Panthers Fire Marty Hurney

On Monday, the Carolina Panthers fired general manager Marty Hurney over philosophical differences.

According to team owner David Tepper, the team is looking for a general manager that is more analytical and data-driven, as he and head coach Matt Rhule are.

“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, whose contract was set to expire in June, is out immediately and the Panthers, who are in line for one of the top five picks in the 2021 NFL Draft, will begin reshaping their front office for 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.”

Carolina Panthers Fire GM Marty Hurney

Tepper said he realized he and Hurney weren’t on the same page after recent conversations about football operations.

“Listen, Marty is a little more traditional, and I’m a little more data-driven and analytical,” Tepper said repeatedly of Hurney.”Matching those things would be pretty good.”

Even though star running back Christian McCaffrey has missed most of the season with an injury, Tapper made it clear he wasn’t happy with the team’s record.

“This team could easily have another four wins,” Tepper said. “The eight games that we had the ball last to win or tie — seven to win, one to tie — if you win four of those games, you’re in a totally different position right now with this young team. So looking at next year, I’m very hopeful where we will be and what we will do.”