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By STEVE REED
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The Carolina Panthers fired coach Matt Rhule on Monday, ending the previous Baylor coach’s tenure 5 video games into his third shedding season.
Rhule, the primary NFL coach to be fired this season, went 11-27 with Carolina. The Panthers fell to 1-4 with Sunday’s 37-15 house loss to San Francisco as 49ers followers made Bank of America Stadium their East Coast house.
Defensive cross sport coordinator and secondary coach Steve Wilks will function interim coach for the remainder of the season. The 53-year-old Wilks spent one yr as Arizona’s coach in 2018, going 3-13.
Rhule didn’t instantly reply to voice and textual content messages on Monday.
The 47-year-old Rhule was lured away from Baylor with a seven-year, assured $62 million contract by David Tepper, the second-wealthiest proprietor within the NFL.
Tepper was initially affected person with Rhule following Sunday’s loss, however grew more and more agitated and adjusted his thoughts on Monday.
Rhule mentioned after the sport he didn’t need to focus on his job safety as a result of he didn’t need make it about himself.
Rhule’s groups went 5-11 in 2020 and 5-12 final yr.
The Panthers hoped Rhule may flip issues round in his third yr as he did at Baylor and at Temple earlier than that. The staff had fixed turnover at quarterback beneath Rhule, with Teddy Bridgewater because the starter in 2020 and Sam Darnold and Cam Newton getting begins final yr.
The Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield this offseason. But the 2018 No. 1 total draft choose has been terrible, rating final within the NFL in ESPN’s complete quarterback ranking. Mayfield has accomplished 54.9% of his passes and is averaging fewer than 200 yards passing per sport with 4 touchdowns and 4 interceptions.
The poor play on the sport’s most essential place put unsustainable stress on Carolina’s protection. Under Rhule, the Panthers have been 1-27 when permitting an opponent to attain 17 or extra factors.
Mayfield injured his ankle within the loss to San Francisco and was in a strolling boot after the sport. It’s unclear if he’ll miss any time.
Mayfield was one among a number of gamers who spoke out in help of Rhule.
“We’re fine in the locker room when it comes to that,” Mayfield mentioned. “There are a lot of plays that we just have to flat-out make — and he can’t do that. He can’t go make plays for us. He can’t do the execution for us.”
This marks the second time in 4 years Tepper has fired a coach in the course of the season. He let go of Ron Rivera, the winningest coach in franchise historical past, with 4 video games left in 2019 with the Panthers at 5-7.
The Panthers haven’t been to the playoffs since 2017 — the yr earlier than Tepper took over — and haven’t gained a playoff sport since profitable the NFC championship in 2015 to achieve the franchise’s second Super Bowl.
Wilks turns into the second Black coach to guide the Panthers. The different, Perry Fewell, served as interim coach after Rivera was fired and went 0-4.
Wilks joined Brian Flores’ lawsuit in April, alleging racist hiring practices by the NFL when there are vacancies for coaches and common managers. Wilks joined the lawsuit together with Ray Horton.
The lawsuit alleges that Wilks was discriminated towards by the Cardinals in 2018 when he was employed as a “bridge coach” however was given no significant probability to succeed.
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