The way too early Panthers head coach wish list, the ‘Canes drop the puck and cheaters

I’m back from the injured reserved list. Did I miss anything?

In a move everybody saw coming (before the season even started), Matt Rhule was relieved of his head coaching duties with the Carolina Panthers. For this edition of the Top 10 list, I’m offering up the 10 best head coach options for the Carolina Panthers.

1. Steve Wilks: Sure, he had a rough go of it in Arizona and was bounced out of town after only one season. In his defense, his starting QB was Josh Rosen. He might as well had me under center. If the current interim head coach can turn things around with P.J. Walker, who started the season as the 4th string QB, he deserves a shot to run the club.
2. Sean Payton: Total long shot but if David Tepper can somehow outbid Dallas owner Jerry Jones for Payton’s services, hiring him is a no-brainer (yes, I’m predicting that unless the Cowboys win the Super Bowl, Mike McCarthy is joining Matt Rhule in the unemployment line).
3. Jim Harbaugh: Because his name always comes up whenever there is an NFL head coach opening.
4. Eric Bieniemy: See Jim Harbaugh.
5. Ron Rivera: This is mostly a personal wish to get him out of Washington. If Tepper takes him back, he can also have back offensive coordinator Scott Turner, all of the ex-Panthers players on the Commanders, defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, Dan Snyder’s yacht, 10 tackling dummies and a case of expired Gatorade.
6. Mike Tomlin: I think that there are a lot of Steelers fans who would approve of this move. Tomlin would be a solid hire considering he has never had a losing season as a head coach — yet. Very few coaches, if any, can say that.
7. Dan Quinn: The former Atlanta head coach would be a great fit in Carolina but I suspect he will be in high demand so Tepper would need to be prepared to open up his wallet.
8. Mike Kafka: Who? Only the offensive coordinator who is making the New York Giants offense look like an actual NFL offense.
9. Kellen Moore: Who (part 2)? Only the offensive coordinator who is making Dallas Cowboys backup QB Cooper Rush look like the second coming of Roger Staubach. 
10. Jim Caldwell: A proven head coach (62-50) who could bring some stability to the team.

The puck stops here

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-1 to kick off their silver anniversary campaign on Wednesday. We caught up with the play-by-play voice of the ‘Canes Mike Maniscalco to get his thoughts on what to expect from the squad this season.

“This edition of the Hurricanes might be the deepest team in its 25 years in North Carolina. The team is balanced up front, led by Sebastian Aho, Andrei Svechnikov and second-year player Seth Jarvis,” Maniscalco said. “The blue line will benefit all year from the addition of Brent Burns and the steady performances of Jaccob Slavin, Brett Pesce and Brady Skjei. Also, the depth provided by Calvin de Haan, Jalen Chatfield, Dylan Coghlan and Ethan Bear.”

Of course, the defense won’t matter if the netminders aren’t on their game. No worries there, according to Maniscalco.

“The goaltending should be excellent again with Frederik Andersen and Antti Raanta,” he said.

So, do we have a contender or a pretender? The play-by-play voice is predicting a deep run.

“The ‘Canes are poised to be one of the best teams in the NHL and should be a serious Stanley Cup contender,” he said.

Other news and notes

• The Atlantic Coast Conference awardees in The Associated Press' midseason report include North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye and Syracuse Coach Dino Babers. Second-year passer Maye was chosen by AP writers who cover league teams as the league's best offensive player through the first half of the season.

  On the list released on Wednesday, Babers was chosen as the top coach for the 18th-ranked Syracuse team, which was also selected as the league's most unexpected squad.

  Omarion Hampton, a running back for North Carolina, was selected as the top freshman.
  

• According to sources who spoke to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski on Tuesday, LaMelo Ball, the All-Star point guard for the Charlotte Hornets, will be out for one to two weeks due to a sprained left ankle.

  Ball exited the preseason game on Monday night against the Washington Wizards after Anthony Gill stepped on his left foot as he was driving to the basket.
  

• And, if you can’t make the drive to Raleigh but you want to see some hockey action this weekend, you’re in luck. The Charlotte Checkers drop the puck on their season Friday night. Hardcore Hurricanes fans will have to get past the fact that they are the AHL affiliate of the Florida Panthers. Here is a season preview guide for the squad.

The absurdity of sports: “If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin'”

“If you ain’t cheatin’, you ain’t tryin'” is an old NASCAR expression. I’ve always been fascinated by the lengths people and teams will go to cheat in order to win. The steroid era in baseball, Spygate, Deflategate and all the other “gates.”

I’m not passing along judgment — I find some of the methods to be funny and entertaining. For example, two fishermen were charged with cheating, attempting grand theft, and possessing criminal tools on felony counts in Cleveland after it was alleged that they inserted weights into fish they caught in an Ohio tournament on September 30.

Meanwhile, Hans Niemann, a grandmaster of chess, was recently photographed getting his rear end checked as he arrived in St. Louis to compete in the U.S. Chess Championships, making him the butt of many jokes. Turns out, the 19-year-old grandmaster is accused of cheating in more than 100 chess games. I don’t know how to play chess, so I can’t even fathom how to cheat at it, especially how he is being accused of doing.

So, I guess cheating isn’t just for the major sports, spouses and taxes these days.

Other sports headlines:

• Carolina Panthers fire head coach Matt Rhule after 1-4 start
• For Charlotte’s NASCAR road course, engineers prep cars for blue turtles and right turns 
• Is new style of NASCAR racecar causing more concussions?
• Panthers interim head coach Wilks looking to beat the odds

Thanks for reading. Until the next Time Out For Sports Overtime.