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At the start of the season, when Carolina was 3-0 everyone was singing the praises of Matt Rhule. The praises went as far as him being named as a candidate for the LSU and USC openings back in college when those jobs came available. Those praises can’t be found these days as the Panthers are 5-11, as they enter their season finale Sunday, at Tampa Bay. It has gone as far as even at non Panthers events like the most recent Hornets game, “Fire Matt Rhule” chants erupted at Spectrum Center. Earlier this week, NFL Insider Ian Rapoport came to the defense of Matt Rhule on the Mac Attack, and today, ESPN studio host Kevin Negandhi, joined Wilson and Norfleet earlier today and came to the defense of the former head coach of Negandhi’s alma mater. Here is what Negandhi had to say about Matt Rhule:
“I watched what Matt Rhule did at Temple. I watched what Matt Rhule did at Baylor. Stay patient, and stay with him, because he understands how to build a roster. It takes time, trust me. He’s putting a foundation you guys can not see right now, where you guys are going to reap the rewards down the road.”
All sing points to Rhule returning for a third season next year, and at both Temple and Baylor, his teams won 11 games in his third season. The only difference here in Carolina is that his team hasn’t taken a step forward in year two as they did at the aforementioned, Temple and Baylor.
