On Friday, The Athletic published one spicy meatball of a story about Matt Rhule’s rugged reign over the Carolina Panthers. And, as any story about a three-year tenure that ended in a midseason dismissal would go, there weren’t too many flattering details.
One of those specifics—in a move that didn’t go over well with players according to longtime team reporter Joseph Person—concerned Rhule’s firing of offensive coordinator Joe Brady last season:
“A week or two before the Panthers’ Week 14 bye week in 2021, Rhule told players he was headed out of town during the week off and encouraged them to get away, too. After a 23-point loss at Miami on Nov. 28 dropped the Panthers to 5-7, Rhule kept his travel plans, as did others in the organization. Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Joe Brady and quarterback coach Sean Ryan spent part of the bye week at the stadium watching tape and meeting with [Cam] Newton, who had re-signed three weeks earlier and was trying to get up to speed with the offense.”
Yikes.
While the relationship certainly wasn’t working out, nor were the results that it was yielding, maybe a more formal departure would’ve been a bit more appreciated. What also didn’t help that decision is when it leaked—right after kickoff of the 1 p.m. ET games during that Week 14 bye.
Under Brady, the Panthers finished 21st in total yards and 24th in points during his first campaign in 2020. Then, through the 12 games he called in 2021, they sat 29th and 25th in those categories, respectively.
But, with Carolina diving even deeper into their offensive struggles without Brady, perhaps he wasn’t actually the problem after all.
