List of Carolina Panthers head coaches
The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the southern division of the National Football Conference (NFC), one of the two conferences of the National Football League (NFL). Since the team began play in 1995, there have been five head coaches.[1] In the NFL, head coaches are responsible for managing the team and setting the game plan; play-calling duties are either made by the head coach or delegated by him to an assistant coach.[2]
The team's first head coach, Dom Capers, led the team for its first four seasons, recording a regular-season record of 30–34 (.469 winning percentage).[1] in 1996.[3] Capers was named coach of the year by Pro Football Weekly/PFWA in 1995 and 1996; he was also awarded coach of the year by several other organizations in 1996, including the Associated Press, the Maxwell Football Club, Sporting News, and United Press International.[4] After Capers' dismissal following the 1998 season, the team brought in George Seifert as their second head coach. Over Seifert's three seasons the team never made the playoffs and the team had a regular-season record of 16–32 (.333 winning percentage).[1] John Fox, the team's third coach, was the longest-tenured coach in team history. In his nine seasons as head coach the Panthers recorded a regular-season record of 73–71 (.507), the most wins for a head coach in team history, and a playoff record of 5–3. The team's fourth head coach, Ron Rivera, served nine seasons as head coach and had a record of 76–63–1 (.546) during his tenure, with a 3–4 record in the playoffs. Rivera has the highest winning percentage of any coach in team history. Rivera led the team to a record four playoff appearances, including three straight division titles.[1]
Of the five Panthers head coaches, Seifert and Matt Rhule have not led the team to the playoffs. Capers led the team to a playoff appearance in the 1996 season, winning once at home before losing in the NFC Championship Game to the Green Bay Packers.[3] Fox led the team to three playoff appearances (2003, 2005, and 2008), winning the NFC Championship in 2003 before losing in Super Bowl XXXVIII to the New England Patriots and making the NFC Championship game in 2005 before losing to the Seattle Seahawks.[3] Rivera led the team to three straight playoff appearances from 2013 to 2015, culminating in a loss in Super Bowl 50. He returned the team to the playoffs in 2017, losing in the Wild Card round.
Key
# | Number of coaches[N 1] |
Yrs | Years coached |
First | First season coached |
Last | Last season coached |
GC | Games Coached |
W | Wins |
L | Loses |
T | Ties |
Win% | Win – Loss percentage |
* | Spent entire NFL head coaching career with the Panthers |
Coaches
- Note: Statistics are accurate through the end of the 2020 NFL season.
# | Name | Term[N 2] | Regular season | Playoffs | Accomplishments | Ref. | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | Last | GC | W | L | T | Win% | GC | W | L | ||||
1 | Dom Capers | 1995 | 1998 | 64 | 30 | 34 | 0 | .469 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 NFC West Championship (1996) 1 Playoff Berth 1 AP NFL Coach of the Year (1996) 1 Earle "Greasy" Neale Award for Professional Coach of the Year (1996) 2 Pro Football Weekly/PFWA NFL Coach of the Year (1995, 1996) 1 Sporting News NFL Coach of the Year (1996) 1 UPI NFL Coach of the Year (1996) |
[1][3][4] |
2 | George Seifert | 1999 | 2001 | 48 | 16 | 32 | 0 | .333 | — | [1] | |||
3 | John Fox | 2002 | 2010 | 144 | 73 | 71 | 0 | .507 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 1 NFC Championship (2003) 2 NFC South Championships (2003, 2008) 3 Playoff Berths |
[1][3] |
4 | Ron Rivera | 2011 | 2019 | 140 | 76 | 63 | 1 | .546 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 1 NFC Championship (2015) 3 NFC South Championships (2013, 2014, 2015) 4 Playoff Berths 2 PFWA and AP NFL Coach of the Year (2013, 2015)[5] |
[1] |
5 | Perry Fewell | 2019[N 3] | 4 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 | — | [1] | ||||
6 | Matt Rhule* | 2020 | present | 16 | 5 | 11 | 0 | .313 | — | [1] | |||
Notes
- A running total of the number of coaches of the Panthers. Thus, any coach who has two or more terms as head coach is only counted once.
- Each year is linked to an article about that particular NFL season.
- Rivera was fired twelve games into the 2019 season. Fewell served as the interim head coach for the remaining four games.
References
- "Head Coaches". Carolina Panthers. November 11, 2013. Archived from the original on November 12, 2013. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- Pompei, Dan (February 1, 2009). "NFL head coaches have decisions to make on play-calling duties". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 13, 2013.
- "Carolina Panthers Playoff History". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- "Honors". Carolina Panthers. November 11, 2013. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved November 12, 2013.
- "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-27. Retrieved 2016-01-27.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
External links
- Carolina Panthers at NFL.com