The Carolina Panthers dropped the hammer on head coach Matt Rhule Monday, firing him after a 1-4 start to the season. Rhule isn't the only Panthers coach to get the boot, though, with defensive coordinator Phil Snow getting canned as well, per NFL Network's Ian Rapaport. Steve Wilks is the interim head coach, while run game coordinator Al Holcomb is expected to be the defensive coordinator.
The Rhule firing wasn't all that unexpected. He went 5-11 in 2020 and 5-12 last season before this atrocious 1-4 start, with a 37-15 shellacking at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday the final straw. Rhule infamously lost 25 straight games when allowing at least 17 points.
Snow joined the Panthers along with Rhule in 2020. The two men had a lot of prior experience together, including at Baylor before they were both hired by Carolina.
The Panthers' defense was okay under Snow, with Carolina allowing 24.4 points per game and 356.2 yards per game this season. The offense has been the much bigger culprit in recent years, with poor quarterback play throughout Rhule's tenure. Baker Mayfield has been a train wreck this season and is now dealing with an injury while Sam Darnold rehabs his own injury.
While you could argue Snow didn't deserve to be fired based on the defense's performance, it's no surprise he's gone since he's so close to Rhule. The Panthers want to wash off all the stink of Rhule's tenure as they search for a new coach, so getting rid of his guy at defensive coordinator is part of that.
Carolina has a lot of work to do to get back to relevance.
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