Panthers fire general manager Scott Fitterer after three seasons; Carolina enters offseason looking for coach and general manager

The Carolina Panthers were already looking for a new head coach and will now be looking for a new general manager as well. After the 2023 regular season ended Sunday, the franchise fired general manager Scott Fitterer, Panthers owner David Tepper announced in a statement Monday.

“As we move forward in the new direction of our franchise, I have made the decision that Scott Fitterer will no longer be our general manager,” Tepper said. “I appreciate Scott’s efforts and wish him and his family the best.”

This comes after the Panthers finished a 2-15 season in 2023, which was the worst record in the NFL. Fitterer, who was hired in 2021, arrived while Matt Rhule was still head coach, but the franchise moved on from him in 2022. Last offseason, Fitterer hired Frank Reich, who didn’t survive his first season with the organization and was fired. in late November after a 1-10 start. This inability to align with a head coach along with poor roster management helped the Panthers make sweeping changes ahead of the 2024 offseason.

Under Fitterer, the Panthers went 14-37. Even with that last spot in 2023, Carolina doesn’t own its first-round pick — the No. 1 overall selection — after trading him last offseason to the Chicago Bears for the chance to move up to the first pick of the 2023 NFL Draft to select Bryce Young. The Alabama product struggled in his first NFL season, completing just 59.8 percent of his passes and recording a passer rating of 73.7. Young’s struggles compared to what the second overall pick and fellow quarterback CJ Stroud were able to do in Houston as Offensive Rookie of the Year was also a bad look for Fitterer.

The team said a search for Fitterer’s replacement would take place immediately and that it would begin interviewing head coaching candidates in person beginning Jan. 22. This will be the first time since 2002 that Carolina has hired a coach and a general manager in the same offseason.