Carolina Panthers head coach Matt Rhule dared to be different, at least by his standards, when putting his band together to embark on a rebuild. That gamble, clearly, did not pay off for him.
When speaking with reporters on Monday, almost exactly 24 hours after the team announced the departure of offensive coordinator Joe Brady, Rhule said his hiring of the then 30-year-old play-caller was somewhat of a risk.
“When I took the job, I just decided to be bold and step outside my comfort zone—someone that I knew, and went in a different direction with Joe,” said Rhule, who brought Brady aboard in early 2020 after his nationally acclaimed success at Louisiana State University.
“I certainly don’t look at that as a mistake,” Rhule went on. “I look at Joe’s time here and see all the good things he did. It’s just you get to a time such as this and it’s time to move in another direction and continue the evolution and the process of building forward.”
When asked to elaborate on his “comfort zone” by ESPN’s David Newton, Rhule then referenced his lack of familiarity with Brady as both a colleague and as an offensive mind.
“Hiring someone that I didn’t have much history with. Hiring someone with a different system than I knew,” he added. “And I’m glad that I did it. Joe brought a lot to us. There’s a lot here, embedded in place, that we’re gonna continue to build off of.”
The building will proceed with Jeff Nixon, who Rhule does have experience with dating back to Baylor University, as the interim offensive coordinator.
