Panthers fire Matt Rhule after poor start to 2022 season

The Carolina Panthers fired Matt Rhule on Monday after the team’s Week 5 loss to the San Francisco 49ers.

Rhule appeared to be on the hot seat coming into the season with dysfunction at quarterback and inconsistency from all sides of the football. Rhule only won 10 games in his first two seasons as an NFL head coach and picked up his lone win against the New Orleans Saints in Week 3.

He’s the first head coach to get fired this season.

The Panthers announced Steve Wilks will become the interim head coach while the organization launches their search for a permanent replacement. Wilks currently serves as the defensive passing game/coordinator/secondary coach for the Panthers.

Wilks had a head-coaching stint with Arizona in 2018 and went 3-13 in his lone season.

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Wilks joined Brian Flores’ racial discrimination lawsuit in April. He alleged in a complaint he was treated as a “bridge coach” to Kliff Kingsbury and didn’t get enough opportunity to succeed.

Wilks has been in the NFL since the 2006 season when he broke into the league as a defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears and has been with four other teams since.

Rhule was hired by the Panthers in 2020 after deciding to part ways with Ron Rivera. Rhule had success in the college football ranks with Temple and Baylor before joining the NFL. He finished his time with Carolina 11-27 in more than two seasons.

Carolina hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2017 season.