The Carolina Panthers have fired general manager Marty Hurney, according to Ian Rapoport of The NFL Network. Hurney was with Carolina a year after the Panthers had fired head coach Ron Rivera last season.
Carolina owner David Tepper said in a statement, “I think sometimes you just need a restart, a refresh.” Tepper added, “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. It just seems like the right time to move forward.”
This was the third straight losing season for Hurney and after the firing of Rivera, it was just a matter of time before Hurney would be shown the door. Tepper always talked about making sure his head coach and general manager were aligned and that didn’t seem to be happening.
Head coach Matt Rhule will be part of the new general manager search. Rapoport mentioned the names of Nick Caserio of the Patriots, Jeff Ireland of the Saints, Lake Dawson of the Bills, and Ed Dodds of the Colts could be names to look out for when Carolina searches for their next general manager. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated has mentioned that Rhule had coached 49ers VP of Player Personnel Adam Peters back at UCLA in 2001. Breer added that both have stayed in touch over the years.
Other names to look out for are, former Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff and former Texans general manager Rick Smith. Both are likely to get front office jobs this offseason.
Hurney was hired as the team’s general manager in 2002 and kept the position until 2012. Hurney was responsible for drafting players like Cam Newton, Thomas Davis, and Luke Kuechly. In 2018 Hurney was re-hired by the Panthers as their general manager.
While being the general manager of the Panthers, Hurney had an overall record of 96-116. Carolina won just two division titles in his tenure including one Super Bowl appearance.
Hurney has already been connected to Washington to pair up with head coach Ron Rivera again.
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