Carolina Panthers' Matt Rhule Takes Shot at Sixers' 'Trust the Process'

By now, everybody knows where the slogan "Trust the Process" comes from. Years ago, when the Philadelphia 76ers hired Brett Brown as a rookie head coach and Sam Hinkie to become a rookie General Manager, the organization went into full-on tank mode. And the city of Philadelphia bought in.

Sure, "The Process" was tough to watch while it was going on. I mean, the Sixers were historically bad after all. During the 2015-2016 season, they won just 10 out of 82 games. And during the two seasons before that, they failed to pick up 20 wins in each season. While it was ugly to watch, the 76ers got solid draft picks out of it.

And eventually, the Sixers ended up with two All-Stars in Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons. The dreadful process deserves credit for getting the Sixers into a position to compete in the postseason consistently. Still, not everybody buys into the idea of tanking for draft picks and trading decent players with upside for future assets.

Write down Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule in the category of being a non-believer in the process. As his 5-10 football team heads into the final week of the season eliminated from the playoffs, many might expect Carolina to "tank" their final game against the New Orleans Saints in favor of getting a better draft position.

But Rhule isn't about to let that happen. As the former Temple University head coach was in the City of Philadelphia during the Sixers' infamous tanking days, Rhule claimed that he witnessed the process first-hand, seeing it result in nothing amazing.

"I was in Philadelphia when the Sixers were in the 'trust the process,' tanking thing," Rhule told reporters on Monday, according to The Associated Press's Steve Reed. "They haven't hung one in the rafters yet."

A harsh but true statement from the Panthers coach. Sure, the 76ers ended up with a much better roster thanks to all of the tanking, but it hasn't translated to championships just yet. Since the Sixers started making the playoffs three seasons ago, they managed to make it out of the first round twice -- but they haven't reached the Eastern Conference Finals just yet.

Will that change this season? Time will tell. But as much as it might pain Sixers fans -- Rhule is right -- the tanking hasn't resulted in anything significant since he left Philly for Baylor and Carolina years ago.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him on Twitter: @JGrasso_