Tom Talks

Panthers new offensive coordinator is safe, status quo, Shula

    Somebody asked me Friday who I thought Carolina would hire as offensive coordinator and I said Mike Shula.

     The hire is consistent with the other hires the Panthers have made. They retained Ron Rivera as head coach and hired Dave Gettleman as general manager.

       Gettleman, who comes from the New York Giants, is 61. After being passed over by so many teams so many times he was thrilled to have the job.

         I don't see him coming to Bank of America Stadium and shaking up the staff.I don't see him making waves, or major changes, in structure or personnel.

          Shula, who was the offensive coordinator four seasons at Tampa Bay and the head coach at Alabama, is status quo. He knows the Panther offense and, as importantly, perhaps, the Panther way.

           Nothing he did with the Buccaneers or Crimson Tide indicates he is a creative, play-calling genius. But he has worked two years with Cam Newton.

            Maybe watching others call plays will enable Shula to better run the offense. Maybe he needed to step back before he stepped forward. Walk away from a job and, when you return, you ought to be better than you were.

             Is Shula the most creative offensive coordinator the Panthers could have hired?

             Absolutely not.

              Is he the safest?

              Absolutely.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Te'o and hoaxes and what's the point?

   The Manti Te'o story is bizarre. I'm sure you've read it on Deadspin.com by now. Beautifully reported story, albeit a little smug. 

    My questions are obvious. How complicent was Te'o, the star Notre Dame linebacker, in fabricating the story about the imaginary girlfriend who died a tragic death?

     And why would whomever invented the girlfriend do it? What do they get out of it?

     I don't understand the appeal of hoaxes elaborate or small, not when they're perpetrated by adults.

      I get email from people who make up a name or don't use one. I don't even undersand the appeal of that.

      I think you have to sign your name. I think you don't get to make things up.

     So maybe I'm bizarre.

Jerry Reese has more lawsuits than I have suits

    Most of us come up with ways to deal with boredom. One of mine is to study the frivolous lawsuits filed by Charlotte real estate attorney Jerry Reese.

      Reese has more lawsuits than most of us have suits.

      He has filed seven. Mecklenburg County discouraged him from filing an eighth.

       Reese's intent is always the same. He wants to stop the Charlotte Knights from building a ballpark for minor league baseball. He contends he has been in contact with a Major League Baseball team that wants to come to Charlotte.

        Like most sports, baseball is fighting to hang onto what it has. Every credible study I've read suggests that Charlotte can't support a big league team. The reason the studies suggest this is because Charlotte can't support Major League Baseball.

        Once the newness wore off we'd do well on weekends, when fans came down from Greensboro and up from Spartanburg. But on weeknights when anybody but a glamour opponent came to town? The stadium would be a testament to empty seats.

         Reese might have some credibility if he would reveal the name of the super-secret team that has selected him as its conduit to the Carolinas. He hasn't.

          The Charlotte Knights have done everything right, and they deserve an opportunity to play in the city they represent. The absence of silly suits will help them get there.

Norv Turner would be a coup for Carolina

   There are great coordinators who do not make great head coaches. Dom Capers is one. Green Bay's defensive coordinator is never without work, except immediately after failed stints as a head coach.

    Norv Turner is another. Turner excelled as offensive coordinator with Dallas, San Diego, Miami and San Francisco. As a head coach with Washington, Oakland and San Diego he did not excel.

     Somebody will soon make him an offensive coordinator, perhaps Rob Chudzinski, the former Panther offensive coordinator who on Thursday was named head coach in Cleveland.

     But if Carolina head coach Ron Rivera has the pull, and the money to offer, he ought to go after Turner the way a football coach would a prized recruit.

      Nobody, at least nobody who is available, is better.

Retaining Rivera good move by the wrong man

    I like Ron Rivera. Think there were more reasons for the Carolina Panthers to retain him as head coach than to let him go.  He was a much better coach in December than he was in September and October. He grew into the job. If the growth continues, the Panthers made a very good move.

     But should owner Jerry Richardson have made the call, or should he have entrusted the decision to the general manager he hires?

     Although Richardson knows Rivera better than any GM would, the GM should have at least helped make the decision.

      If the Panthers are going to succeed, the general manager has to run the football operation. Owner as GM doesn't work, as the Dallas Cowboys will attest.

       So: I like the decision to bring back Rivera.

       I don't like that Richardson made it.

 

Did Ron Rivera and the Carolina Panthers do enough?

    What do you say about this season? The Carolina Panthers started miserably and finished beautifully and, for the fourth straight season, failed to make the playoffs.

      After a 44-38 victory against New Orleans the Panther locker room was a testament to team. There was tackle Jordan Gross huddling with quarterback Cam Newton, laughing, talking. There was Newton talking to tight end Greg Olsen, kidding and joking.

     The Panthers lost five of their first six and won their final four. So they feel good about their finish and miserable about their start.

     Also interesting will be what happens next. I'll be shocked if a decision whether to retain head coach Ron Rivera is made Monday or this week. It has to be the general manager's call, and the Panthers don't have one.

      Carolina won one more game than it did last season, and last season it won four more games than it did the season before.

       Is that enough?

 

Did Ron Rivera and the Carolina Panthers do enough?

    What do you say about this season? The Carolina Panthers started miserably and finished beautifully and, for the fourth straight season, failed to make the playoffs.

      After a 44-38 victory against New Orleans the Panther locker room was a testament to team. There was tackle Jordan Gross huddling with quarterback Cam Newton, laughing, talking. There was Newton talking to tight end Greg Olsen, kidding and joking.

     The Panthers lost five of their first six and won their final four. So they feel good about their finish and miserable about their start.

     Also interesting will be what happens next. I'll be shocked if a decision whether to retain head coach Ron Rivera is made Monday or this week. It has to be the general manager's call, and the Panthers don't have one.

      Carolina won one more game than it did last season, and last season it won four more games than it did the season before.

       Is that enough?

 

If you're going to rip Panther owner Jerry Richardson sign your name

   I read the angry Panthers Pyramid Scheme open letter to Jerry Richardson Monday morning when I got off the red-eye from San Diego.

      I wish more people would take out full-page advertisements in the Charlotte Observer when they're angry or optimistic or pretty much anything else. Feel content? Buy an ad.

     But the open letter failed for me when I skipped to the bottom and saw that it was paid for by the Perturbed Panther PSL Owners Federation.

     In other words, the writer was willing to spend several thousand dollars to publicize his cause. Yet he didn't believe in the cause enough to attach his name.

      This will sound old-fashioned, but it's true. You have to account for what you say and what you write. When I'm overrun by email I skip those that are unsigned.

      If somebody rips me, that's their prerogative. But if they don't sign their work why should I care?

       I've never understood the quest for anonymity. If you want to hide, find a message board.

      The single-spaced letter on 10C Monday offered 17 paragraphs, a chart, exclamation points, an underlined phrase and words that were capitalized.

       What it lacked said much more.

 

 

 

Panthers own December. Nov, Oct, Sept, not so much

    Fans of the Carolina Panthers have an interesting choice to make.

    Are they thrilled the Panthers finally have become the team they envisioned?

    Or are they angry that the Panthers needed three months to become that team?

George Shinn would love to bring Hornets' name back to Charlotte

   I talked to George Shinn, the former owner of the Charlotte, and New Orleans, Hornets Tuesday.

    How does he feel about the Charlotte Bobcats becoming the Charlotte Hornets?

     He feels so strongly that he would visit NBA commissioner David Stern to help make it happen.

     "The Hornets' name doesn't belong to me," Shinn said by telephone from outside Nashville, where he lives and where his foundation is based. "It belongs to Charlotte. In my opinion, the name would be great for the club, for Michael (owner Michael Jordan) and for the community. I hope he uses the colors, the mascot, all of that."

      Shinn made it clear he wasn't telling Jordan what to do. He was offering his assistance if Jordan chooses to apply for the name.

       The the Bobcats can't petition the league for Hornets until New Orleans relinquishes it.

       But those Hornets would like to become the Pelicans as soon as next season. 

        You old-timers will recall that after Shinn and Charlotte were awarded a team he put together a committee of local leaders to come up with a name. They chose Spirit.

        The response from the community was overwhelmingly negative, and Shinn didn't like the name. So he proposed new ones, the most popular of which were Cougars and Hornets. Hornets was the overwhelming favorite then and, it would appear, now.