4 former Panthers players that should follow Jeff Saturday’s lead

Steve Smith – Former Carolina Panthers WR

One couldn’t accuse Steve Smith of not speaking his mind. The trash-talking former wide receiver has carried on his brash approach in an analyst role with the NFL Network, showing no hesitation in calling out players for bad production and backing up his claims with strong evidence that makes him must-see television.

Smith has now patched things up with the Carolina Panthers following his acrimonious departure to the Baltimore Ravens. Mutual respect has returned and when the wideout finally goes into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, it’ll be in Carolina blue.

The thought of Smith being a head coach is probably the least realistic among all these candidates. Even though he might transition well into some sort of coaching role if the opportunity presents itself.

Smith doesn’t suffer fools gladly. His hot-headedness is also something that could cause complications and rub the modern-day player up the wrong way, in all honesty.

This is fun to think about, but Smith has found his calling away from the game. The Panthers rightfully returned him to the fabric of the franchise, but gambling on his temperament moving over to a head coaching role similar to Jeff Saturday’s situation is pushing things slightly.

That does not detract from his legendary status in Carolina, which will always be remembered with great fondness.