Pounding Panthers Chronicle: Good Bye

Good Bye

The bye week in the NFL has traditionally been a time of change for NFL franchises.  In the NFL often we find ourselves having a short memory, “what have you done for me lately” mindset often takes precedent, and in Carolina that question would be at the forefront of one coach’s departure from the team.  Sunday afternoon when most fans were attempting to fill the void left by the lack of Panthers football media reports were coming out with breaking news pertaining to the Panthers coaching staff, while the rest of the NFL was dialed into the 1p.m. slate of games, Panthers fans were tuning into their nearest media source for the news of Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady had been fired.  The news did not come as a shock for much of the Panthers fan base as there were plenty of rumblings that desired Brady and others gone from this coaching staff.  There was a lot of hype and buzz that surround Joe Brady when he joined the coaching staff alongside new head coach Matt Rhule.  There were many indications that the Teddy Bridgewater signing was due to his time spent in New Orleans with the then coordinator in the same position.  When Brady was brought in as the Panthers offensive coordinator there were already rumors that the 32-year old coach was being groomed for head coaching positions, this would seem less likely now.  An argument can be made that Joe Brady was given little at times to work with, but a counter argument can be made to that.  Was it not Joe Brady’s system that has run CMC into the ground?  The Chronicle has been reporting on the lack of coaching adjustments both week to week and in-game, and a move like this was to be expected with the offensive output that has been seen in Carolina.  Brady may have been given the keys to a Lamborghini but it doesn’t matter if it is a Toyota when you total your ride.  The Joe Brady experiment in Carolina will clearly go down as a bust and rightfully so.  It is unclear if the free agent coordinator will return to the college ranks or if Brady will remain at the NFL level. 

The interim offensive coordinator is someone known better to the team than the public.  Senior Offensive Assistant Jeff Nixon has been the Running backs coach for the past two seasons.  This title does not carry the pop and fizzle as other positions might, but upon digging deeper into Nixon’s coaching career you find something worth sinking your teeth into.  Prior to joining the Panthers and Matt Rhule’s coaching staff in Carolina Jeff Nixon had been with Rhule down in Waco, Texas with the Baylor Bears.  Nixon was the offensive play caller for the Baylor offense for three seasons in Waco.  In two of his three years there the offense ranked in the top 25 of the entire nation.  In 2019 Matt Rhule and Jeff Nixon coached the Baylor Bears to the Big 12 Championship game before choosing to join the Panthers coaching staff.  This would not be Nixon’s first trip to the NFL level, in 2016 Nixon was the Tight Ends Coach, and before that he spent five (2011-15) seasons on the Miami coaching staff as the Running Backs.  An interesting tidbit to take away from the time Nixon spent in Miami coaching, in 2011 Reggie Bush had a career best 1000+ yard year and came within 20 yards of repeating that feat, Lamar Miller saw a career year in 2014 while on the Dolphins roster, and it’s worth mentioning that Jay Ajayi most notable years were with Miami and Jeff Nixon.  From 2007-2010 Nixon worked under Andy Reid and the Eagles staff as an offensive and special teams assistant coach.  There Nixon got a chance to work first hand with the likes of Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy.  It is clear that Nixon is no stranger to the NFL or having high profile players to coach.  The newly promoted offensive coordinator also understands what players are asked of, being a former player himself, and having a ten year career in the NFL.

The connection to Matt Rhule is one that predates anything Nixon has done as a coach or even as an NFL player.  The paths of these two men would cross at Penn State University where both men were involved with the football program, Rhule as a player and Nixon as a student assistant coach in 1997.  As coaches the two would cross paths again in the 2006 season when both were coaches at Temple University.  It would be over half a decade prior to Matt Rhule’s time as the Temple head coach, but it is a clear indicator that Matt Rhule like the kind of Coach Jeff Nixon is.  This feeling was so strong that when Matt Rhule was hired as an NFL head coach Nixon was one of the coaches Rhule brought with him from Baylor.  

In the NFL we often hear about coach trees and who has worked with whom.  The Matt Rhule coaching tree may not be one of notoriety but there are multiple top-notch NFL coaches that felt comfortable employing Jeff Nixon on their staff.  It is an unknown what type of offense Nixon will roll out Sunday against division foe Atlanta.  The inclination is that the run game could be more involved because of his time as the Running Backs coach.  This of course is just speculation, but I don’t think it was an accident that Matt Rhule had another offensive coordinator on the staff already.  

20 Questions

The 2021 season for the Carolina Panthers has been a bit of an identity crisis at times.  Coming into the season we knew this offense was still trying to figure out its identity and here in week 14 we’re still looking for it.  The Sam Darnold experiment was not just a bust, it blew up directly in our face.  This lead us down a road that did lead to jubilation that was shorted lived.  The return of Cam Newton to the Panthers was a righting a wrong, but a mid-season free agent quarterback signing intended to be the starter is never a good sign.  It is damn near egregious to think that a player could come in, first learn the offense in place, and second be in sync with the other ten players around him in just three weeks.  As minds began to salivate over the thought of CMC and Superman filling a backfield together the universe shut things down.

For some time the questions of the workload put on Christian McCaffrey went unanswered, and I believe this year we got that answer.  To no one’s surprise the Brady workhorse that was CMC will be spending most of this season out with injuries.  As the season has progressed it has only raised more questions, like where has the defense gone in the past few weeks.  The defense is the crutch that has held this time up at times this season, but in multiple games this year the defense has come up missing.  Over the course of the season so far the D has seen its share of injuries, first round draft pick Jaycee Horn was lost for the season early on, and now with almost a third of the season left Donte Jackson will be exiting via Injury Reserve.

After Horn went down the Front Office wasted no time in trading for CJ Henderson, and Stephon Gilmore when he became available.  These moves brought into question if Jackson would he be brought back to Carolina as he is in the last year of his current contract.  Gilmore and Jackson will both be free agents at the end of the season and it is unlikely that the Panthers would have traded for Gilmore if they weren’t interested in signing him past this season.  The Panthers will likely be flush in the salary cap department once free agency rolls around.

Joe Brady found himself seeking other employment this past Sunday and he might not be alone.  Matt Rhule is on the hot seat for the rest of this season and could be finding to keep his job past this season.  Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper has not demonstrated a demeanor that perspires patience.  This could be the undoing of Matt Rhule’s time in Carolina as the so called program builder may find himself replaced mid-project.