4 burning questions Carolina Panthers fans are asking ahead of Week 4

Matt Rhule and the Carolina Panthers locker room

The football world sees Rhule on the hot seat, players are saying something different. Whose right? – @Ice_Krm1

Thank you for your question!

Matt Rhule has been on the hot seat since late last season. He is currently 11-25 as a head coach in the NFL, one of the worst records for any head coach during this span. It’s not fun. It’s not great. It’s quite bad and it’s frustrating to fans and media alike.

Rhule came into the league off the notion of his ability to rebuild programs from the dead such as Temple and Baylor. However, college football is nothing compared to the NFL.

Rebuilds are different for every team or program at any level of competition. For the Carolina Panthers, they’ve been stuck between a rebuild or retooling and never fully went true to their word of complete demolition of the roster.

The third-year head coach is on the hot seat, make no mistake about that. Even though reports say David Tepper is unlikely to make a move anytime soon, if Rhule doesn’t finish with a winning record in 2022, I assume he’ll be getting the boot.

Shouldn’t that mean the players are not in favor of their head coach? Based on what I’ve seen over the last couple of seasons, including the first three in 2022, that’s not the case.

Rhule is a very likable person, believe it or not. While everyone from the outside, including myself, has our critiques toward him, I’ve not heard a single bad thing about him as a person.

Players love and play hard for him. This is not a group divided by any means. The Panthers’ roster is full of players that believe in their head coach.

When the team loses, the anger is loud from the fans. When they win, it’s quieter. They want to prove the critics wrong for Rhule. Nothing I’ve seen suggests a team that lacks effort and intensity. So give the coach credit for having them compete hard from start to finish.

This is why firing him would be difficult. The players and coaches, and even Rhule himself, understand the business of the NFL and how the lack of wins could lead to a change of head coach. That doesn’t mean the team will “tank” for a better draft pick and look to sign an offensive-minded replacement.

The goal of each team, including the Carolina Panthers, is to win football games on their way to a chance at the Vince Lombardi Trophy in Phoenix this coming February. That’s the goal of this team, even if their coach has greatly underwhelmed from a performance perspective.

The odds of Rhule being out of a job around the end of the season are still high. However, the team will continue to play hard for him.

To answer @Ice_Krm1’s question, I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. Though I do believe everyone outside and within the organization knows that time is running out and that heads will roll if things don’t go according to plan.

And that starts with Rhule.