Luck because of his height, awareness, intelligence, and intangibles are far superior than any prospect since Philip Rivers, but do I think Clausen doesn't have a chance in this league with a few years behind a vet in an offense that suits Clausen? No.

[jtm]

Fox and JR have a lot of respect for each other. I am sure JR talked to Fox before doing this. Fox probably did not object.

[Happy Panther]

Was it classless to let Wade Phillips or Singletary go before the season was over? If anything JR showed loyalty to Fox by letting him finish the season. He could have easily told him to pack his bags months ago.

[Khyber53]

By announcing beforehand that this will be Fox's last game as the Panthers coach, the man can have his swan song. The announcers can talk about his history here, concentrating on the good parts, and the players can say their good byes and appreciations after the game.

It is a classy move on the part of the organization. And an honourable one. Fox has done a lot for this team and its fans. He deserves the opportunity to leave with dignity.

[coxc63]

As a fan ive grown accustom to Fox, its time for him to go, but its just going to be weird not seeing him on the sideline every sunday...Hopefully we get a better coach who can field a balanced team throughout the next 5-10 years, because just being great on one side of the ball hasnt quite cut it throughout fox's tenure here.

[panthers2u]

These things don't happen in a vacuum. There are a lot of relationships here, both professionally and personally, that come into to play. We're talking coaches and their families, players, support staff and etc. TBQH, given what I can glean from the news, it seems to be a good move by JR.

It would be my guess that JR and Fox talked it over and agreed that this is the way they wanted it to happen. Heck, Fox could have even asked JR to do it this way. He could have asked JR to do it for him or for his staff for any number of reasons. At least this way it's done, there is no confusion and everyone can relax a bit and focus on the next game and with getting on with their lives.

JR makes mistakes like all of us but I seriously doubt he would intentionally do something to hurt Fox or the people connected with this team.

Just my .02.

[pantherclaw]

I see no problems with it.

It was discussed with him in private before.

They make the public announcement (that many fans have been waiting for).

They make clear that none of the staff are being retained.

Last, but not least, they can now officially begin their search for the next HC, without any issues.

That being said, thank you John Fox, for bringing respectability and winning to this franchise. Thank you for making our players tough, and never giving up. Thank you for the ride, even though it didn't end like we all thought/expected it would. Thank you.

[Cat'sGrowl]

Actually, this was the classiest thing that could've been done.

The announcement was delayed up until right before the last game, it gave Fox a chance to say farewell and such, not just being ignored and kicked off into the sunset.

Richardson and the team got to give their public farewells to Fox.

This was probably the classiest way you can do something for a classy coach.

Some people just want something stupid to be mad about.

But, lemme guess..