Perhaps the only upside to last Thursday’s blow out loss to the Steelers is that it afforded us little material upon which to base this column. The Panthers Stitched Shaq Thompson Jersey , for better or worse, had only one opportunity to make an aggressively conservative decision. Their failure was mostly on the players. We’d be auditioning for Cirque du Soleil if we could contort ourselves enough to blame Ron Rivera and his staff for this one.The Panthers have been all over the place this season, but they have been trending towards being a more aggressive and more confident team. Half of the space in this column has been spent praising Ron Rivera for not punting on his opponent’s side of the field. The other half has been lamenting the early-season penchant for running the ball into loaded boxes or not trying to score before half time. Counting our praise for Rivera as a win and our criticism as a loss week to week, you’d come up with a similar record as the Panthers. They are 5-3 in the Turtle, and that will be six wins after today. The records aren’t identical, however. We have praised them after losses and damned them after wins. Today is going to be another praise worthy loss for one reason: we aren’t talking at all about the fourth down the Panthers converted on their opening touchdown drive.I’ll forgive everyone for forgetting the opening drive given what came immediately after. I like to remember it, though, because it was a magical time. The Panthers opened with more confidence and more success than I can remember seeing in years. They didn’t see a third down until they were knocking on the door of the red zone. It was a third and nine from the 30 yard line. Cam Newton scrambled for eight yards to set up fourth and one from the 22.All seven Panthers teams that Rivera has coached in the past would be expected to kick the field goal and walk away from their opening drive with points. I don’t know if he is feeling better about his team or if Norv Turner has actually had that much influence. Either way, I like it. Christian McCaffrey got two yards on fourth and one and scored a touchdown on the very next play.The Steelers game obviously didn’t hinge on the Panthers ability to convert that fourth down chance. It didn’t come down to the four point difference between that touchdown and the field goal everybody else expected them to kick. But we’ve all watched the games that did come down to that difference. Rivera’s lack of hesitation to go for it Youth James Bradberry Jersey , to go for the win, is the kind of coaching I’ve been calling for his entire career.The Panthers still have a lot of questions to answer about their current personnel and how suited they are for this or any NFL team after they got exposed on Thursday. As a fan, I’m head-in-the-sand hoping that the offensive line and the defensive secondary just picked the same day to have a historically bad day. I’m not, for the first time in a long time, worried about the coaching staff. You can still expect to hear me calling for Ron’s job if he starts next year with the same timid approach that he kicked off this year as it puts the Panthers dangerously close to a losing record every year, but he’s not that guy right now. The guy who coached the Panthers in Pittsburgh is a guy who can win games. At the very least, he’s a guy who won’t make me angry about the way he loses them. The Panthers have a new team president — a move that could mean professional soccer is next on the horizon for the Carolinas.Carolina owner David Tepper hired Tom Glick to run the Panthers' day-to-day operations. Glick becomes the team's first president since Danny Morrison resigned unexpectedly in February 2017.Tepper has indicated on multiple occasions he's interested in bringing a Major League Soccer team to Charlotte since purchasing the Panthers for $2.2 billion from founder Jerry Richardson in July.While Glick has no experience with American football, he has more than 25 years of experience working in soccer and other sports.Glick has spent the past six years working with developing the City Football Group (CFG), a multi-national soccer organization that includes six clubs including current English Premier League champion Manchester City FC. The Group also owns New York City FC of Major League Soccer.As chief commercial officer of CFG Stitched James Bradberry Jersey , Glick oversaw partnership sales and activation, marketing, content production and distribution, retail and licensing, and fan relationship management for all of CFG's clubs."We are thrilled to have Tom join the Panthers family," Tepper said in a statement. "He has tremendous experience in professional sports, successfully fostering fan engagement in major cities globally. I know that his record, expertise and drive will be major assets as we look to win on the field and in the community."For now, Glick's focus will be on the Panthers."David has a clear and exciting vision for the team Youth Vernon Butler Jersey , and I can see and feel the buzz and anticipation for this new era of Panthers football," Glick said in a statement. "I'm ready to get started and will give everything to help the team deliver for our fans, players, staff, partners and our communities throughout North and South Carolina."Glick will be expected to handle stadium upgrades or possibly the construction for a new stadium for the Panthers if Tepper decides to build one.Charlotte is home to the Panthers, the NBA's Charlotte Hornets — which are owned by Michael Jordan — and minor league baseball and hockey teams. There have been a few business groups who've tried unsuccessfully to bring a Major League Soccer team to the Carolinas.During his tenure, CFG underwent several major infrastructure developments with Etihad Stadium in Manchester being expanded with more seating, major improvements in premium seating and wider fan amenities. Manchester City opened a new training facility in 2015 called the City Football Academy, built on 80 acres of land adjacent to the stadium. The group also completed two further training ground developments in New York and Melbourne Stitched Vernon Butler Jersey , Australia.Glick moved to New York in 2015 for 15 months to help launch New York City FC in the role of president.After completing the launch, he returned to the United Kingdom to continue to drive CFG's global expansion. He's also worked with the organization's business development in China.Glick started his career in baseball, serving as senior vice president of sales and marketing for the Sacramento River Cats, a Triple-A baseball team. The River Cats led all of minor league baseball in attendance and revenue during his five seasons and became the minor league's top seller of merchandise over that same period.He's also served as the business manager of the Peoria Rivermen hockey club.Glick joined the NBA in 2004 as vice president, marketing and team business development at the league headquarters in New York and later worked as the chief marketing officer for the New Jersey Nets.
