Not even a guy with the surname Fox, as in rookie head coach John Fox, is sly enough to be able to turn around the Carolina Panthers mess overnight. Heck, club ownership could have exhumed Vince Lombardi after the dismissal of George Seifert and it would not make an immediate difference in the fortunes of a franchise headed in reverse.

This was a team that seemed to do everything right for the first several years of existence. Now owner Jerry Richardson, a man truly dedicated to The Carolinas, must be resigned to the fact that, eight years into the Panthers' history, he is all but starting over again. The good news in that scenario is that's precisely what Carolina needs to do in many ways. Fox should, in time, get the ship righted. But progress, at least in terms of victories, will be measured in increments here.

After all, the Panthers won just a single game in 2001, and you don't pull off such a miserable feat just by happenstance in the NFL. Yeah, the Panthers are bad. And the talent level is perilously thin, thanks in large part to poor decisions in free agency over the past four years, and the salary cap squeeze those created. And the fan base is growing impatient, after five straight losing years.

There are a lot of places finer than Carolina these days and it's going to take at least a few productive drafts and plenty of solid coaching to get things going 180 degrees. Fox was an excellent choice because, unlike some of the higher profile coaches considered for the job, he is realistic enough to realize this is anything but a quick fix.

	CAMP AT A GLANCE
	The Panthers will need more from Chris Weinke, who threw 19 INTs last season.
	Location: Wofford College, Spartanburg, S.C. Rookies report: July 26 Veterans report: July 26 Preseason schedule:    Aug. 10: Washington    Aug. 17: Dallas    Aug. 23: at New England    Aug. 30: at Cleveland

Where will this bring the Panthers?

It's senseless to sugarcoat things and suggest that the Panthers will go from the outhouse to the penthouse in one season. Fact is, Carolina figures to be the cellar dweller in the new NFC South, at least for another year. And a draft pick among the top five choices in the 2003 draft is certainly likely. Fox has his work cut out for him, but made a couple of solid hires for his staff, notably defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio, a guy who will be a head coach in the league someday.

As a player, Del Rio was always a big-motor guy, and he will expect no less from his charges. The linebacking is atrocious and the secondary, particularly at cornerback, is a mess. So the candid Del Rio has his work cut out for him and he knows it. Since the team is tied to some bad contracts, like that of defensive tackle Sean Gilbert, there isn't much that can be done immediately to bring in replacements, so Del Rio will have to get as much as he can from some holdovers and hope that youngsters like first-round defensive end Julius Peppers add some spark.

On offense, quarterback Chris Weinke was erratic as a rookie and there was no running game to take some of the pressure off him. Signing used-up veteran Lamar Smith might not be the answer at tailback, but second-round draft pick DeShaun Foster might be in time. The line is solid, the wide receivers average, once you get beyond the underrated Muhsin Muhammad. A prediction: Four wins. Maybe five.

Man in the spotlight
Given his Carolina lineage, Peppers is a man generating great expectations from locals, and he might actually regret for a while being drafted by the hometown team. The plan is to move Peppers around on the defensive front, make the offense first locate him before it figures out how to block him, but he will play mostly at left end. In the spring, Peppers had a tough time disengaging from blocks and some veterans mumbled that he took too many snaps off.

No matter his deficiencies as a rookie, Peppers is one of the building blocks for the future of the franchise and has to at least show playmaker flashes as a rookie.

Key position battle
Carolina dumped both starting cornerbacks from '01, Doug Evans and Jimmy Hitchcock, and is trying to replace them with journeyman veterans. The problem was exacerbated when projected starter Rashard Anderson was suspended for the entire year for a repeat violation of the NFL substance abuse policy. One cornerback spot will likely go to Terry Cousin, originally signed to play a "nickel" role. The competition for the other corner job should be fairly heated. DeRon Jenkins and Fred Vinson are veteran contenders, but the guy who is making a real run is Reggie Howard. A two-year veteran, Howard has been used sparingly, but has nice size and speed. Plus he's more apt than the others to still be around three or four years from now, when Carolina might be a winner again.

Injury update
Since enjoying a breakout 1999 campaign, wide receiver Patrick Jeffers has suffered through too many knee surgeries to enumerate, and there is no guarantee right now that he will be cleared to practice at the outset of camp. The lanky Jeffers, who scored 12 touchdowns in '99, was a nice complement to Muhammad but know one knows when (or even if) he'll play again.

Weinke underwent offseason shoulder surgery, but was throwing again by the most recent minicamp, and should be fully recovered sometime early in camp. The staff will monitor his throws and probably limit his workload the first week or two.

Rookie report
Peppers will definitely be with the first unit from the first day of camp and Foster, if he can cure the fumbling woes that plagued him at UCLA, will eventually supplant Smith as the feature back. But the Panthers, who desperately needed a solid draft throughout, seemed to get a few good prospects in the middle rounds as well. Third-round linebacker Will Witherspoon could start at the weakside spot and corner Dante Wesley will get plenty of field time as the season wears on. The physical Wesley, who played safety in college at times, is a future starter. One sleeper is quarterback Randy Fasani, a fifth-round choice from Stanford, who was impressive in minicamps.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.