4 things Carolina Panthers fans should be thankful for in 2022
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule
This is going to be another lost season for the Carolina Panthers. One that began with real hope strides could be made entering Year 3 of Matt Rhule’s tenure.
The former Baylor man endured his fair share of ridicule thanks to poor personnel moves, strange press conference quotes, and an inability to correctly game-plan or adjust. Rhule entered 2022 on the hot seat in no uncertain terms and it didn’t take long to figure out this was never going to go the way he hoped before the campaign.
Carolina was sluggish with the same problems on offense outside of the offensive line. A perceived drop in effort during their Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers was the final straw for team owner David Tepper, who ended his costly experiment way ahead of time and removed Rhule from the equation.
Rhule was out of his depth and even though Tepper was probably the last one to realize, what’s important is that fans can now look forward with renewed optimism after years of languishing in mediocrity or worse.
There is a notable change in attitude, approach, and professionalism under interim head coach Steve Wilks. Results are not where they need to be just yet, but anything was better than what transpired with Rhule at the helm.