John Fox calls out his front office

I spent all Sunday night, and most of Monday reading and listening to NFL Coach’s do their weekly press conferences. Somehow this John Fox nugget escaped me. After getting embarrassed by the New Orleans Saints with only Jimmy Clausen and Tony Pike to lead his offense, Fox was asked if the team would bring in a veteran QB this week. His reply was for the reporter to go ask someone in the personnel department. An obvious dig towards those in the Panthers organization who are calling the shots.

I think we all know the reason why Fox reacted this way. The Panthers are a mess, they have spent next to nothing on the payroll, and Mr. Fox will not be with the team come the off season or should we say come the lockout. Fox therefore needs to get his side of the story on the record, as well as updating his resume. Fox will contend the awful state of this team is due to the mismanaging of personnel and the shrinking amount of cash spent on the payroll.

I am not fan of Mr. Fox, but he may have a point here. If the front office is making personnel decisions without the coaches input that is a very big problem. Personally though I don’t think Fox has done that great of a job managing what he has. He tried to turn the Panthers into a passing team when the had two of the better RB’s in the NFL today. He did so with questionable talent at QB at best, and with young receivers.

In the end this is at least somewhat Fox’s fault. Sure he has been dealt a crappy hand, but good coaches do the best they can with what they got. I don’t think that is true in the case of this year’s Carolina Panthers. Since the Hartford Colonials got embarrassed tonight maybe he should send his resume to the fine folks at the UFL.

Related Links:

• Carolina Panthers news and notes
• The Business of the NFL
• Joshua Lobdell.com