PantherHeel’s Carolina Panthers Blog

Anytime a fan or a member of the local media questions John Fox’s status as a great NFL coach, some of our local beat writers and “Teflon” John’s supporters trot out a standard set of statistics that is supposed to show his greatness.  You know, you’ve heard it, the one about how the Panthers rank up there with superior teams in terms of wins during his regime here.  Somehow, in my mind, I just couldn’t reconcile those statistics with what I see at BOA and the inconsistency of results from year to year.   I decided to dig a little deeper into statistics for confirmation that I was wrong, that the apologists are correct, and that John fox is more than just a mediocre, conservative coach.  However, what I found in the statistics was just the opposite, it was confirmation that John Fox “is what I thought he was”.

I believe that greatness should be defined by performances versus quality competition.  How has Fox faired against playoff teams and winning teams during his seven previous seasons?  The answer is quite simply HORRIBLE!  Fox only has ONE winning season versus playoff teams, the 2005 season in which he went 4-3 for the year.  Overall, during his seven years, he is 18-33 versus playoff teams for a miserable 35.3 winning % and 20-36 versus teams with winning records for the season for a disgusting 35.7%.  How have his teams performed recently when facing quality teams?   Should be MUCH better, right?   Since we last won a playoff game during the ’05 season, almost four years ago, his record is also DISGUSTING, 8-13 for a WHOPPING 38% versus both playoff and winning teams.

These statistics confirm that Fox has benefited greatly from a lot of weak competition during his years here and to his credit his teams performed fair against those teams.  However, when he faces good competition, teams that have excellent coaches and organizations, he does not pass the taste test.   Is he the quality of coach to lead us to an NFL championship and to establish the Carolina Panthers as a perennial playoff contender?  No, not in my opinion, and these statistics strongly support that opinion.  Isn’t that the litmus test that every genuine Panthers’s fan should use when evaluating our coach or should we just be satisfied with perpetual mediocrity?  I’m not satisfied with mediocrity and that’s the reason that I think it is time for a change in Carolina!

John Fox Overall:

18-33 versus playoff teams, 35.3%

20-36 versus winning teams, 35.7%

John Fox since ’05:

8-13 versus playoff/winning teams, 38%

I’m reading a lot of threads on numerous Panthers’s message boards about how the clock is ticking for Fox/Hurney, etc……………..

I’M NOT BUYING IT unless the team were to go 0-16. That’s not going to happen. At worst, I see the Panthers winning at least 6 games this year if not more. Personally, I can’t see Mr Richardson firing a coach that went 12-5 last year even if the record does end up somewhere around 6-10 for the season. I think Jerry loves John Fox because of what he did for the franchise in ‘03 and ‘05. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to see a change here because I don’t think we’ll EVER win a championship with Fox at the helm but I don’t see Mr Richardson making the change. Marty Hurney, on local radio, said last week that the PRIMARY goal of this regime is to be “competitive” every year. He didn’t mention winning a championship, he only said being “competitive”. I have to believe that Mr Richardson bought into that philosophy when it was presented to him and if we end up somewhere around an 8-8 record, we would achieve that goal this year.

I hate to disappoint all of the die hard Panthers fans that believe better days are ahead of us in regard to our Head Coach but I think you’re in for many more years of John Fox and everything he represents.

DEFENSE wins championships. I really believe that tried and trusted mantra for NFL football. Of course you have to have, at minimum, a respectable offense and the ideal is to have a great defense with an excellent, balanced offense to go along with the defense.

My ultimate wish is that one day, before I die, that Jerry Richardson hires a head coach here in Carolina that knows how to build a tough, aggressive, championship defense, believes in it and is willing to turn over the reigns of that defense to defensive coordinator that knows how to run it. God, I hate this weak, bend-but-not-break, defense that Fox has put his personal stamp on by bringing Meeks here. Two years ago I finally began to realize that it wasn’t Trgovac who wanted to play a “school girl” defense but John Fox himself. He’s terrified of his own shadow and he’s afraid to hire a strong, aggressive defensive coordinator, or even an offensive one for that matter, here because he believes in always being cautious and will not accept strong leadership other than his own. We have talent on this defense but no one on this staff that is capable of or who would be allowed to utilize it.

I know that Jerry isn’t going to replace Fox as long as he continues to achieve at least mediocre seasons for us. I’ve finally reached the conclusion that Fox will never lead us to a championship. I’ll always support the team but I’m hoping and praying that a championship caliber coach eventually comes to Carolina.

Rather than jumping on the bandwagon to trash a guy, I prefer to reminisce about Jake’s contributions to this team and city.  Let’s talk about what a great asset Jake has been for the Panthers.  I’ll never forget the utter exhilaration I felt on that beautiful September afternoon back in ’03 when he found Proehl in the endzone for the game winning TD.  I’m certain that 99.9% of the stadium that day would have entertained the thought that we had found the next Joe Montana.  The Super Bowl run was the greatest.  Being only two short years from 1-15 made the ’03-’04 season even more special for Panthers’s fans.  Jake’s gutty performance in ’05 to even get us to the NFCCG with all of our limitations was spectacular and who can deny what a great individual Jake is a great guy, a great leader and obviously a great teammate.  Unfortunately, the limitations that we only saw glimpses of during the first couple of years have finally become full blown and unacceptable in order for this team to succeed.

I just can’t take it anymore.  I have finally reached the point that I would rather endure Moore’s inexperienced mistakes or the limitations of a veteran QB that the Panthers might bring to Charlotte rather than experience the pure agony of the previous two games I sat through at BOA.

I’ve been listening to local radio today and all I’ve heard is how terrible the Panthers played last night. Granted, they didn’t play great, but I thought their effort was greatly improved over previous preseason game, especially on defense. There were quite a few mistakes that I believe could be contributed to starters missing from the lineups on defense and Special Teams. Tackling and effort on defense was improved overall but still inconsistent. I’m still not that worried about the offense. With DeAngelo getting the majority of the carries in the regular season, I think you’ll see a very potent offense if the mental errors are eliminated. I was very frustrated with the shakiness by our punt-returners. None of them were able to field a punt cleanly. That has to be corrected or it will bite us in the butt during an important game this year. I’m SO happy the preseason is over and we can play for real now.

The Panthers have over a week now to iron on some of the wrinkles and be ready to WHIP THE EAGLES SORRY BUTTS!!!!