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Super Bowl Winning Head Coach Sean Payton, Who No More Coaches in NFL, Goes In-Depth Into Matt Rhule’s Mid Season Firing

Published 10/11/2022, 7:00 PM EDT

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Just like the athletes, the head coaches are always under scrutiny in the NFL for driving the team toward the Super Bowl. The Panthers are currently confused with their coach. With the recent firing of HC Matt Rhule after Week 5, a lot of questions need answers before the upcoming games. Former coach Sean Payton analyzed the situation and gave valuable suggestions moving forward.

Week 5 turned out to be a nightmare for the Panthers, leading to a terrible 37-15 loss against the Niners. It was their fourth loss going down 1-4 this season. The heated atmosphere inside the locker rooms seems to have triggered the Panthers owner David Tepper to make a bold decision by firing head coach Matt Rhule on Monday.

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This move came less than six months after Tepper vowed to remain patient. He claimed that a franchise needs at least five to six years to build a formidable side. He was also stunned watching a 74,000-seat stadium filled with red jerseys and a depletion in the Panthers’ side.

USA Today via Reuters

“We had 63,000 butts in seats,” Tepper said. “Unfortunately, there were too many red butts in seats this week. That was not the reason, THE reason for [the firing]. As I said, we just can’t get over the hump.” he said about Rhule’s firing.

Apart from being the head coach, the Panthers have been struggling to find a suitable candidate for the quarterback position. They tried more than five options in the last two seasons, but it turned out to be an utter failure. Even the latest prospect, Baker Mayfield failed to live up to the expectations. Rhule joined the forces in January 2020 with a seven-year, $62 million contract.

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In less than three years, the same owner fires him for incompetency, who claimed that he trusts and supports Rhule in all his decisions. “I believe in Matt. He has my full support. I’m a fan,” Tepper said about Rhule in April. Meanwhile, Sean Payton, who recently appeared on ‘The Colin Cowherd’ show, gave a broad explanation about the vacant position.

Here’s how Sean Payton responded to the situation

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The former Saints’ head coach, who trained the side for more than 15 years before retiring last season, believes the job at the Panthers is quite attractive. “I think it’s attractive … It’s almost a unicorn—the open job with a great QB, waiting for you to come in and be the foster parent,” he said.

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“Usually, generally speaking, it’s somewhat broken,” he added. Moreover, he also mentioned that it is different from college NFL coaching. Rhule has been struggling to replicate his college success in the league. And Payton believes that responsibilities are different in both places.

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“The jump from a successful college head coach to an NFL head coach is larger than you think,” he said to Colin, analyzing the situation. There is so much left to repair for the Panthers, and in the coming days, it will be interesting to see how Tepper makes up for his decision.

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Written by:

Deepesh Nair

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Deepesh Nair is an NFL author at EssentiallySports. Having started his career in journalism as a trending news writer, he has published around 500 articles for various media portals. Although Deepesh comes from a Computer Science background, his fondness for writing has persuaded him to create his career in it.
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Edited by:

Hitesh Nigam