REPORT: Matt Rhule to Return as Panthers Head Coach in 2022

Rhule will enter year three of his tenure in Carolina.

Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule is safe, for now, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN. Fowler reported Saturday morning that the Panthers are expecting to retain Rhule as head coach and will begin its search for the next offensive coordinator next week.

In two seasons with the Panthers, Rhule holds a 10-22 record, which will likely be 10-23 come Sunday evening as they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to close out the season. The fanbase has been extremely unhappy with Rhule and even chanted for his firing during the team's home finale two weeks ago in a 32-6 loss to Tampa Bay. Despite the lack of on the field success as a team, Rhule does see progress being made within the organization.

“A lot of guys are having a lot of individual success, having their best years playing for us,” Rhule stated. “If you just keep doing that and keep adding the right pieces then eventually everyone—you have a really good team. We have some key areas that we have to fix. Whether that is to coach them better or to do a better job organizationally. But I believe it is 1000 percent working, I just know no one can see it and I apologize.”

It may be an unpopular opinion but I do believe firing Rhule now would be a mistake. He has done a tremendous job reshaping the defense into one of the top units in the league in just under two years and to be quite honest, he's drafted fairly well. The needs are obvious with the offensive line and quarterback needing to be addressed. However, if they are to successfully fix those two areas, the Panthers should be well on their way to competing for a spot in the playoffs in 2022. The offense has some legit stars with RB Christian McCaffrey, WR DJ Moore, and WR Robby Anderson while the defensive side of the ball has some nice foundational pieces to build around such as DT Derrick Brown, DE Brian Burns, LB Haason Reddick (will become free agent), LB Shaq Thompson, CB Jaycee Horn, and S Jeremy Chinn.

All that said, if the results remain the same next fall, Rhule will be history.

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