The Panthers announced Monday they have fired GM Marty Hurney.
#Panthers part ways with general manager Marty Hurneyhttps://t.co/ingC1Yjlq9
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) December 21, 2020
Panthers owner David Tepper said after talking with Hurney it became clear recently they had different ideas about how to structure football operations.
Hurney was in the final year of his contract that ran through June of 2021 but Tepper elected to pull the trigger now before the offseason.
“I think sometimes you just need a restart, a refresh,” Tepper said. “We did it last year on the coaching side. Maybe you could say it should have been done before on the GM side. Maybe it should have been. I’m sure people may say that, or otherwise, on both sides.
“I think it’s just time, on both sides, to do that. It just seems like the right time to move forward.”
Tepper indicated Panthers HC Matt Rhule would be a part of the search for a new general manager.
“You look at successful organizations, and there’s a certain alignment between the head coach and the GM,” Tepper said. “To think that you can do that without some sort of alignment is nuts. So to not have a head coach with some input into that is stupid. I don’t want to be stupid, OK?”
Hurney, 63, joined the Panthers in 1998 as the director of football administration. He was promoted to general manager in 2002 and held that title until being fired in 2012. He returned on an interim basis in 2017 and was named the general manager again shortly after.
During his 14 years as the GM of the Panthers, Hurney’s teams have produced a record of 106-132 (44.5 percent), which including four playoff appearances and one trip to the Super Bowl in 2003.
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