Panthers LB Shaq Thompson on switch from Matt Rhule: ‘We needed an alpha leader’
Shaq Thompson has been a Carolina Panther long enough to experience both of Steve Wilks’ tenures with the franchise. So, there’s almost no one who can speak better to what’s gone down with this year’s coaching changes.
And he did, on Tuesday’s episode of The Crew. The eighth-year linebacker told hosts Josina Anderson, Morris Chestnut and Terrell Owens that he didn’t believe former head coach Matt Rhule had a hold on everybody in the locker room.
“I think a lot of guys was just 50-50,” he said. “You had a lot of guys who bought in, and you can tell guys who weren’t bought in. And a lot of stuff was just going unseen—just kicked under the rug.
“It was one game I came in, I snapped on somebody, man. ‘Cause we down bad and we losing and somebody walk in with some headphones. And the coaches was just letting it go. Like, bro, we in a game. And you’re just allowing people to come in here and do what they want. And I just didn’t see a lot of respect.”
Rhule was fired back on Oct. 10, after leading the Panthers to a 1-4 start to the 2022 campaign. Overall, Carolina went 11-27 over his three years there—an era defined by uninspired play and a lack of accountability.
But the latter certainly hasn’t been a problem for interim head coach Steve Wilks, who Thompson referred to as an “alpha leader.”
“I would say just a lot of accountability,” Thompson said of the difference between Rhule’s and Wilks’ styles. “I think that’s one of the biggest things with Wilks. He gon’ call us out in front of everybody. And I’m not saying Matt Rhule didn’t.
“But coming from somebody who’s been in the league ‘X’ amount of years and who coached in the ‘X’ amount of years—T.O., as you know—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 defense, a MVP, a All-Pro player and not listening to these guys—who understand football, who understand the league, who been on Super Bowl teams, who won ’em.”
Yikes.
So, uh, Cam Newton really was right, huh?
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