Carolina HC John Fox Retires
HC John Fox has unexpectedly retired from the Carolina Panthers, leaving owner Gary Richards in a bind. With training camp set to begin the Panters need to find a HC and quickly. Normally, you would just promote a guy already on the team, but Richards has decided to go outside of the organization to name an interim coach. So after a brief search, the new Head Coach of the NFL's Carolina Panthers is 39-year-old Ken Joslin. It's a very big opportunity for a very smart guy.
Although marked with the dreaded "interim" label, Panthers owner, billionaire Gary Richards, says Joslin will get a fair shot to keep the top job based on team performance over the 2008 season.
Born in Pennsylvania and raised in Ohio, Kenneth was a star quarterback at Dartmouth University, where he was the 1992 Ivy League Player of the Year. He began his pro career playing in the Canadian Football League and the old World Football League, before making the Green Bay Packer's active roster in 1996. Joslin played for the Packers in 1996-1998, the Panthers in 1999, and the Patriots in 2000. Joslin played for 4 years in the NFL but never started a game.
After retiring from the NFL, Joslin became a coach. Coach Joslin used what he learned playing for some of the NFL's best coaches (Belichick, Holmgren, Seifert) to become a very successful college coach. He has coached at Auburn, Florida State and Oklahoma State.
Many football analysts said a NFL head coach job was destined for Joslin. It was John Madden, former NFL TV analyst supreme and champion Super Bowl coach, who called him one of "the smartest men in pro football."
A New Beginning?
The Panthers finished 7-9 in 2007 and looked to need some major retooling of their playbooks. Joslin, previously the Oklahoma State Cowboys offensive coordinator (where he was one of colleges elite playcallers), will keep all of HC Fox's staff, but is expected to install a new offense and defense.