Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has had some difficulties making the same immediate impact in Carolina that gained him notoriety in Waco. In two years at the helm, Rhule hasn’t succeeded in improving his team’s win total from the season before he was hired. In an attempt to make some needed improvements, the Panthers announced that they were letting go of offensive line coach Pat Meyer, defensive line coach Frank Okam, and special teams coordinator Chase Blackburn.
The team struggled on both sides of the line this year and it looks like any attempts to improve will be made by new position coaches, while the special teams unit saw four different kickers and three punters throughout the year, including the preseason.
Meyer has been with Rhule since the move to Carolina. He’s been coaching in the NFL for 8 years with stops at the Chargers, Bills, and Bears. Meyer entered the NFL with Marc Trestman, moving with the coach from the CFL to Chicago.
Okam joined Rhule at Baylor and followed the notably loyal coach to the Panthers. Rhule had brought much of his staff from Temple with him to Baylor, so it was safe to assume some of the Baylor staff would end up in Carolina, as well. Despite coaching up young draft picks like Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos, and Bravvion Roy and seeing career numbers from Brian Burns, Efe Obada, and Marquis Haynes, it seems Rhule is wanting a bit more from this position group.
Chase Blackburn was a longtime linebacker for the Giants before spending his final two years playing in Carolina. After about a year of retirement from playing, Blackburn became a special teams intern in Ron Rivera‘s staff. When Rhule came in to replace Rivera, Blackburn was one of two holdovers from the staff along with Jake Peetz, who is now the offensive coordinator at LSU.
It’s yet to be seen who will replace them, but Rhule continues to show hints of what made him successful at the college level by attempting to make the necessary changes to succeed. With young talent on both sides of the ball, Rhule may yet turn this team around.
Rhule ain’t going to do crap if he insists on continuing to hire buddies he’s known from previous stops along the way. Case in point, re-signing PJ Walker. Why on God’s green earth does that guy still have a job? Oh that’s right, because Rhule was his college coach at Temple.
Who cares if that guy is a 3rd string qb?
He is very unlikely to play. For whatever team if they were to play their 3rd string QB it would very unlikely be a winnable game.
He is namely there to help other qbs and players understand and relate to the coach. He’s the guy on the team that knows him better than anyone else. So, he’s there for the relationship-mentor type of role, which can be valuable for chemistry.
A HC that is so ineffective at relating to his players that he has to bring in a third stringer for help in doing that might as well just resign.
Dude they have a whole roster to manage.
They can’t give everyone exact amount of time. That’s why they have other coaches as well.
Pj Walker is basically more a coach who can play if it sadly gets to that point.
The whole roster is only 55 guys. Coaching legends like George Allen and Al Davis understood the importance of knowing what made each of their players tick. The coaches today that are too lazy to make the effort are never able to create the team solidarity that you find on championship teams.
He’s a backup QB and likely third stringer next year since Darnold is practically locked in on the roster. What’s the big deal? At least he’s familiar with the system already. Yeah, he’s not a good NFL QB. Just like 99% of all of the other backup QB’s in the league.