Rams Coach Sean McVay Shares Thoughts on Panthers' Matt Rhule Firing
The Los Angeles Rams are preparing for a Week 6 contest against the Carolina Panthers, but their opponent will look significantly different than anticipated.
On Monday, the Panthers fired coach Matt Rhule, defensive coordinator Phil Snow and assistant special teams coordinator Ed Foley, promoting defensive backs coach Steve Wilks to the interim head coach position.
Wilks held the same position with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, going 3-13 and being fired after one season. His defensive coordinator then, Al Holcomb, entered this season as Carolina's assistant head coach (defense) but will now serve as interim defensive coordinator.
Rhule led the Panthers to an 11-27 record across two-plus seasons at the helm. He entered the season largely perceived to be on the hot seat, and Carolina's 1-4 start proved to be the final nail in the coffin.
The Rams have no such problems, as Sean McVay is the youngest Super Bowl-winning coach in NFL history and the staff around him has turned into a hotbed for opposing teams during coaching searches.
Though McVay and Rhule never coached against each other, the former recognizes that the latter's firing embodies the nature of coaching at the highest level.
"I hate to see changes like that," McVay said. "That's the tough part of our business. It is production driven and you hate that for the profession because of the respect and the challenges that we all face."
The Panthers' organizational changes create uncertainty for McVay and the Rams' staff, as new faces in high places could lead to a new identity and play style from Carolina.
As a result, Los Angeles' game planning isn't straightforward, but McVay is equally as concerned about getting his team to play up to its potential than he is the team on the opposite sideline.
"For us, it's about getting ready to play the Panthers, and what that looks like is something that we're in the midst of kind of figuring out as it relates to our game plan in all three phases," began McVay. "Knowing that they have some turnover with certain coaches that won't be there that were in leadership roles on one side of the ball or the other, we've just got to get ready to play a good clean game."
The Rams, just eight months removed from winning the Super Bowl, have dropped back-to-back games by double digits and find themselves with a point differential of -36.
McVay stressing a "clean" game is far from a surprise, as Los Angeles will enter the contest with the second-most turnovers in the league (12), in large part due to quarterback Matthew Stafford being tied for first in interceptions with seven.
The Rams and Panthers will both be looking to get back on track Sunday but arrive with different paths to their disappointing records and a significant disparity in preseason expectations. Regardless, the two teams will meet in SoFi Stadium with the goal of putting the first five weeks in the rearview mirror and walk out of Week 6 with a win.
Kickoff between Los Angeles and Carolina is scheduled for 1:05 p.m.
You can follow Daniel Flick on Twitter at @DFlickDraft
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