Think it's time to put Fox on the hot seat...

Yeah, yeah. Not Fox' fault. He's been a great coach...blah blah blah.

Fact is the guy is stubborn. Won't do the obvious. I wouldn't mind letting him go and starting to rebuild. There is really nothing here to build on outside of Peppers, Smith, and maybe D. Williams.

 

Yeah, an occasional trip to a conference title game, or even a Super Bowl, would help.

 

What I question about Fox is what the hell is he doing? Does he know? He says the philosophy is this...

1. Draft talented players and keep them
2. Run the ball
3. Stop the run and play great defense

If that is the philosophy, and that is what he is held accountable for, then he should have to answer to the critics because we are not successful at any of those things.

 

It appears, on the outside looking in that Fox has lost this team, but no, he is not on the hot seat right now. Changes need to be made in the off-season though, and failure to make those changes could result in an early dismissal in 2007 if things start out very badly.

 

Changes need to be made on the coaching staff as well. Crossman has to go, and Hennig needs to retire.

 

I definitely think coaching changes are coming that we don't know about yet. The team is just not playing inspired football. It's just going through the motions. I will be surprised if Henning is not gone after this year, and probable other coaching moves. I'm not to the point of blaming Fox yet. We'll see.

 

Crossman must go.
I'm fine with Flajole going, but that's not as dire. I'd risk calling for McCoy, but we also have Geep Chryst (not the best offensive assistant, but still a guy with experience coaching QBs), and we've only gotten worse.

When things like this go so badly, it does end up on the shoulders of the coaches. They're ultimately responsible. But even 6-10, I don't see him getting the boot at all. I wouldn't see a coordinator change unless JR specifically forced it, and that's not killing me as the worst problem either - just the same old stale gameplans, though.

 

If he makes some coaching changes then no he isn't on the hot seat.

 

Like I said a few weeks ago, Henning's gotta go, Crossman's gotta go, and Trgo's gotta go. Instead of going forward, we've regressed big time.

Pat Y seems to think that they'll be coaching changes over the off-season:

December 10, 2006
Observations after Week 14

Random thoughts after the loss to the Giants:

You have to start wondering if the Panthers finish, say, 6-10 or 7-9, will there be a scapegoat? It’s not going to be head coach John Fox. But a team that began the season with Super Bowl expectations might make a move to shake things up. Maybe offensive coordinator Dan Henning retires. Or maybe the Panthers put the blame for the season on Henning or defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac and make a major move to their coaching staff.

Is there any player on the roster who is more on his way out of town than receiver Keary Colbert? Safety Colin Branch is running a solid second.

If the Panthers do anything this off-season, they should start with getting a return specialist. Get someone to handle punt and kickoff returns. Let Steve Smith and DeAngelo Williams concentrate solely on offense. And don’t ever put Chris Gamble back on punt returns again.

Jordan Gross has left no doubt that he’s better suited to play right tackle than left tackle. If there’s any doubt Travelle Wharton won’t be healthy enough to open next season at left tackle, the Panthers should make darn sure they get another left tackle capable of stepping into a starting role. They should have done that this season. I remember an assistant coach making a comment in training camp that he wished the Panthers had one more solid tackle. I didn’t think much of the comment at the time. But that lack of depth became a major issue once Wharton went down.

If you want to think about something positive in a year gone awry, start focusing on the draft. The Panthers could have a pretty early pick. They could use it in any one of several manners. In no particular order, I’m thinking middle linebacker, safety, cornerback, defensive end or offensive tackle. There might be some shouting for a quarterback and there’s no doubt the Panthers have to think long and hard about if Jake Delhomme’s still their guy. But if there’s a major move at quarterback, it won’t come in the draft. Fox firmly believes it takes too long to draft a quarterback and develop him. If the Panthers are going to make a move, they’ll bring in a free agent.


Posted by pyasinskas on December 10, 2006 at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

 

Henning isn't the most inventive play-caller in the world and we could do better, but he's not actually bad, unlike Crossman and maybe Flajole. So if he wants to retire or Fox feels someone like Fassel would be an upgrade, that's fine, but Henning is taking more heat than he deserves.