Rhule Building Strong Staff Considering the Circumstances
The Carolina Panthers are 10-23 through two seasons under head coach Matt Rhule. The rebuild was expected to take some time but after going 2-12 in the final 14 games after starting the season 3-0, there is a lot of uncertainty as to whether or not he is the right guy for the job.
Heading into year three, Rhule knows he has to win games in order to keep his job. It never really felt like Rhule's job was in danger even after going 5-12, but if no progress is made in 2022, owner David Tepper will more than likely pull the plug on the operation and look in a different direction.
The offensive line is an area that needs addressed first and foremost. Carolina had one of the worst offensive lines in the NFL but that really can't be used as an excuse considering the Cincinnati Bengals are playing in the Super Bowl on Sunday and allowed more sacks than any other team in the league. Sam Darnold was underwhelming to say the least and with $18 million owed to him in 2022, it handcuffs what the Panthers can do to improve the position.
Before Matt Rhule can focus on improving his personnel, he had to make some changes on the coaching staff. Carolina had one of the youngest and most inexperienced staffs, largely due to having been with Rhule at Baylor or somewhere else at the collegiate level. After two years of a stagnant offense, Rhule fired offensive coordinator Joe Brady toward the end of the season. Prior to getting the job in Carolina, Brady had never called plays in the NFL nor coached a position unit in the league. The first move that Rhule made with his staff was hiring former New York Giants head coach Ben McAdoo. No, McAdoo didn't have much success as a head coach but he is still well respected as an offensive mind, even by Packers QB Aaron Rodgers. The fact that he has play-calling experience and has been a head coach will be very beneficial to Rhule.
Having head coaching experience is something that Rhule valued when hiring his new assistants. New defensive line coach Paul Pasqualoni was the head coach at Syracuse from 1991-2004 and has nine years of coaching in the NFL. Steve Wilks, who served as the Panthers defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator from 2012-17 under Ron Rivera took a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018. He is now back as the defensive backs coach.
The two glaring areas where the Panthers struggled in 2021 were special teams and offensive line, as I already mentioned. Rhule brought in Chris Tabor to replace Chase Blackburn which was a very solid hire. Tabor is widely regarded as one of the top special teams coaches in the league. As for the offensive line, Rhule fired Pat Meyer who was on his staff each of the past two seasons and hired James Campen away from the Houston Texans. Campen was a long time assistant with the Green Bay Packers, serving 15 years with the organization in several different roles, mainly as the offensive line coach. However, he has spent each of the last three seasons with different teams - the Browns, Chargers, and Texans. More importantly, he spent eight seasons on the same staff as Ben McAdoo in Green Bay.
One could argue that Rhule should have made these types of hires when he initially got the job in 2020 and I wholeheartedly agree. That said, it's better late than never and for Rhule to land quality, experienced assistants in an offseason where many know he is coaching for his job next fall is pretty impressive. The Panthers still have to hire a new wide receivers coach after Frisman Jackson left for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Offensive line assistant Tony Sparano Jr. also left this week for the same position with the New York Giants.
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