Should Panthers Dump Rhule for Brian Flores?
Multiple reports over the past several weeks have stated that the Carolina Panthers would not fire head coach Matt Rhule just after two seasons with the team. Given that he has survived Black Monday in the NFL, it's probably safe to say that Rhule will be strolling the sidelines in Carolina in 2022.
However, things can change at any moment. One of the biggest surprises on Monday was the firing of Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores. The Dolphins started 1-7 but won seven straight games and finished the season with a 9-8 record. In three years with Miami, Flores owned two winning seasons, compiling a record of 24-25. After a 5-11 season in year one, Flores turned things around quickly with great defensive play and average quarterback play.
I've been one of the very few that believes firing a coach after two seasons is ridiculous. I don't care if it's Matt Rhule, Joe Judge, or any other coach. In my opinion, you have to give a guy three years to show what he can do in terms of building a winner on and off the field. Do I think Rhule should be fired right now? No, but do I think he should be on the hot seat? Yes, 100%, without question. If the Panthers don't win next year, there's no reason he should be with the team beyond 2022.
Although I do like the idea of giving a coach three years, sometimes better opportunities arise and Brian Flores is one of them. Flores is a proven builder in the NFL albeit just three years of experience. He's shown that he can do it and do it with subpar quarterback play. If I were David Tepper, the only way I move off of Rhule is if I go after Flores and believe I had a good shot at hiring him. Then again, the Panthers would be a little late to the party with a number of teams already beginning the interviewing process. If Carolina wanted to fire Rhule, they needed to do it Monday or perhaps Sunday night after the game to get a little bit of a head start.
Had the Panthers moved on from Rhule, Flores would have immediately became my No. 1 target. He would take over a very young yet talented defense and has already proven that he can win without a quarterback, Obviously, they would need to get that situation figured out sooner than later but regardless, it would have been a great fit.
Given what Tepper said a couple of years ago when he made the decision to hire Rhule, it doesn't seem realistic that he would "dump" Rhule for Flores or any other coach this offseason.
"You can see how he built these [college] programs and how he takes things that are hard and makes them better," Tepper told reporters the day he introduced Rhule as his head coach. "Like you said, be the best 8-8 team, be the best 10-6 team etc. There's a long-time commitment here. I understand it takes time to build things up. You have to do a little breaking down before you can build them up. I'm not saying it's going to happen fast on the football side. It takes time and you've got to develop players. But this is a master developer of men. I think we can have something special here, something just a little bit different. Look at the programs he was at. Think about this for a second, you're at Temple with what they had there. Look at Baylor and the classes he brought in and what he's done with those young men there. He wasn't up there in the top ten bringing in classes like Oklahoma was. He was bringing in classes ranked No. 35 because of the situation there and look what he's done to build it there with limited resources. We're going to build the best facility down in Rock Hill here pretty soon, the best. So, we've got a master developer that never had the resources before that's shown that he can do it with less. What do you think he can do with more?"
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