Matt Rhule Reveals the One Thing He Regrets During His Time in Carolina
Right now, the Carolina Panthers are busy searching for Matt Rhule's replacement. The team fired Rhule just two years and some change into what was expected to be at least a seven-year marriage.
Since his firing, Rhule has made several appearances on podcasts and TV and has been very open about his time with the Panthers and what it was like coaching in the NFL.
In a recent interview with Tennessee Titans offensive lineman Taylor Lewan and free agent linebacker Will Compton on their popular "Bussin' With the Boys" podcast, Rhule discussed a myriad of things from what went wrong to constructing a roster with the GM, decision-making, quarterbacks, and the one thing he most regrets during his brief stint with the Panthers.
"If I look back, even on my time in Carolina, I feel like there's only one time that I've truly regret but really, I don't think I've ever threw anybody under the bus. Like I don't think I've ever said like, well we just don't have this, or we don't have that, or it's this guy's fault. Made for some awkward moments because sometimes I was probably trying to overprotect the guys but I always feel like that's my job. Like if you want to be a leader, get out front, man. Like take the bullets for your guys and hope that your guys respond for you."
What was that one regret? Rhule explains.
"Cam Newton's one of my favorite players I've ever been around. Like the brutal honesty that he would share with me. The conversations...every Tuesday him and I would meet for an hour. We played Buffalo. And we called a play, it was fourth and one. We went for it and Cam threw the bubble out there it was incomplete and after the game, they asked me what happened. And I wasn't even thinking about it with Cam. You know? I'm saying I was thinking about it more like frustrated with us as coaches that we had that you know and so we're thinking that's gonna be a quarterback run and get a yard. They rotated the safeties which changed the MIKE point so Cam knew he was in trouble. Cam is such a high-level thinker. He knew it. So, he threw the bubble out. So when they asked me afterwards, I said we didn't call that to throw the bubble there. The next day, I'm like, Oh my gosh.
"Sometimes they beat up coaches you know? They beat up Zach Wilson after the Jets game. They beat up coaches. I wish people knew what it felt like to go have your adrenaline at like 200 and have your heart rate at like 190 and, you know, you go walk it in and some media person is like here's this. They're gonna ask you this, they're gonna ask you this, they're gonna ask you this and you have about eight seconds to get ready for the postgame press conference. And then that's one time for me it just got away from me and I didn't mean it. I apologized to Cam. He was great. I mean, ultimate professional. He was like, coach, I got it. But he just hated it, you know, because it came across like I was saying that about him and... that guy was there at 11 o'clock at night. And that guy was there five o'clock in the morning. Like Cam Newton was a grinder and so that's the last thing I wanted to do was put him on the spot and it just came out that way and you know, it's hard to put the toothpaste back in the bottle after that, but, you know, it's just sometimes like I love my frustration get me one time because I was mad because I thought we had a chance and we just made a bad play call probably."
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