As Long As John Fox Goes 7-9, His Job Will Be Safe

Much has been said about John Fox's future as the head coach of the Carolina Panthers. The Panthers have had three winning seasons in their franchise's 13-year history; Fox helmed two of those teams including the one that went to and lost Super Bowl XXXVIII.

On the flip side, only ttwice has a Panthers team failed to win at least 7 games: 1998 and 2001. In both of those seasons, the Panthers elected to dump the head coach and look elsewhere.

In 1998, the Panthers went 4-12 and fired Dom Capers. Capers was the first head coach in franchise history and had led Carolina to the NFC Championship game in just their second season. He was replaced by George Seifert. Seifert was fired after the 2001 campaign after that team won their first game of the season ... then went on to lose the final 15 ones. Enter Fox.

Now, is this all a coincidence? Maybe. However, there have been four 7-9 seasons in franchise history and the coach has survived (including Fox twice). Fox could get a pass since Jake Delhomme (who was having a good start) missed most of the season with an arm injury. David Carr, unshockingly, stunk; 93-yr old Vinny Testerverde doesn't have the stamina to play every game and Matt Moore has never played.

At 6-8, I think if Fox wins at least one more game ... their final two games are against division winners Dallas and Tampa Bay ... he saves his job for at least one more season.