3 remaining objectives Carolina Panthers must complete before Week 1

Carolina Panthers must establish a new culture

Dave Canales came aboard at a tough time in the history of the Carolina Panthers franchise. The 2-15 season has been beaten into the ground by the media. Everyone is sick and tired of hearing about it.

It’s hard to ignore that the last several campaigns have had the Panthers among the NFL’s worst teams. That can create a chicken-and-egg cycle that is hard to break for reasons beyond just the talent on the field.

Players want to feel like they’re playing for something. It’s up to the coaches and management to instill that drive into them when the results on the field aren’t lining up with that desire.

This is something that (anecdotally) the Panthers have been very poor at over the past several seasons. Matt Rhule and Frank Reich’s tenures were surrounded by reports of chaotic structure, backstabbing personnel, and textbook descriptions of a toxic workplace. Players looked unmotivated and tired.

Steve Wilks briefly broke that cycle. Using the same roster Rhule led to a 1-4 start in 2022, he went 6-6 and nearly got the Panthers into the playoffs. Reich succeeded him and the production immediately cratered again.

It’s hard to measure the quantitative impact of a coach who can’t properly inspire their players, and it certainly can’t be pointed to as a main excuse for losing. But, as layman as it sounds, most of us watched the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Something was different about that team that Wilks ran onto the field each week versus Rhule and Reich.

It wasn’t the roster talent, but the players competed harder. They stayed in games. The offense and defense were molded around the players’ strengths instead of trying to force them into unfamiliar schemes. Almost everyone responded positively to it.

When the 2022 season ended, the players were vocal in their support of keeping Wilks around. That is a sign of a strong culture. He instilled something in them that Rhule hadn’t before, and Reich did not after. Canales has the chance to come in and do the same.

It may not translate to wins, but it will achieve player buy-in. That’s a massive first step of any rebuild.