Panthers head coach Matt Rhule on the verge of being fired?

Hired in 2020 after overseeing successful turnarounds of college programs Temple and Baylor, Rhule was expected to turn the Panthers around in similar fashion. That plan hasn't come to fruition as the Panthers fell to 1-4 on the season following another ugly loss at home, this time to the San Francisco 49ers.

In his postgame news conference, Rhule refused to speculate about his future with the franchise. "I have nothing to say about that," he said, instead wanting to focus on Sunday's game.

For a coach on the verge of needing to send his resume to prospective employers, he may want to draw less attention to his team's most recent performance.

The Panthers were outgained 397-308 in total yards despite running four more plays than the 49ers. The Panthers are averaging 18.6 points per game this season, tied with the Dallas Cowboys for 24th out of 32 teams. In their previous two seasons, the Panthers finished the seasons ranked 24th and 29th in points per game.

Rhule isn’t the first head coach to try his hand at the professional level only to find he was a better fit in the collegiate ranks. Nick Saban, who many argue is the greatest college football coach of all time, spent two underwhelming seasons with the Miami Dolphins in 2005 and 2006 before turning Alabama into a modern-day dynasty. And before him, Steve Spurrier didn’t find much success with the Washington Commanders; he was far more successful as a college head coach at Florida and South Carolina. And then there’s Urban Meyer, a coach won college national championships at Florida and Ohio State but couldn’t last one season in the NFL.

Rhule helped repair Baylor's football program after it was rocked by misconduct under the watch of former head coach Art Briles. Rhule left Baylor as the No. 13-ranked team in the Associated Press's final poll for the 2019 season after an 11-win season, the same number of wins Rhule has posted in his two-plus seasons with the Panthers.