# Can the Panthers keep Chudzinski?



## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I really doubt it, but to be honest I am ready to fire Rivera if that is the only way we can keep this guy. That certainly would not be fair to Rivera, but hey life is a bitch and Chudzinski looks like he's a much better coach than Rivera. Hell give this guy HC money and hope he can come up with more of his mad scientist routine next year. I guess we must have pretty much the most inventive offense in the NFL right now and it is really fun to watch. 

If we could just be decent on D and special teams we'd have made the playoffs this year, and our O line has been a triage unit as well. If we'd had a healthy Otah instead of Byron 'the human penalty flag' Bell we'd have been able to run the ball a lot better.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

I hope that teams think he needs another season or two to prove his worth but it looks like theres going to be a lot of open spots so I guess we'll see. Only reason I'm not too worried about Chud leaving is because Norv Turner looks like he could be on the way out in San Diego. We have his son on our staff already and he has coached with most of our staff (including Rivera being his DC). It's not a definite but I could see it happening.

Let's just hope we don't lose Chud but I don't see the playoffs being a stretch next year either way. You can tell how much our D has improved just by taking the rookies out of the lineup at DT (which might be another big question going into the offseason).


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

Usually it takes a few years of being a coaching candidate for coordinators to finally get a head coaching job. I think Chud will get some interviews this year but he'll have another year or two before someone gives him a head coaching job. That's fine though, by then one of the positional coaches with some creativity and leadership can get promoted and use much of the same playbook and first half scripting concepts that Chud uses. 

As great as the offense has been though, in the first half of the season, Chud's playcalling was more about gauging Cam's talent level than it was about winning. He focused so much on hitting home run plays and making us an explosive offense, when sometimes a methodical drive was what we needed. Once teams saw how good Cam was and how bad our run defense was, gameplans revolved around keeping Newton off the field. If we ran the ball more, we would have kept our defense off the field, and we lost so many games down the stretch in large part because of how injuries decimated our defensive depth. Players were getting tired because they were on the field more than they would have been if we had a proper defensive rotation. Frankly, I am perfectly fine with how pass-happy we were early. Clearly, we wouldn't have gotten far if we did make the playoffs, and developing Cam was far more important for the success of the franchise.

Also, Cam's growth is mainly due to Cam himself and Mike Shula, not so much Chud, which is one reason it wouldn't be the end of the world if he somehow left this year. The main thing is holding onto Shula as QB coach and making sure he doesn't get an O-coord offer somewhere.




Diable said:


> If we'd had a healthy Otah instead of Byron 'the human penalty flag' Bell we'd have been able to run the ball a lot better.


I don't disagree that Bell was a huge liability in the O-line (the other 4 all had stretches where they were off for a a few weeks, but largely played well all season. Bell was a disaster, constantly getting beat by pass rushers, getting flagged all the time for false starts and holding, and also being one of the worst run blockers in the NFL). That said, I am pretty happy with our run game overall. #3 in yards, and #1 in ypc. Can't ask for much more than that. Cam, DeAngelo, and Stewart all have over 5 ypc.



nutmeged3 said:


> I hope that teams think he needs another season or two to prove his worth but it looks like theres going to be a lot of open spots so I guess we'll see. Only reason I'm not too worried about Chud leaving is because Norv Turner looks like he could be on the way out in San Diego. We have his son on our staff already and he has coached with most of our staff (including Rivera being his DC). It's not a definite but I could see it happening.


I wouldn't mind Norv either. Clearly a great O-coord, and a bit more decisive with personnel (sometimes to his detriment, but usually not).



> Let's just hope we don't lose Chud but I don't see the playoffs being a stretch next year either way. You can tell how much our D has improved just by taking the rookies out of the lineup at DT (which might be another big question going into the offseason).


Honestly, we're definitely going to be the trendy/sexy wild card pick next year. Ross Tucker put us at #11 in his power rankings on the Football Today podcast, and honestly I think we end up being a serious threat next year as long as we're healthy and make serious improvements in special teams, both for coverage and returns.

And the defensive improvements isn't really because of Fua and McClain being out. Don't get me wrong, Neblett, Kearse, Shirley, Hardy, and Applewhite have all done a great job in the DT rotation (and Keiser at DE, since the other 3 DEs are on the field so much), but part of it is also the opponents we're playing. We're getting the opportunity to put 8 in the box, and that has helped in our passing game because we were getting torn up in crossing routes, and slot WRs and TEs finding a home in between the LB zones and the safeties. The corners outside of Gamble aren't that bad either, they just get burned one miss tackles by speedsters that end up getting taken to the house. Gamble of course has been amazing this year. Statistically the #2 corner behind Revis.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/20...guars-interested-in-hiring.html#storylink=rss

I don't know whether or not to be worried about this or not. I wonder why the Jags want to talk to Brian Schottenheimer, although some of the criticism he gets is rooted in the fact that he has a Lingerie football league QB running his offense. On the one hand this is probably about the worst job in the NFL, but on the other it's not likely that someone is going to hire Chud to coach a superbowl contender. He'd have rather little hope of being successful there, but who knows if you ever get another shot too.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

Well, it makes sense for them to give their offense a shot in the arm, and Chud has proven he can do it with Cleveland and now with us. Like you said though, I don't think they have the offensive talent for Chud to make use of. Cleveland had Braylon when he wasn't terrible and Winslow too. We had all the pieces besides QB, and fortunately Cam was good enough to utilize them, unlike Jimmy (pluse we added a couple of nice TEs). Gabbert looks mentally fragile, he's basically this year's Clausen. Chud has always predicated his offense on a deep passing attack, and that meant he ignored his RBs at times this year. Doesn't seem like a great personnel fit when they have MJD as their high point and no starting caliber WRs or QBs on their roster. Hopefully they'll realize this and he stays for one more year. I would like some continuity going into next year (and even better would be 3 years of the same staff, I am sure there will be turnover after that though).


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

http://www.wsoctv.com/sports/30184527/detail.html

We gave the Rams permission to talk to Chud. I would guess that he might well take that job if he got the chance. Bradford probably just had a bad year and if you a QB in place that makes everything else a lot easier.


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## croco (Feb 14, 2005)

I'm pretty sure the Rams are going to hire Jeff Fisher.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I hope they do, but he can choose between them and the Phins I suppose.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

I thought it was smooth sailing after the Jags but all they did was do the Falcons a favor. No idea what Mularky has done to deserve a head coaching job


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Mularkey might have been more willing to take the job than anyone else. The Jags are a terrible situation for a new HC. The Rams aren't that great, but they have more to work with.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

Just gave the Buc's permission to interview Chud. This would probably be the worst possible place for us. He'd make Freeman relevant again


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

nutmeged3 said:


> I thought it was smooth sailing after the Jags but all they did was do the Falcons a favor. No idea what Mularky has done to deserve a head coaching job


He wasn't as bad in Atlanta as people are making him out to be. I'm not going to champion him, but his offenses were in the top ten in scoring every year.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...talk-rob-chudzinski-carolina-panthers-reports

Don't think that Chud is near as hot a candidate as he was last year, but he could get the Cleveland job if Arians et al turns them down.



> The Browns are interviewing Carolina offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski for their coaching job, league sources confirmed to ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter. Chudzinski, who has had two previous stints as an assistant with Cleveland, is visiting the team's facility in Berea, Ohio, on Wednesday.
> His interview had earlier been reported by the Plain Dealer.
> Owner Jimmy Haslam and CEO Joe Banner are in Week 2 of their search to find a "strong leader" to take over the Browns, who went 5-11 this season.
> The Browns reportedly interviewed Marc Trestman, coach of the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, on Tuesday.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

Bring on Norv Turner, although Chud did finally move away from his 100% read option running game in the 2nd half of the year


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

**** if you bring Norv in as an OC Richardson might decide to fire Rivera and make Norv head coach for life. The dude must have some superpower which prevents owners from remembering how to pull the chair out from under him.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Chud is gone to Cleveland. Rumor has it that Norv is going to be his OC there. I suppose there's a chance that we promote Mike Shula, but I don't claim to know what Jerry is thinking.


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

Can't see any decent choices wanting to put their name into a basket of a guy whose a bad start away from getting fired. So yeah, Mike Shula is probably the guy. At least Cam won't have to learn a new offense


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