Are You Ready for Some (Panthers) Football??
We are nearly on the cusp of beginning the 2022 season across the NFL, team are wrapping up their final training camp practices, as we transition into the preseason, and finally get to see what so many fans have clamored for since the final second struck in the Superbowl, and that is to watch football. The annual Hall of Fame game kicked off the first preseason game as the rest of the league gears up to follow suit. For Panthers fans it also signified a very special moment not only for the fanbase but for a player’s family as well. If you are sluggishly pulling yourself out of hibernation like the NFL is then you might be asking, what did the Panthers do this offseason? The 2022 Offseason for the Panthers was clearly a successful campaign on multiple fronts. The only remaining questions require actual football games to be played before conclusions could be drawn. Are the Panthers finally making the right moves? Or is it too little too late to save Carolina’s 2022 season? I dive into that and more in the first edition of the 2022 season here at the Pounding Panthers Chronicle.
From Bros to Pros
It was highly noted that went head coach Matt Rhule came into the league as a first-time NFL head coach that his coaching staff lacked greatly in NFL experienced coaches. This is not to say that the men brought in for their roles in the team where incompetent, but they were unprepared for the task of being NFL coaches. The argument could be made that this was a direct cause of many of the team’s struggles early in Rhule tenor with the team. We saw a mid-season departure for then Offensive Coordinator Joe Brady. With a number of positions along the coaching staff vacant it was a considerable focus coming into the off-season. Enter Ben McAdoo, James Campen, and Steve Wilks. The trio of coaches may not come across as flashy or eye catching, but for a team that seemed to be lacking last year in the coaching department, evident by some of the statements made by Cam Newton in his short return with the Panthers.
Ben McAdoo - (2014-15) Offensive Coordinator for the New York Giants / (2016-17) Head Coach New York Giants
Hired to replace the Joe Brady as Offensive Coordinator for the team, McAdoo joins this staff with nearly two decades spent working as an NFL coach. McAdoo spent time on Green Bay’s staff during the McCarthy era and was with the team during the 2010 Superbowl championship season. This is McAdoo’s first time back in a prominent coaching role since being fired by the Reese family in New York. Infamously known for ending the consecutive starts streak by Eli Manning when McAdoo chose to sit the struggling quarterback. After uproar from within the Giants fanbase McAdoo was fired. The Giants offense saw major improvements during McAdoo’s time as the Offensive Coordinator. The veteran coach in more ways than one appears to be a polar opposite from his predecessor in Carolina. Known to brash with the media, often in a playful manner, McAdoo is not the slick looking young stud, but a grizzled hard-nose type of guy. Early in OTA’s star receiver for the Panthers DJ Moore could be heard praising the difference in coaching styles between the two coaches. If the style of offense that was ran in New York in McAdoo’s time there is any indication for what to expect from this team more focus will be driven into the run game, an area of weakness even with a stud like McCaffery in the backfield, and for the running backs unit as a whole. Former OC Joe Brady seemed to infatuated with the luster of driving the offensive through CMC. It is expected that yes McCaffery is a key piece to this offense, but he is not the only piece to this offense.
James Campen - (2006-18) OL Coach Green Bay / (2019) OL Coach Cleveland Browns / (2020) OL Coach LA Chargers / (2021) OL Coach Houston
An Offensive Line coach is not a sexy hire. It will not make your eyes pop out. It is not breaking news, but for the Carolina Panthers this could be viewed as a great signing when looking back on this past off-season. The Panthers have major issues along the offensive line and the first move to address that by the Panthers was to bring in one of the top offensive line coaches in the NFL. The former NFL center has been an Offensive line coach at all four of his past coaching stints. To the casual fan this was an announcement of little significance, but for a team desperately looking to fix what has been one of the worst units in the NFL it was huge. It is widely known that the college level does not set up many linemen adequately when it comes to the skillset of being an offensive lineman in the NFL. Having a coach that can not only teach and mold the talent that is available will be something that could bring major dividends down the road. The Campen hire was a signal not only to the fanbase but the league as well that things would change along the offensive line in Carolina.
Steve Wilks - (2006-08) DB Coach Chicago/ (2009-12) DB Coach San Diego / (2013-14) DB Coach Carolina / Assistant HC Carolina (2015) / Defensive Coordinator (2016-17) / Head Coach Arizona (2018) / Defensive Coordinator Cleveland (2019-20) / Missouri Def. Coordinator (2021)
Fans of the Panthers nation likely remember Steve Wilks from his first stint with the team, and many saw his return to the coaching staff in Carolina as an upgrade. Coach Wilks held a number of roles within the coaching staff in his first go around with the team. Football fans may recall that Wilks was one of the coaches to join Brian Flores in his lawsuit against the league. The sudden firing by Arizona Cardinals ownership left even Panthers fans scratching their heads. When in Carolina there was only praise surrounding the coach and was seen as a hot commodity in the then upcoming free agency market as a coach. Since his departure from the Cardinals, Wilks went on to be the Browns defensive coordinator for a pair of years, before transitioning into the college ranks with Missouri in the same role in 2021. The return of Steve Wilks on the Panthers’ staff also marks his return to the NFL coaching ranks. With the likes of Jaycee Horn, Donte Jackson, CJ Henderson, and Jeremy Chinn in the secondary for the Panthers there is a great deal of excitement surrounding what this unit could do with a coach like Wilks directing them. Carolina could have one of the most talented secondaries in the league, all that is left to see is how they perform this coming season.
The Enshrined Sam Mills
The Hall of Fame weekend marked a very special moment for many people connected to the Panthers organization, and for the family of the late Sam Mills it was a moment like no other. Sam Mills, the inspirational former player and coach of the Panthers was Enshrined at Canton with a bronze bust honoring his football legacy. A man that was told that he was too small to play linebacker, too old to be a rookie in the NFL at 27, that he had three months to live, and at no point in his life did he give up. A player known for his tenacity on the field, immortalized in Panthers’ history with the game clinching interception in the 1996 playoffs. After retiring Sam Mills transitioned from playing to coaching, when diagnosed with intestinal cancer in 2003 Mr. Mills took this challenge head on as he did with the same tenacity NFL offenses had known on the field. During the 2003 playoffs Coach Mills would deliver a speech that would inspire the Panthers to heights the organization had never seen. The “Keep Pounding” speech by Coach Mills became the heartbeat of the Panthers organization. In the following seasons the phrase “Keep Pounding” would grow into something more than just a catch phrase. When a person utters “Keep Pounding” they are reminded of the fight that Sam Mills went through, not just with his battle with cancer, but throughout his life. It is a reminder to not give up, and to keep pushing through whatever life has thrown at you. Sam Mills will be going into Canton for the 2022 class, though it is not the first statue constructed to enshrine the Sam Mills legacy. Outside the Bank of America stadium where the Panthers play their home games stands a life-size statue of the late Sam Mills. The “Keep Pounding” mantra has grown beyond football in ways no one could have foreseen when Sam was standing in that locker room delivering his halftime speech. The life of Sam Mills is one that will continue to touch souls for years to come. His legacy is one that is greater than sports, it reaches out to the humanity within each of us, inspiring us to do better, to do more, to be better people, even when giving up is an easy option. As we push through the dark times we face in life, we will, “Keep Pounding”.