Carolina Panthers: Perry Fewell is making his mark already
The defensive back coach is already showing his value to the Carolina Panthers.
I was really excited at the Carolina Panthers hiring defensive backs coach Perry Fewell. So far, it appears he is making an impact on this team. Fewell is a veteran in his own right, having coached in the National Football League for 34 years. With such a talented secondary, the match between the Panthers and Fewell seemed like one made in heaven.
As head coach Ron Rivera told Panthers.com, perhaps Fewell’s greatest strength is just letting his players play. Perhaps that is the smart thing to do as well. With guys like Donte Jackson and James Bradberry at the position, they already have a good feel for what they’re doing. Even Jackson as a second-year player played like a veteran last year. Undoubtedly, they will constantly need coaching, the game is evolving. However, I have always been a tremendous fan of coaches that let the players be themselves.
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So far, the defensive unit for Carolina has been outstanding. Particularly when you consider how well the Panthers are doing with an inexperienced quarterback, their stellar performances are even more important moving forward. Consider the fact that Jackson already has two interceptions on the season and three pass deflections. He had four interceptions and nine pass deflections last year. If Jackson keeps this level of production up, he could be in for a Pro Bowl year.
In Fewell’s case, it also helps that he is dealing with a veteran group. In terms of learning the game, this could be one of the easiest groups he has coached. Each player in the secondary seems to have a great football sense. For them, it is probably going to be more about execution, particularly when the Carolina Panthers get to the divisional part of the schedule.
It’s hard to argue with the results, and it’s smart to give for well the benefit of the doubt considering he has coach to the likes of the 2017 Jacksonville Jaguars and a Baltimore Ravens defense that won the Super Bowl. Fewell’s players have also been quick to give him praise.
"“Every DB coach has their own knacks, and I think Perry does a good job of just letting his guys play,” Tre Boston explained. “He prepares us, but I think at the same time he knows the veterans he has in the room, so he allows us to really coach each other up and play ball the way we like to play it but playing it within the defense.“I commend coach on that, because I’ve seen other coaches be sticklers on other things, but he does a good job of allowing his guys to truly play and play ball well.”"
Hopefully, the secondary continues to play well. Fewell has already had a big hand in their progress over the course of this season. I’ll be interested to see how they develop further. As far as I’m concerned, things can only go up from here.