The Falcons opted for continuity. The Carolina Panthers went with change.
Although both teams haven’t had great starts to the 2020 season — the Falcons' actually has been downright disastrous — the Panthers' decision to fire Ron Rivera and hire Matt Rhule has offered hope to a franchise that has missed the postseason the past two seasons. After losing its first two games, Rhule coached his new team to three consecutive wins, a somewhat surprising development because of the offseason challenges the franchise faced.
Not only did it hire a new coach, it moved on from quarterback Cam Newton and signed Teddy Bridgewater. The COVID-19 pandemic also set in, which prevented Rhule, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and defensive coordinator Phil Snow from implementing their schemes in-person with the players. Considering that all meetings had to be done virtually until training camp began, the Panthers' situation was considered dire.
The thought among the Falcons' hierarchy, which decided to retain coach Dan Quinn and general manager Thomas Dimitroff (until the night after the Week 5 loss against, ironically, Carolina), was that maintaining continuity would work in their favor since players and assistant coaches didn’t have to start from scratch away from the team facility.
Instead, the Panthers' early results, even with the losses, have shown that good coaches and good players can still win games and be competitive, regardless of change during a once-in-a-millennium circumstance.
“I think it comes down to the players we have,” Rhule said. “We have a great group of leaders. We have guys like Shaq Thompson, (Kawann) Short, Matt Paradis, Christian McCaffrey, Teddy Bridgewater. When they are at the forefront of what we’re trying to do, everyone else says, ‘Hey, let’s buy in.’ I’ve been blessed to have those guys. I think our coaches took the offseason in the virtual time really, really seriously. We tried to be the best we could at those things. That made a difference.”
The Falcons had the option to make a change last season. After a 1-7 start to the 2019 season, Falcons owner Arthur Blank said he would evaluate Quinn’s performance over the subsequent weeks following the bye. Quinn proceeded to lead the Falcons to a 6-2 finish, which included road wins over the New Orleans Saints and San Francisco 49ers.
Before the final game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, an overtime victory, Blank had seen enough and announced he was retaining both Quinn and Dimitroff — but did so with two lengthier-than-normal news conferences and with team-site video interviews featuring Blank and team president Rich McKay celebrating the decision.
“As we looked at it, we did a lot of research,” McKay said at the Dec. 27, 2019, news conference. “I have a lot of research on staffs, what’s gone on in the league, on the history of continuity, when has it worked, when has it not worked, tried to put all of that into context and looked at it from what gives us the best opportunity to win in 2020 and beyond.”
Their tune changed when Rhule’s Panthers snapped a five-game losing streak to the Falcons, which resulted in Blank’s franchise falling to 0-5 after five weeks.
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
“We felt we had given both gentlemen a long period of time to create the winning environment that we promised ourselves and promised our fans, and they both hadn’t done it,” Blank said. “It was the right decision for both in this case.”
Before taking the Panthers' job, Rhule took over a Baylor program in shambles before building it back into a team that reached the Sugar Bowl last season. And before getting the Baylor job, Rhule turned Temple into a team that won 10 wins in consecutive seasons, which included an upset win over Penn State in 2015 and an American Athletic Conference title in 2016.
Rhule’s pedigree primarily was at the college level, save for when he spent the 2012 season as the New York Giants' assistant offensive line coach.
While his background is at the college level, Rhule said his philosophy in coaching college players is similar to how he coaches pros.
“At the end of the day, football is football,” Rhule said. “The things that cause you to win and lose in the NFL are the same as in college. The thing I always tried to do at the college level is not look at it is as players and coaches but look at it as people. And the same is true here in the NFL.
"While we all get paid and there’s a lot of pressure, we all have the same hopes and dreams. We all want to take care of our families and play the games the best we can. Just looking at it from the players' perspective makes a big difference.”
In a season littered with uncertainty, the Panthers haven’t lagged in the manner many might have expected. Falcons interim coach Raheem Morris said that comes from Rhule’s track record of turning around programs, much as he did at Temple and Baylor.
“Matt Rhule is an outstanding coach and has been throughout his career,” Morris said. “He’s someone who has taken multiple programs and turned them around and done great things with them. He’s done a great job with offense, defense, technology and his schemes.
"The amount of players he put in the league from Baylor, the amount of people he was able to coach and influence their lives. I’ve got a lot of respect for what he’s been able to do and if he can get going, he’ll get a program going in a hurry. He’s done a great job of doing that.”
Rhule was one of five coaches tasked with navigating their new team through the pandemic. The notion that change couldn’t bring improvement has proven untrue in a couple of instances. Although Rhule’s Panthers don’t have a winning record, the Cleveland Browns, under coach Kevin Stefanski, are 5-2 entering Week 8. The other three — Rivera (Washington Football Team), Mike McCarthy (Dallas Cowboys), Joe Judge (New York Giants) — haven’t been as fortunate as they have combined for a 5-16 record. Yet, defying all odds, all three of those teams are still alive in the downtrodden NFC East.
Regardless of record, the Panthers have shown progress after last year’s disappointing 5-11 campaign. Although the offseason was less than ideal, Rhule, amid change and uncertainty, has put his team on solid footing in the early going.
“Since being back (in the team facility) we’ve tried to take advantage of every moment,” Rhule said. “And just try to remain a team. Good things happen, bad things happen, but we try to make sure we always have each other’s back.”
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