CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers fired coach Matt Rhule on Monday, ending the former Baylor coach’s tenure five games into his third losing season.
Rhule, the first NFL coach to be fired this season, went 11-27 with Carolina. The Panthers fell to 1-4 with Sunday’s 37-15 home loss to San Francisco as 49ers fans made Bank of America Stadium their East Coast home.
Defensive pass game coordinator and secondary coach Steve Wilks will serve as interim coach for the rest of the season. The 53-year-old Wilks spent one year as Arizona’s head coach in 2018, going 3-13.
Rhule did not immediately respond to voice and text messages on Monday.
The 47-year-old Rhule was lured away from Baylor with a seven-year, guaranteed $62 million contract by David Tepper, the second-wealthiest owner in the NFL.
Tepper was initially patient with Rhule following Sunday’s loss, but grew increasingly agitated and changed his mind on Monday.
Rhule said after the game he didn’t want to discuss his job security because he didn’t want make it about himself.
Rhule’s teams went 5-11 in 2020 and 5-12 last year.
The Panthers hoped Rhule could turn things around in his third year as he did at Baylor and at Temple before that. The team had constant turnover at quarterback under Rhule, with Teddy Bridgewater as the starter in 2020 and Sam Darnold and Cam Newton getting starts last year.
The Panthers traded for Baker Mayfield this offseason. But the 2018 No. 1 overall draft pick has been awful, ranking last in the NFL in ESPN’s total quarterback rating. Mayfield has completed 54.9% of his passes and is averaging fewer than 200 yards passing per game with four touchdowns and four interceptions.
The poor play at the game’s most important position put unsustainable pressure on Carolina’s defense. Under Rhule, the Panthers were 1-27 when allowing an opponent to score 17 or more points.
Mayfield injured his ankle in the loss to San Francisco and was in a walking boot after the game. It’s unclear if he will miss any time.
Mayfield was one of several players who spoke out in support of Rhule.
“We’re fine in the locker room when it comes to that,” Mayfield said. “There are a lot of plays that we just have to flat-out make — and he can’t do that. He can’t go make plays for us. He can’t do the execution for us.”
