Charlotte – As they prepare to move into a significant transformation into fiction, the Panthers will make another one at the top of their personnel division.
On Monday the team announced that it was sharing the road with General Manager Marty Hurney, whose contract initially lasted until June 2021.
The search for a replacement will begin immediately.
Panthers owner David Tapper said that after a recent conversation with Herni about the design of the team’s football operations, it became clear that they had some different ideas. Tapper was careful to say that he respected Hernie’s traditional approach, but hoped to further blend the data-driven process into the football operation.
“I think sometimes you just need to restart, do a refresh,” Tapper said. “We did that coaching side last year. Maybe you could say the GM side should have done it earlier. Maybe it should have. I’m sure people would say that, or else, both sides.
“I think there’s just time on both sides to do that. It seems like the right time to move on.”
Tapper has some names in mind that he wants to interview for the Panthers ’GM job, but apparently he’s not sharing that yet. He plans to begin the process of identifying and interviewing candidates with the help of head communicator Steven Drummond, who took part in the interview process with Tapper and Hurney, while head coach Matt Rule was not taken last se fisson.
Rule will also participate in the GM search, Tapper said.
“You see successful organizations, and there’s a definite alignment between the head coach and the GM,” Tapper said. “To think that you can bat without any kind of configuration. So it’s stupid not to have a head coach with no input in it. I don’t want to be stupid, right?”
He wants to start winning.
When the roulette was taken a year ago, Tapper was clear that it would be a lengthy process and urged patience. But when asked about the progress made during the 4-10 seasons so far, Tapper looked positive to Christian McFrey in a mostly playing season without running behind.
“This team could easily get another four wins,” Tapper said. “Eight games that we had the last ball to win or seven to win – seven to win, one tie – if you win those four games, you’re currently in a very different position with this young team. So look forward to the year, I’m very optimistic about where we will be and what we will do. “
Herni joined the Panthers in 1998 as director of football administration and became GM in 2002. He was dropped in the 2012 season, but returned to the role on an interim basis in 2017 before re-contending for the full-time position after that season.
Herni included the Super Bulls XXXVIII and the top 50 teams, with players including Cam Newton, Luke Kucheli, Thomas Davis, Ryan Kalil and Greg Olson taking a 15-1 record in 2015. They also laid the groundwork for the talents they created here, including DJ Moore, Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, Yetur Gross-Matos and Jeremy Chin, and hired and discovered coaches John Fox, Ron Rivera and Rule.
