Matt Rhule is fired by the Carolina Panthers and is the first coach to lose his job in the NFL season

LThe guillotine of coaches has already claimed its first victim in the 2022 NFL season. The Carolina Panthers announced the dismissal of the coach Matt Rhuleafter starting the season 1-4 after lose Sunday at home to the 49ers.

steve wilkshigh school coach and air game coordinator on defense, coaching interim. He has a year of experience as a head coach, when he was with the Arizona Cardinals in 2018, when they went 3-13.

Rhule arrived at the team in 2020, after his successful time in the NCAAin which I reconstructed Temper , beginning his tenure 2-10, but won 10 games in his third and fourth seasons with the Owls. That got him the job Baylor , a show that was broke after the sexual assault and harassment scandal under Art Briles. In 2017 they went 1-11, but two years later they went 11-3, with one Sugar Bowl appearance, but could not replicate the success in professionalism.

In just over two years in Charlotte, Rhule leaves with a mark of 11-27. He went 5-11 in 2020 and 5-12 in 2021, before winning just one game at the start of 2022, and owner David Tepper let him go. despite the fact that he had four more seasons on his contract, after having signed for seven years when he arrived in 2020.

The only good thing for Rhule: with the firing, they will pay him 40 million remaining on his contract.

Quarterback, the cross of Matt Rhule: Bridgewater, Darnold and Mayfield instead of Stafford, Watson, Tua, Herbert, Mac or Fields

David Tepper did not resist what it aimed to be another season among the 10 worst teams of the league, like the first two of Rhule’s tenure.

The Panthers were acquired by Tepper in 2018. He fired coach Ron Rivera before the end of the 2019 season, seeking ‘his’ coach for three seasons of 7-9 and 5-11. He chose Rhule, but He didn’t dare invest enough to solve the quarterback problem.

In the 2020 Draft, Carolina had the seventh selection. After drafting Joe Burrow at No. 1, the next three teams did not pick a quarterback. Tua Tagovailoa and Justin Herbert were available, but didn’t get a change to go up. The Dolphins and Chargers took the quarterbacks with the previous two picks to the Panthers, who took the defensive lineman Derrick Brown. Tom Brady wasn’t really close to leaving with them, so they went with veteran Teddy Bridgewater, but they went 5-11 again.

By 2021, the situation was similar or worse. They were in contention to get hold of matthew stafford, but again they didn’t get enough picks and the QB went to the Rams. They had the 8th pick in the Draft. Jacksonville wasn’t going to pass up Trevor Lawrence, but there were four quarterbacks rated for the first round: Zach Wilson, Trey Lance, Justin Fields and Mac Jones. The last two were available when the eighth turn came and Carolina opted for the Jaycee Horn corner, since weeks before they took over Sam Darnold.

In 2022, history repeated itself. They were Russell Wilson, Aaron Rodgers and Deshaun Watson available. They didn’t offer enough. In the Draft there were no quarterbacks who were worth the sixth selection, opting for the offensive tackle Ikem Ekwonu. In the summer, already with Watson in Cleveland, they took over Baker Mayfield.

As a result of not solving the most important position, Carolina fired Rhule, who was never able to solve the offense: they left with mark of 1-27 when the rival scored 17 points or more since 2020. The ‘would have’ doesn’t exist, but they wasted three years of passable defense and talent like Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore by not using those picks for a veteran QB or for the Draft. They have to wait 2023 for CJ Stroud, Bryce Young or someone else in a good class of quarterbacks. It looks like, for the fourth consecutive year, they will choose in the Top 10.