Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule enters the offseason with his job intact but on the hottest of hot seats entering Year 3.
Coming off back-to-back five-win seasons, Rhule overhauled his coaching staff, and the Panthers are expected to be busy with roster changes in the coming weeks as the offseason ramps up toward free agency and the draft.
It's a pivotal year for Rhule, who likely wouldn't survive another season of struggles. But the 47-year-old coach insisted he's not worried about his job status or the pressure of needing to win big.
"I've said it to you guys all along; if I make this about me, then I'm not the coach I say I am, don't believe in what I believe in," Rhule said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine, via the team's official website. "I'm trying to get the Combine done as well as possible. If you're a coach in the league and you don't feel the pressure to win every year if you don't feel like, 'I've got to improve the team,' then what kind of coach are you? I want to make the team better.
"And I want the fans to have something. It's been a while since we've had a team that's better than what we are right now. The only pressure I feel is to be really really good for our players, for our coaches, for our fans. So I think we've done the staff right, now we'll do the Combine right. Free agency, we've re-signed a couple of our own players. Now we'll continue to do that. Be active as much as can in the free-agent market, and hopefully have a good draft."
The Panthers sit in an NFC South division with hosts of question marks. Tom Brady leaves a massive hole in Tampa Bay. Sean Payton is gone from New Orleans and they, too, have QB questions. Matt Ryan in Atlanta is the only stable quarterback situation in the division, but the Falcons have massive holes everywhere else on the roster and little money to fix them.
The Panthers do have talent for a quick turnaround. One of the best defenses in the NFL should mostly return. If Christian McCaffrey finally stays healthy, there are playmakers on offense along with D.J. Moore. The big question is improving a woeful offensive line and getting better quarterback play.
The Panthers should be in on every potential play for a QB upgrade, but finding a partner has been no easy task.
Rhule is optimistic about where his team is heading in 2022, despite the questions under center. After overhauling the coaching staff, Rhule is ready to help the roster improve in the coming months.
"I can't go back. I'm forward-thinking," Rhule said when asked if he wished he'd made changes to the coaching staff earlier. "I think any time you, after each year you say I learned this, I learned that. I've learned a lot in two years. I would not underestimate the value of having some really good young coaches on your staff and some veteran coaches."
