September 12, 2025 • 9 mins
Celebrate 30 seasons of Carolina Panthers football with Jim Szoke. Join him as he sits down with the key figures who shaped the past 30 seasons, reminiscing on the moments that made Panther's history. This week's guest is former Panthers wide receiver, Jerricho Cotchery.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Former Panther Jericho Coatree, has a lot to do with
this region. He played his college football at NC State,
played two years his final two seasons in the league
with the Carolina Panthers, including that Super Bowl fifty team,
and then went on to be the head coach at
Limestone College. Ian Gaffney, We'll catch up with the guy
that caught it during Super Bowl fifty, Jericho Contree.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thirty seasons of Panther football. A celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Man, you think about the Super Bowl season and what
that was. Jericho Contree, Panthers wide receiver. His name is
a phrase from that game. Coatrey caught it. Panther fans
believe it. We believe it. You've been asked the question before,
but for those who haven't heard it before key moment
in the game, they do a long review, they say,
you didn't catch a pass in a key situation. Turnover
happens a few plays after that, But in the moment
(00:53):
and in the ten years since then, as you look
at that play, no one play determined the outcome of
that game. But what were your thoughts? And then you're
you're nobody closer to that play than Jericho Contrey.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, a crazy, crazy play. I mean, we you know,
we had a great year, you know, going up and
going going into the super Bowl and having that moment there.
You know, it was very exciting, you know, but that
play in particular, I mean definitely called it. Everyone on
the sideline, our sidelines congratulating me, you know, before the reviewing,
(01:25):
you know, even go takes place and during the review
and you know, we all was just kind of in
shock when they came back with you know, call is
going to stand on the field and so yeah, you know,
one play doesn't make it, you know, things of that nature.
But that certainly was a momentum shifting play.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So we kind of started at the end. Let's go
back to the beginning of what was a great season,
fourteen consecutive wins, and really prior to that twenty fourteen
the way you guys wrapped up and Jericho, by the way,
was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen his years with the Panther,
So you kind of hit that that sweet spot. We're
probably too swee at first when you guys are sitting
there three eight and one before you run that four
game winning streak to get into the playoffs in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Yeah, I like, I like how you bring up that
moment right there, because that cauteripulted us into you know,
the off season and to the two and fifteen season
that we were able to have. That was a moment
of truth right there for us. We had just gotten
beaten down by the Vikings and the freezing cold, you know,
and so we had to look at ourselves in the
mirror and say, you know what, at this moment, at
this juncture right here, we are not a good team, right,
(02:30):
Not that we don't have good players or anything like that,
we are not a good team. And so we got
to get things fixed. And I know for us offensively,
and a lot of people don't know about this, but
we went no huddle from that point moving from that
point forward, And I got to give credit to the
coaching staff, Mike Shula, Kin Dorsey, John Mascow, pe Hainter,
(02:52):
Jim Skipper, all of those guys there. They came back
in Cam Turner, these guys came in Ricky Prole and
said this is what we are good at. When we
get into this Cam has been doing this his entire life.
He's been in no huddle, shotgun, all of this, and this,
this is, this is how we're going to operate moving.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Forward, and river Boat Royn became a thing all of
that going forward and fourth down and so there was
a kind of psyche and a mindset change during that season.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Right, It really was right because once we made that
switch on offense of every first game, we scored four
to one points in New Orleans, you know, and I
think that gave us great confidence in what we could
be moving forward. And we went on that four game
winning streak and got into the playoffs, beat Arizona here
at home, and you know, took Seattle to the brink.
So we knew that we were able to compete with
(03:42):
those guys. And you go into the off season feeling
good about where you are as a as a team.
And we competed like crazy in off season, a lot
of a lot of chirping going back and forth. But
the camaraderie that we had that we were building it
in the off season, I think it carried over into
training camp and showed up on the field on when
(04:03):
a regular season came.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And obviously, highest scoring offense come twenty fifteen out of
that off season, despite the fact your receiver's room. I
was down there the day in trading camp when Kevin
Benjamin out for the season and a joint practice session
with Miami. But the guys like yourself and Devin Funchius
I think was a rookie that year, Ted Ginn, Philly Brown.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
It was.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It was a nice combination of different skill sets that
kind of blended together in that receiver's room.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And that's that's the thing, you know, when you're looking
from the outside end, you want to try to look at,
you know, who's Justin Jefferson, or who's Jamar Chase or
who's like look at the skill sets that you have.
You know, you got guys that can get open, guys
that can catch it, big, guys that can you know, run,
and you got guys that can, you know, just take
the top off. You know. We had an element of
(04:47):
all of that, you know, and that that's what made
us difficult, right ended up leading the league and scoring
that year because we had a guys with you know,
a variety of skill sets and so really really that
was tough to kb go down for sure. I called
him my little brother. You know, I saw in one
interview he said, you know, Kotch is like a dad,
(05:11):
you know, so he maybe out be a little older
than then I was, you know, but no, it was
certainly sad to see him go down because he was
ready to take off that year.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Well, and you guys put it all together. Obviously you've
got a great talent when you look at guys like
Greg Olsen, that helping that receiving component of the game.
And Cam Newton was a special weapon in so many
different ways, whether it be throwing or running the way
he did in the MVP type season like that, and
just kind of take us into that huddle, into the
locker room. What was it like playing with peak Cam Newton?
Because he had you know, some really special years, but
(05:42):
that was the number one year MVP season, and then
there were other years with injuries and then the career
like that for many would tail off towards the end.
But at his very best, what was it like being
on the field with Cam Newton?
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Cam is the ultimate competitor, you know, I think people
have to just see that, you know, he you know,
he will look at the fun that he had, you know,
the dances and and all of that that stuff, the
Sunday giveaway, you're running to the stands and dabbing and
and all of those things. But he competed like crazy,
right every single day. He just didn't live for the
Sunday you know, competition every single day in practice. And
(06:16):
he's one of the main ones with the chirping, you know,
because he was competing like crazy, and you had to
rise to that level, you know when it came to
being ready to go for that day. And that's what
you want a shoot, that's what you want out.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Of your leader.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
And it was just good to see, you know that
the team became his, It became his when I got here,
and I think he he was. He was one of
the main guys that that that moved us into into
that era.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Did you know that would be your last season? Did
you know the Super Bowl would be your last game?
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I did? I did. I wanted to play twelve and
and move on to the next thing. I always felt
like I was going to play and then coach. You know,
some people say riding to the wheels fall off and
then things of that, and they but I like my
wheels and so but I wanted to play twelve and
God gave me twelve. You know, human nature, when you
lose the Super Bowl, you lose the last game like that,
(07:11):
you kind of think about it, you know, and I
certainly did think about it. You know. Man, shit, should
I asked them to like run it back, you know,
one more year because we you know, we were close
and we can do it again. We got the culture
and everything to do it again, you know. But at
the end of the day, it was time to.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Move on, and you did, and you got into coaching.
I know, you did some some pro assistant coaching and
then most recently Limestone University. Anybody who lives in Charlotte
knows on the way to what was training camp in
Spartanburg is Gaffney and Limestone University. And you were an
assistant coach for a couple of years, and then last
year had the opportunity to be a head coach and
you go eight and three. But you tell the story
from there. Unfortunately, in today's economics, money and not just
(07:53):
the sports program, the university just didn't have the money
to keep going, right.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, Unfortunately we had things going there as a football program.
We were eight and three you know in the regular season.
In the past three years, been to the playoffs, you know,
almost thirty all conference guys, all Americans, you know, guys.
We were putting out a lot of a lot of
good players and giving guys great opportunities to go and
(08:18):
continue to play football, and and just once they were
done with football, giving them that great mindset of how
to work and how to go about your business. Like
we benefited a lot of guys in that three year period.
And so to see it all just kind of, you know,
go away. You know, it's really really sad, you know,
just a horror moment in football for me, you know,
being a leader and not even knowing that that was
(08:42):
you know, a thing that could come about, you know.
And so but fortunately most of my staff they got
an opportunity, other opportunities, and my players got in good places,
you know, so really really happy about that. Now the
next thing for me is just to figure out where
I'm gonna be because I'm certainly uh look looking looking
to continue to coach.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well, I'm sure you'll land on your feet. And people
love you this region from NC State to the Panthers
to down to the Limestone in South Carolina. You're a
big part of this region. We appreciate everything you've done.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I appreciate you, guys.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Thank you. Thirty seasons of Panther football.
Former Panther Jericho Coatree, has a lot to do with
this region. He played his college football at NC State,
played two years his final two seasons in the league
with the Carolina Panthers, including that Super Bowl fifty team,
and then went on to be the head coach at
Limestone College. Ian Gaffney, We'll catch up with the guy
that caught it during Super Bowl fifty, Jericho Contree.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Thirty seasons of Panther football. A celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
Man, you think about the Super Bowl season and what
that was. Jericho Contree, Panthers wide receiver. His name is
a phrase from that game. Coatrey caught it. Panther fans
believe it. We believe it. You've been asked the question before,
but for those who haven't heard it before key moment
in the game, they do a long review, they say,
you didn't catch a pass in a key situation. Turnover
happens a few plays after that, But in the moment
(00:53):
and in the ten years since then, as you look
at that play, no one play determined the outcome of
that game. But what were your thoughts? And then you're
you're nobody closer to that play than Jericho Contrey.
Speaker 4 (01:03):
Yeah, a crazy, crazy play. I mean, we you know,
we had a great year, you know, going up and
going going into the super Bowl and having that moment there.
You know, it was very exciting, you know, but that
play in particular, I mean definitely called it. Everyone on
the sideline, our sidelines congratulating me, you know, before the reviewing,
(01:25):
you know, even go takes place and during the review
and you know, we all was just kind of in
shock when they came back with you know, call is
going to stand on the field and so yeah, you know,
one play doesn't make it, you know, things of that nature.
But that certainly was a momentum shifting play.
Speaker 3 (01:44):
So we kind of started at the end. Let's go
back to the beginning of what was a great season,
fourteen consecutive wins, and really prior to that twenty fourteen
the way you guys wrapped up and Jericho, by the way,
was twenty fourteen, twenty fifteen his years with the Panther,
So you kind of hit that that sweet spot. We're
probably too swee at first when you guys are sitting
there three eight and one before you run that four
game winning streak to get into the playoffs in twenty fourteen.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
Yeah, I like, I like how you bring up that
moment right there, because that cauteripulted us into you know,
the off season and to the two and fifteen season
that we were able to have. That was a moment
of truth right there for us. We had just gotten
beaten down by the Vikings and the freezing cold, you know,
and so we had to look at ourselves in the
mirror and say, you know what, at this moment, at
this juncture right here, we are not a good team, right,
(02:30):
Not that we don't have good players or anything like that,
we are not a good team. And so we got
to get things fixed. And I know for us offensively,
and a lot of people don't know about this, but
we went no huddle from that point moving from that
point forward, And I got to give credit to the
coaching staff, Mike Shula, Kin Dorsey, John Mascow, pe Hainter,
(02:52):
Jim Skipper, all of those guys there. They came back
in Cam Turner, these guys came in Ricky Prole and
said this is what we are good at. When we
get into this Cam has been doing this his entire life.
He's been in no huddle, shotgun, all of this, and this,
this is, this is how we're going to operate moving.
Speaker 3 (03:11):
Forward, and river Boat Royn became a thing all of
that going forward and fourth down and so there was
a kind of psyche and a mindset change during that season.
Speaker 4 (03:20):
Right, It really was right because once we made that
switch on offense of every first game, we scored four
to one points in New Orleans, you know, and I
think that gave us great confidence in what we could
be moving forward. And we went on that four game
winning streak and got into the playoffs, beat Arizona here
at home, and you know, took Seattle to the brink.
So we knew that we were able to compete with
(03:42):
those guys. And you go into the off season feeling
good about where you are as a as a team.
And we competed like crazy in off season, a lot
of a lot of chirping going back and forth. But
the camaraderie that we had that we were building it
in the off season, I think it carried over into
training camp and showed up on the field on when
(04:03):
a regular season came.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And obviously, highest scoring offense come twenty fifteen out of
that off season, despite the fact your receiver's room. I
was down there the day in trading camp when Kevin
Benjamin out for the season and a joint practice session
with Miami. But the guys like yourself and Devin Funchius
I think was a rookie that year, Ted Ginn, Philly Brown.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
It was.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
It was a nice combination of different skill sets that
kind of blended together in that receiver's room.
Speaker 4 (04:27):
And that's that's the thing, you know, when you're looking
from the outside end, you want to try to look at,
you know, who's Justin Jefferson, or who's Jamar Chase or
who's like look at the skill sets that you have.
You know, you got guys that can get open, guys
that can catch it, big, guys that can you know, run,
and you got guys that can, you know, just take
the top off. You know. We had an element of
(04:47):
all of that, you know, and that that's what made
us difficult, right ended up leading the league and scoring
that year because we had a guys with you know,
a variety of skill sets and so really really that
was tough to kb go down for sure. I called
him my little brother. You know, I saw in one
interview he said, you know, Kotch is like a dad,
(05:11):
you know, so he maybe out be a little older
than then I was, you know, but no, it was
certainly sad to see him go down because he was
ready to take off that year.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
Well, and you guys put it all together. Obviously you've
got a great talent when you look at guys like
Greg Olsen, that helping that receiving component of the game.
And Cam Newton was a special weapon in so many
different ways, whether it be throwing or running the way
he did in the MVP type season like that, and
just kind of take us into that huddle, into the
locker room. What was it like playing with peak Cam Newton?
Because he had you know, some really special years, but
(05:42):
that was the number one year MVP season, and then
there were other years with injuries and then the career
like that for many would tail off towards the end.
But at his very best, what was it like being
on the field with Cam Newton?
Speaker 4 (05:53):
Cam is the ultimate competitor, you know, I think people
have to just see that, you know, he you know,
he will look at the fun that he had, you know,
the dances and and all of that that stuff, the
Sunday giveaway, you're running to the stands and dabbing and
and all of those things. But he competed like crazy,
right every single day. He just didn't live for the
Sunday you know, competition every single day in practice. And
(06:16):
he's one of the main ones with the chirping, you know,
because he was competing like crazy, and you had to
rise to that level, you know when it came to
being ready to go for that day. And that's what
you want a shoot, that's what you want out.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
Of your leader.
Speaker 4 (06:29):
And it was just good to see, you know that
the team became his, It became his when I got here,
and I think he he was. He was one of
the main guys that that that moved us into into
that era.
Speaker 3 (06:43):
Did you know that would be your last season? Did
you know the Super Bowl would be your last game?
Speaker 4 (06:48):
I did? I did. I wanted to play twelve and
and move on to the next thing. I always felt
like I was going to play and then coach. You know,
some people say riding to the wheels fall off and
then things of that, and they but I like my
wheels and so but I wanted to play twelve and
God gave me twelve. You know, human nature, when you
lose the Super Bowl, you lose the last game like that,
(07:11):
you kind of think about it, you know, and I
certainly did think about it. You know. Man, shit, should
I asked them to like run it back, you know,
one more year because we you know, we were close
and we can do it again. We got the culture
and everything to do it again, you know. But at
the end of the day, it was time to.
Speaker 3 (07:30):
Move on, and you did, and you got into coaching.
I know, you did some some pro assistant coaching and
then most recently Limestone University. Anybody who lives in Charlotte
knows on the way to what was training camp in
Spartanburg is Gaffney and Limestone University. And you were an
assistant coach for a couple of years, and then last
year had the opportunity to be a head coach and
you go eight and three. But you tell the story
from there. Unfortunately, in today's economics, money and not just
(07:53):
the sports program, the university just didn't have the money
to keep going, right.
Speaker 4 (07:57):
Yeah, Unfortunately we had things going there as a football program.
We were eight and three you know in the regular season.
In the past three years, been to the playoffs, you know,
almost thirty all conference guys, all Americans, you know, guys.
We were putting out a lot of a lot of
good players and giving guys great opportunities to go and
(08:18):
continue to play football, and and just once they were
done with football, giving them that great mindset of how
to work and how to go about your business. Like
we benefited a lot of guys in that three year period.
And so to see it all just kind of, you know,
go away. You know, it's really really sad, you know,
just a horror moment in football for me, you know,
being a leader and not even knowing that that was
(08:42):
you know, a thing that could come about, you know.
And so but fortunately most of my staff they got
an opportunity, other opportunities, and my players got in good places,
you know, so really really happy about that. Now the
next thing for me is just to figure out where
I'm gonna be because I'm certainly uh look looking looking
to continue to coach.
Speaker 3 (09:02):
Well, I'm sure you'll land on your feet. And people
love you this region from NC State to the Panthers
to down to the Limestone in South Carolina. You're a
big part of this region. We appreciate everything you've done.
Speaker 4 (09:14):
I appreciate you, guys.
Speaker 2 (09:15):
Thank you. Thirty seasons of Panther football.
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