List of Carolina Panthers seasons

An aerial view of Bank of America stadium during a football game.
Bank of America Stadium (formerly Ericsson Stadium) has served as the home stadium of the Carolina Panthers in all but the team's inaugural season.

The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. They play in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The Panthers were founded in 1993, when they joined the NFL as an expansion team. The team home field and headquarters is Bank of America Stadium in Uptown Charlotte. The Panthers are supported throughout the Carolinas;[1] although the team has played its home games in Charlotte since 1996, they played their home games at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina during its first season in 1995.[2] In the 29 seasons the team has played, it has a record of 223–260–1 (a winning percentage of .474), with two Super Bowl appearances, six division titles, and eight playoff appearances.[3]

The Carolina Panthers inaugural season was in 1995, where team played as members of the NFC West division. Dom Capers was the franchise's first head coach. In their first season, they recorded a record of 7–9, the best record for an expansion team in NFL history.[4] In their second season, they won the NFC West and reached the NFC Championship game, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers; Capers won the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year Award. The Panthers would fail to reach the playoffs in 1997, and in 1998, Capers was fired after a 4–12 finish.[5] George Seifert was hired to replace him as head coach, but failed to reach the playoffs in any of his three seasons. His final season as head coach was in 2001, when the Panthers finished with a league-worst 1–15 record.[6] John Fox was hired as head coach in 2002. In his nine seasons as head coach, the Panthers made the playoffs three times and won two NFC South division titles (in 2003 and 2008). They reached Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2003, the NFC Championship game in 2005, and the Divisional round in 2008.[3]

Fox was not retained as head coach following a 2–14 finish in 2010,[7] and was succeeded by Ron Rivera. Rivera's tenure as head coach was the most successful in team history.[8] The Panthers reached the playoffs four times under Rivera, and won three straight division titles from 2013 to 2015. In 2015, the Panthers recorded their most successful regular season, finishing with a league-best 15–1 record; quarterback Cam Newton received MVP and Offensive Player of the Year honors.[9][10] However, the team lost Super Bowl 50 24–10 to the Denver Broncos.[11][12] The team last recorded a playoff appearance in 2017, when they recorded an 11–5 record but lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round. Since then, the team has failed to record a winning season and has fired three head coaches (Rivera in 2019, Matt Rhule in 2022, and Frank Reich in 2023). In their most recent season, the team finished with a league-worst 2–15 record.[13] As of 2024, the Panthers have never had consecutive seasons where they finished above .500, though they have had multiple cases of following an above-.500 finish one year with a .500 season the next.

  1. ^ Breech, John (January 24, 2016). "LOOK: Panthers' #OneCarolina hashtag has taken over social media". CBS Sports. Archived from the original on October 13, 2016. Retrieved October 12, 2015.
  2. ^ "Team Chronology" (PDF). 2023 Carolina Panthers Media Guide (PDF). NFL Enterprises, LLC. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 19, 2023. Retrieved November 19, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Carolina Panthers Team Records, Leaders, and League Ranks was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Swan, Gary (September 19, 1996). "Carolina's Davis Has His Hands Full Again / Former 49ers corner renews duel with Rice". San Francisco Chronicle. OCLC 137344428. Archived from the original on January 11, 2014. Retrieved January 19, 2013.
  5. ^ "Panthers let Capers go after dismal 4–12 season". Sports Illustrated. December 28, 1998. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved January 29, 2013 – via Associated Press.
  6. ^ "Panthers fire head coach Seifert after 1–15 season". Sports Illustrated. January 2, 2002. Archived from the original on February 3, 2012. Retrieved January 29, 2013.
  7. ^ Odum, Charles (January 3, 2011). "Falcons beat Panthers 31–10, win home-field edge". Yahoo! Sports. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved January 30, 2013.
  8. ^ Zietlow, Alex (January 9, 2024). "Ron Rivera, best coach in Carolina Panthers history, fired from Washington Commanders". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  9. ^ "Cam Newton Named NFL MVP". Carolina Panthers. February 6, 2016. Archived from the original on October 29, 2022. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  10. ^ Jones, Jonathan (February 7, 2016). "Panthers quarterback Cam Newton is Named NFL MVP; he thanks the doubters". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020. Retrieved October 29, 2022.
  11. ^ Felt, Hunter (February 8, 2016). "Super Bowl 50 was billed as Newton v Manning – but the defenses tore up the script". The Guardian. Archived from the original on December 10, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  12. ^ Renck, Troy E. (February 7, 2016). "Von Miller, defense carry Broncos to Super Bowl victory". The Denver Post. Archived from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved December 9, 2018.
  13. ^ Walsh, Erin (January 9, 2024). "NFL Rumors: Execs Urge Panthers' David Tepper to Make Hires 'and Get out of the Way'". Bleacher Report. Archived from the original on January 10, 2024. Retrieved January 11, 2024.