Shaq Thompson Explains the Panthers' Turnaround Under Steve Wilks

The Panthers veteran linebacker provides some clarity to the team's recent success.

Matt Rhule's stint as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers lasted just two seasons and some change. He was fired after a 1-4 start to the 2022 season, following a 37-15 defeat at the hands of the San Francisco 49ers. 

Rhule had a history of turning programs around, albeit at the collegiate level, and that was one of the main reasons team owner David Tepper not only brought him in to lead the organization but handed him a seven-year contract. 

Unfortunately, things never really got going under Rhule's reign with back-to-back five-win seasons and several swings and misses at the quarterback position. That being said, many felt that Carolina would turn the corner this year with an upgraded offensive line, a healthy Christian McCaffrey, and better play out of the QB spot from Baker Mayfield. Well, as you know, McCaffrey was dealt to the 49ers following Rhule's firing, and Mayfield was released and claimed by the Rams.

After the poor start and trade of McCaffrey, fans were beginning to lose interest in the season and started paying more attention to mock drafts trying to figure out which quarterback the team should take next spring. Over the last several weeks, that interest has started to sway back into the present moment as interim head coach Steve Wilks has positioned this team to make the playoffs if they just take care of business in the final two weeks of the season.

So, how exactly did the Panthers go from looking like one of the worst teams in the NFL to winning four of its last six and being in the thick of the NFC South title race? Veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson explained during an interview on a recent episode of The Crew NYC.

"I think a lot of guys was just 50/50," Thompson said about the buy-in level during Rhule's time on the job. "You had a lot of guys who bought in, but then you could tell guys who weren't bought in. A lot of stuff was just going unseen, just kicked under the rug. It was one game I came in and snapped on somebody because we down bad, we losing and somebody walked in with some headphones and the coaches just letting it go. Like bro, we in a game and you just allowing people to come in here and do what they want. I just didn't see a lot of respect. You could just see a lot of fakeness like we want to play, we want to play. But as soon as we got Coach Wilks, the whole thing - yeah, we got rid of Christian [McCaffrey], we got rid of Robbie [Anderson]. We let some guys go and this team just started playing crazy."

When asked why Matt Rhule wasn't getting a response from the team and why Steve Wilks is, Thompson directed that to one thing - accountability.

"I think that's one of the biggest things with Wilks. Like, he going to call us out in front of everybody. And I'm not saying Matt Rhule didn't. But coming from someone who's been in the league x amount of years and who coached in the league x amount of years, a lot of players respect that a lot more than having somebody from college coming up and trying to tell people who been in the league six, seven, eight years - a defensive MVP, an All-Pro player and not listening to these guys who understand football, who understand the league, who been on Super Bowl teams who won them. I feel like we had too many checks and stuff going into a defense and you know, football just has to be simple. We don't need x amount of checks. We need one check and just let us play. We need just one, two, three defenses and just let us play fast."

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