Rhule Admits He Didn't 'Fit' in Carolina

Matt Rhule didn't hold back when asked about what he regrets about his time in the NFL.

Matt Rhule has been a busy man over the past week and since being named the head coach at Nebraska, he's been making his rounds on the airwaves and in doing so, he continues to anger the Panthers' fan base. 

Recently, the former Panthers head coach was a guest on Peter Schrager's podcast, "The Season," and was asked about what he regrets about his stint in Carolina.

"I probably just would have taken another job. I mean, it's a great place. Wonderful people. I just don't know if I was a fit there. At the end of the day, we talked about how we were going to have a four-year plan, a five-year plan. If you tell me, hey, we've got a two-year plan then I'm going to go sign a bunch of free agents and do it. So, what was a four-year plan became a two-year and five-game plan real quick. And I'm not angry about it. I understand. But if it's going to be that quick, then we're going to sign more free agents. We're going to go make the blockbuster trade. We're going to do those things. I think the trajectory that we were on was correct. It was to next year have a team that could make a big trade. I think you see signs of it right now. When they play well on offense, they win. There's a good defense there. I give Steve [Wilks] all the credit. I give the coaches all the credit. But I'm part of that building process. Had that maybe just stayed through this year and maybe made the big free agent signings to get them over the top, I think that the Panthers could win the NFC South for years to come."

In an interview with Rich Eisen, Rhule was asked pointblank if he regretted not drafting a quarterback. His response, well, it probably won't sit well with most fans.

“No. Cause there was really no one. Well, I shouldn’t say that, Justin Fields is playing really well and Mac Jones is someone that I have a lot of respect for. Sometimes articles come out after you get fired that go, ‘Hey, why didn’t you guys get Justin Herbert?’ Well, ya know, because he got drafted in front of us. And, ya know, I wasn’t the GM. I didn’t make the picks. I had a lot of input. I worked with two great guys in Marty Hurney and Scott Fitterer. But I think when you look at the three first-round draft picks that we had—Derrick Brown, Jaycee Horn and Ickey Ekwonu—I think they’re all future Pro Bowlers. So, there’s some really good quarterbacks that went before us. Would’ve loved to have one of those guys, but they weren’t there. Mac is a really good player for New England and Justin’s running wild right now—so you can maybe look back at those. But I love the guys that we drafted. And I just think, in time, they’re gonna be great, great NFL players.”

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