When word emerged recently that Panthers coach John Fox will be permitted to return for 2010 but won’t be given an extension of a contract that expires after one more season, it appeared that the Panthers possibly were playing a game of buyout chicken with Fox.
And Fox now seems to have taken the bait, setting up a battle that could conjure memories of the final days of George Costanza’s tenure at Play Now.
Regarding the eight-year head coach’s status in Carolina, Fox said after Sunday’s win over the Saints (per Steve Reed of CarolinaGrowl.com), “I have a year left on my contract and I haven’t had any postseason conversations with [owner Jerry Richardson]. I have an agent that handles those things.”
Asked whether he wants to return in 2010 without any security beyond the season, Fox said, “I would like to just get through this day and see where everything goes with that.”
That said, he’s not in a bad position. Even if he returns for only one more year, he’ll be paid $6.5 million in 2010.
The question becomes whether the Panthers will offer to let him walk away for a reduced payment, especially since Fox could possibly be a candidate for one of the other head-coaching vacancies that emerge this year.
But with jobs opening up as soon as tomorrow, time is of the essence. And so the question becomes whether either side will blink, or whether Richardson will declare over the P.A. system that Fox’s private bathroom may now be used by all team employees, and their families.
