Carolina Panthers Mike Tolbert talks Mike Shula, Cam Newton

Now that the Carolina Panthers have promoted quarterbacks coach Mike Shula to fill the offensive coordinator vacancy left by current Cleveland Browns head coach Rob Chudzinski, the question is how much will Shula’s scheme differ from Chud’s. They aren’t expect to differ much, but Shula will most likely add in his own wrinkles especially since both offensive minds see things a little bit differently.

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With Shula at the helm, I think we’ll see a little more “vanilla” on offense, even though the Panthers offense will never be a plain bagel. I just think that there is going to be less read option stuff and more play-action, intermediate passing, and power running under Shula. There will be only minor changes with a promotion, but it will be interesting to see what those changes bring.

Carolina Panthers fullback Mike Tolbert had this to say to the Charlotte Observer’s Joe Person, “I like it. I like it a lot, actually. I think it’s good for us as an offense. Shula is a good coach. He’s done it before. And it’s big for Cam not having to start new, start over. It’s a good transition for Cam.”

As always, the focus on offense is young quarterback Cam Newton and how the change at offensive coordinator affects the signal-caller. Chudzinski worked extremely closely with Newton not just as a player but as a person growing in maturity in this league. We’ll see how things change with Shula commandeering the offense, but I have a feeling that the rationale behind promoting Shula as opposed to bringing in Pat Shurmur or Hue Jackson is that the Panthers want to keep continuity on offense as far as coaching goes to help out Newton, who would most likely be negatively affected by a shift. He already works closely with Shula, so there won’t be much change on the personal front.