As just about everyone around the NFL expected, the Carolina Panthers fired head coach Matt Rhule on Monday.
In two seasons and change, Rhule went 11-27 as coach of the Panthers and was never able to get the franchise back on track. He cycled through quarterbacks in an attempt to find out that works but Cam Newton, Sam Darnold, and Baker Mayfield were never able to remain consistent in a way that Carolina needed.
Rhule leaves Carolina with four years left on the seven-year contract he signed in 2020.
A highly successful coach in the world of college football, Rhule is expected to return to those ranks where he will be a hot commodity. In four years, he turned Temple into a program that won ten games in back-to-back seasons. He then rebuilt Baylor over the course of three seasons, getting them to 11 wins and a Sugar Bowl appearance in his third year.
Those rebuilding skills just didn’t pan out for Rhule in the NFL and now it looks like the experiment is over.
Per Adam Schefter, Panthers’ defensive pass game coordinator/secondary coach Steve Wilks will take over as Carolina’s interim head coach.
We’ll see who the Panthers hire to replace Rhule and begin yet another rebuild, but in the meantime news about his firing got the NFL world talking.
Interesting. Expect Rhule's name to pop up for college jobs, but also expect him to be in no hurry to jump into another gig.
Well positioned to be sit out a season and see what develops next year. https://t.co/IhMG7o7PWq
— Ralph D. Russo (@ralphDrussoAP) October 10, 2022
Glad I’m not the only one feeling like this https://t.co/Z30b91SafM
— Andrew Hammond (@ahammALDC) October 10, 2022
The Carolina Panthers have fired head coach Matt Rhule.
Rhule will get a ton of interest from Power 5 schools for their jobs in this coaching cycle.
He took Temple from 2 wins to 10 wins in three years and Baylor from 1 win to 11 wins in three years.
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) October 10, 2022