The Tragic Downfall of the Carolina Panthers 

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As a Panthers fan, it's extremely depressing that the team will never truly improve until Tepper gets out of his own way and let the football guys do their damn jobs. And by "football guys", I mean, ANYONE else but Scott Fitterer. Also, I don't care what anyone else says, Tepper should have given Wilks a fair shot at HC.

Kuechly is a cool guy, I’m glad he realized his health and mental health were more important than another massive contract. He was the heart of that team. His retirement reminded me of Luck’s, but I think people were kinder to Kuechly.

Charlotte native here. It’s crazy how tepper has single handedly destroyed every single ounce of clout that the panthers once pulled to our fairly forgettable city. Not only that but now he’s also mismanaging Charlotte FC. Since 2022, the city of Charlotte has gone through five head coaches. Tepper alone has made an embarrassment out of our city

People down here in Charlotte hate Tepper, especially after he screwed taxpayers in South Carolina with the failed new Panthers headquarters. Every point made is entirely valid.

To think at one point we had CMC, Luke, Cam, DJ Moore, and now nothing

This team Keeps Pounding my soul right into the ground.

As a Panthers fan, I feel like David Tepper owes us therapy money. I don't know how much more I can take 😢

Charlotte local. Tepper also tried to build an $800 million practice facility in South Carolina. His real estate company that was attached to the project filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the practice facility fell through. With his MLS team that shares the stadium with the Panthers, Tepper fired his head coach 17 games into its inaugural season despite the fact the team had 7 wins 1 draw and 9 loses. The issue is definitely Tepper related. Update: Charlotte made the playoffs in year 2 and Tepper fired their second coach. Looking for coach 3 in year 3

As a Texans fan, seeing the Panthers self destruct reminds me that things could have been a lot worse for us over the years.

As a Panthers fan that moved to Charlotte to see them in person. I'm glad I found a new job else where to just witness our collapse in the 3rd person now. Tepper has taken our young and very successful franchise, and made it the Browns and Lions of this generation in 5 short years. I will stay a Carolina fan, but will actively root against our owner until he decided to go hands off and let the adults handle the team.

I live in Charlotte and the apathy towards the team has been as deep as it’s ever been. I’m also a 49ers fan and - like how Tree pointed out in his video on Tepper - the best thing that could have happened to the team was Jed York taking a step back from the team operations and letting John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan handle those calls. It’s the exact opposite of what Tepper is doing because, no matter how you look at it, Adam Thielen and DJ Chark are not in the same league as Christian McCaffrey and DJ Moore. And also the Panthers organization didn’t do anything when Tom Grossi came into the city so there’s that too.

It kills me to know that the team I grew up loving more than any other sports team will potentially endure decades of failure because of the ego of the man on top. Under Tepper, I don’t foresee us ever making the playoffs much less having a winning season. I don’t know what us fans have done to deserve this.

As an extremely loyal Panthers fan since 1995 that has been to numerous games and dropped too much on the team…..Tepper has driven me to find a new team.

That press conference Reich gave describing how some owners stay away and others engage showed how he literally had no say so and was having flashbacks of Irsay. At least Irsay didn’t get involved til things hit rock bottom last year and did the whole Jeff Saturday thing.. Not sure if any high profile coach wants to work for a tyrant like Tepper- It will most likely be first time Nathaniel Hackett/ Freddy Kitchens type coaches now. 🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️🤦🏻‍♂️

11:52 Thats a really upsetting sentence. We really had 2 of the best players in the league on the same offense and Teppers like "Yeah, but what if we didn't"

Us Texans fans feel like Neville Longbottom, who just barely avoided being the Chose One to Harry Potter by the smallest of margins. Except in a good way. The stories coming out about Carolina are eerily similar to what the Texans went through during the Bill O'Brien and Jack Easterby era. And I wouldn't wish that on anymore.

Reich wasn’t the only guy who wanted stroud. The other was qb coach Josh McCown and he was also fired

As a washington fan I know how it feels to have a meddeling owner. Many fans just ignore the front office and off the field incompetency that can plague an organization for a very very very long time.

4:25 One of the factors that played into Luke retiring (in addition to injuries) was Tepper's insistence on switching froma 4-3 base defense to a 3-4 base. So that leads back to Tepper as well.

I’m a mom and it breaks my heart to see what is happening to Bryce Young. It’s a real shame.

Couldn't agree more on Wilks. His Panthers beat the snot out of my Lions late in the season with Sam freakin' Darnold at QB. Team looked really well coached from the outside.

That Cam season was magical. Watching it from ireland got me back into football. Shame that its kinda forgotten how good dude was

David Tepper is the new Dan Snyder

David Tepper is without a doubt the worst owner in NFL history, and he’s not going to change or fix his approach, that quote about buying the restaurant and firing the waiter. Shows so much color of that man’s horrible personality. He doesn’t care about the fans, he doesn’t care about the players, he doesn’t care about the coaches either, he also doesn’t care about the money considering he paid Matt Rhule for 5 1/2 uncoached seasons after he fired him. The only good thing the panthers have going for them is that in a years time we will probably have the #1 overall pick again, but Tepper will likely ruin that too.

Watched the bears Panthers game in the suite directly next to David tepper. It was hilarious seeing him throw little temper tantrums when DJ Moore or Deonte Foreman got first downs

Maybe they should hire Jeff Saturday as an Interim HC. They are already done for the season, so they might as well get someone in there to evaluate talent. It's worked out Great for the Colts

I miss Cam and thank you for the video. No doubt in my mind Tepper had a Tepper tantrum and fired Cam just like the coaches. Then he fired CMAC and DJ. Did you know Brandon Beane was assistant GM and before losing him to the Bills? That's beside the point... right beside it. I digress, but the stupid, idiotic decisions made by ownership has nearly made me a Bronco fan. That's some serious stuff right there. (Actually I was once a Bronco fan while growing up in western Nebraska. But, who really cares, right?) Tepper is obviously a heck of a hedge fund guy. I can only spell hedge fund. I think all Tepper can do is spell football (albeit with a lot of help). Proof? You said it all Perna... stupid trades. I was NOT in favor of moving CMAC, NEVER wanted the trade for the #1 pick and was never comfortable with Reich as the hire. How do you spell Tepper? S T U P I D

As a jags fan i feel for you carolina, i hope things get better for you

Its interesting that the Panthers went from an owner who was an ex NFL player in Richardson and were a fairly competitive team during his ownership, to Tepper who is micro managing them to hell and has no clue what he is doing. Richardson was certainly a f-up guy but he was smart enough to leave the football decisions to the people he hired. Richardson had actual experience in the league from his couple of seasons with the Lions and didn't let that go to his head, meanwhile investment boy Tepper thinks he knows better.

Brandon, you should really look at the eerily similar path both the broncos and panthers have had since the cursed sb50. It was truly a curse for both teams.

As a Panthers fan, I'm surprised you said nothing about Scott Fitterer, our current GM (hopefully not for long)

Brandon Pernaaaaaaaaa!!!!!! Was JUST sitting down hoping to find an upload from you! Thanks for all your hard work, buddy! Merry Christmas to you & your beautiful family!

I'm getting ready to jump ship from this team. I love Charlotte. I love North Carolina. Seeing what David Tepper is doing is just absolutely heartbreaking.

Long time suffering panthers fan here. I was a senior in high school in 2015, have been alive for the panthers to go to the superbowl twice and lose twice. I’ve jumped on the mlb wave just to feel something again

Christian McCaffrey on the Panthers would be like any driver on the F1 grid in the Alfa Romeo. Doesn't matter if you're a great driver if the car around you is a tractor... And Carolina is a tractor.

Great job. This needed a look. I will say, in college, they teach you "You're going to have to manage ABOVE, and manage BELOW, when you are a middle manager...." Now, what does that mean? That means you have to manage your bosses above you, all the time, to make sure they understand that you are doing a good job... they are probably dense, and short sighted, and understand very little about how the business works, so... This will be a challenge.... THEN you have to actually do what people probably think is "your job", and manage BELOW you... Manage your people. run your crew, run your area, whatever it might be.... Jason Garrett should probably be teaching the MasterClass in this, except he now makes 8 figures at NBC, so that ain't happening..... But yeah, try managing the Jones Family above you, and at the same time, with players you had no say in acquiring, go ahead and put a very competent football team on the field week after week..... Sure, there was no Championship, BUT, the Cowboys under Garrett were not a joke.... I know, haters are gonna hate, but, they were NOT a joke.... Just sayin, do you want that job??? Tepper's only path forward is, the Checkbook. Jerry hired Bill Parcells, remember that???? Yeah. BUT, Tepper COULD, theoretically, with enough guaranteed money, put BB in the chair.... He could...... It is possible.... Bill, at his age, is not saying no to, let's say, $25 million a year guaranteed for 4 years, no matter what, ironclad, lawyers approved, money placed in escrow..... He is not saying no to that.... Legacy??? Pfffft. $100 million bucks makes you awfully comfortable.... Other people can cry about your Legacy, while you eat Lobster & Filet Mignon on the back deck of your epic mansion.....

The Panthers never recovered from that 2017 Wild Card loss to the Saints, that was really their last chance. They have been circling the drain since.

As a Panther's fan since CHRIS WEINKE was my QB, we are in the worst state we've ever been. 2015 is nothing more than a faded memory. First step: fire Fitterer as GM and replace him with someone that can actually draft well. Hitting on the next 3 drafts is absolutely vital to the resurrection of Carolina, and if we have the wrong person in charge, we'll be having this same dumbass conversation in 2026.

Perna’s NFL commentary and breakdowns of the NFL issues and games are on their own level. #1 of all time.

Cam Newton beat our college team in the national championship, and I'm convinced that's the day my home town started to fall apart. It was wild.. we actually outplayed them, and were up by a touchdown with 14 seconds to go - we punted, and the guy was one of the best returners ever, he had a school record for kick and punt returns, and had already returned a punt for a TD in that game.. our punter tried to put it out of bounds, and shanked it in bounds instead, right to him.. he caught it on the run, and that was it. Game over... it was absolutely heartbreaking. That's the best year our organization ever had by a LONG shot - many of the players on both teams went to the NFL, and now our football team no longer exists. The final nail in the coffin was a kid dying from running too much... that's the legacy of our team. One bad punt, changed everything.

It is the saddest thing ever our basketball team is barley any better too.

Did you ever hear the Tragedy of Darth Carolina the Weak? I thought not. It's not a story David Tepper would tell you

It's clear that Tepper believes his own BS.

Releasing steve smith caught up to them in the super bowl as well as their lack of leadership and respect he had in that locker room. Then it's just been a slowly building avalanche downhill since

They ruined their franchise for the foreseeable future, all in one fell swoop. Got rid of McCaffrey, the best running back in the NFL - traded DJ Moore, and a 1st round pick, during one of the best draft classes for receivers in recent history, potentially ever - and they did it all to pick the wrong franchise QB... 🙃 they gave the 49ers the last piece of the puzzle they needed to be the best team in the NFL, and they gave the Bears a very real chance to turn their franchise around. Well done, Panthers... well done.

As a guy who went and played football at the Tepper School of Business, i know first hand he doesnt know about either

Been waiting for this one. Cam was who got me interested in football and I’ve been a panthers fan since then. The last few years have been nothing but misery but sort of under the main stream radar

Watching the Panthers Self-destruct remains me of two teams going 0-16 back in the day it was Cleveland and Detroit

Good summary of where the Panthers are right now. Only thing I would add is how trigger happy they are trading up in the draft, they do it every year and usually for players that may drop to them anyway. After reading the Athletic article they just need to completely clean house for the front office and offense. Even then you still have Tepper hiring the next guys, and who would be willing to chain their careers to this slow motion car wreck of a franchise?

I was just thinking about how far my home team has truly fallen from grace

Oh great another Perna Panthers video that will make me cry immensely and die inside. Thanks, fam.

Only Cam Newton would have the complete lack of self awareness to scream "I'M BACK!" after doing something mildly ok in his first game returning. This cat has never had a clue, going back to when he was being paid to play at Auburn. Watching Peyton beat his ass with no arm was fun. And watching him pout like a baby after was fun too.

Tepper is the second coming of snyder. Carolina currently. is very reminiscent of the early snyder rain of the redskins, although instead of throwing money at over the hill free agents its coaches.

Tepper: “I will step aside and hire a GM and HC to make all the decisions from here on out” *hires Jack Easterby and Adam Gase*

2015 Cam Newton was so fucking legendary. They nearly went undefeated that season.

Losing Luke was really the nail. That defense was always stout, but the panthers just needed consistency from the QB. Once Luke was gone I knew it was rebuild time, but I didn’t know it would be done on Tepper time. Man do I feel bad for Panthers fans. Y’all had a football changing team. Cam laid the road for the modern mobile QB. Honestly the only fix is put Tepper in so maybe someone will ring his dome enough to get some football into it

"Running a football team is not like running a hedge fund" I don't know, they did go short on their QB.

Words can’t describe the hopelessness I feel as a fan having David Tepper as the owner of the team

hey, what was the name of the band in the late early 90s with the hit song "Epic"? lyris were something like "you want it all but you can't have it"

Bucs fan here, Panther fans have for the most part been kind, fun , and knowledgeable football people that I've interacted with. The NFL should have a successful franchise in that region and the Dan Snyder analogy fits because why would the Benson's, Blank or the Glazers want to get rid of Tepper? He almost ensures their respective teams are never the worst in the division.

I'm a Panthers fan, lives right outside of Charlotte, Yeah tepper sucks and hasn't made anything better But Jerry owned the team from 1995 to 2018, only had 7 winning seasons and never had back to back winning seasons in 23 years Rivera was here 9 years, only had 3 winning seasons, that's not good, he was carried to a Super Bowl by prime Luke Kuechly and MVP Cam but never did anything to get that team consistent or better. Same with Fox, here 9 years only had 3 winning seasons, he took Jake Delhomme to a Super Bowl and almost won but he wasn't that great of a coach either, no consistency and no back to back winning years. He also was HC for the 2-14 year with Jimmy Clausen The Panthers haven't been a good franchise, we've been below average with like 4 lucky years where they made 4 NFC Championship games and made 2 Super Bowls. So the fan base is spoiled but we have been as bad as the Lions or Browns in the 00s for the majority of our existence

Stroud was always the Texans pick, be it at #2 or #1 overall.

I can’t believe cam never came back from that Super Bowl loss.. that was the most exciting season I’ve ever seen a quarterback have

Funniest dude in sports, right here. That bit with Teppen buying your channel??!! (See what I did there? maybe I accidentally misspelled his name? eh? eh?)

I actually miss Jerry Richardson.

As a Panthers fan, I feel like we are in hell 🔥

As a Panthers’ fan, this was sad to watch and be reminded of. I’ll always root for the Panthers, but I have ZERO hope until Tep changes his approach and/or gets the right people in here.

I been said young was a system QB, just like yall called brady (texans fan) young never had to essentially grind on the field, he was a product of the best coaches and systems since middle school. He went to the best team in CFB.. his whole career was carried by good situations after good situations. He never had to actually work on that field. Those who played know what im saying. He’s a bust. He wasnt ready to start. He needed two or three more years to develop, since he went first ovr he will not be afford that luxury. He will be unemployed in five years unfortunately. If i was him, i wouldve tanked my draft stock. He knew he wasn’t ready. Thats the pros and cons of going first ovr. If you aint ready, you better get ready, if not you’re done with. Sad to witness tho. Im just happy we got CJ

Carolina hasn’t been the same since Newton didn’t dive on the football

The energy in 2015 around Charlotte was insane. Sad to see what we've become now in 2023.

Let me answer Brandon's question as a Panthers fan living in Charlotte. No. There is no hope, at least not in the near future. Tepper is just that bad an owner. Sometimes I hear two arguments for why things might get better but they both ring hollow. Firstly that Tepper is still a new owner and still has time to improve. But he has owned the team for five years now. Five years of experience and he's getting worse instead of better. Which ties into the second point. He is incapable of improving. Improvement would necessitate some level of introspection, and he just isn't capable of that. Brandon touched on how petty he is and that is ultimately incompatible with the type of critical thinking that could lead to a change. And one final note. I've worked as a bartender for several years now. And I have mostly worked in upscale locations. So I have an ear to the grapevine so to speak. I have never heard anyone say anything nice about Tepper. I have heard a lot of people talk about serving members of the Panthers organization before. Cam, Luke, Rivera, Delhomme, Stewart, even Steve Smith and Jerry Richardson. Tepper is the only one I have never heard anyone say anything positive about. TLDR: Tepper is as much of an asshole as he seems, and the way in which he is an asshole makes it impossible for him to be a good owner.

I bought your “I’m Dying Inside” Panthers shirt after the loss to the Bears. It’s the one good thing to come out of this season.

As a saints fan, part of me will continue to die inside when Carolina wins this week. Between injuries and how the saints have been playing, my hopes for a victory are dropping.

This video is gonna make me sad, I know it lmao Edit: I was wrong. It made me sad AND angry.

As a Panthers fan, here’s my opinion on things. 1. Not hiring Steve Wilkes and Trading Away Moore gonna hunt us for a lil while. The CMC trade was inevitable so might as well trade him when he’s at his highest value over keeping him and watching him get hurt year after year and lose his value. 2. If yall seen the Panthers play offensively throughout the season yall would realize that CJ Stroud wouldn’t do much better here either and people would still have that convo of yall should’ve picked Young over Stroud🤦🏾‍♂️. 3. Mr. Perna just gave y’all summary of our problem. Throughout this season he didn’t even bring up the injuries, 💩 playcalling, receivers not getting open much, not running the ball well til recently, Oline getting destroyed in pass blocking, Top 10 in penalties, Owner and GM keep making dumb decisions… Like wtf do yall want a 22 year old rookie Qb to do wit all this mess goin on around him😂🤦🏾‍♂️

Born and bred in NC, never really been into football. I guess it's an age thing but as my 20's slowly fade away I'm getting more into watching sports. What a terrible fcking time for my home team to suck complete ass worse than any team in the league...I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY TRADED MCAFFREY, I DON'T KNOW SHT ABOUT FOOTBALL AND EVEN I KNOW THAT'S STUPID

Frank reich wanted c.j. that’s all I got to say

It really sucks for Panthers fans. As Robert Tepper said in song, "there's no easy way out.

Good content as always, Perna.

Also thank you for acknowledging that most people will never understand how Cam was a absolute BEAST!!

I feel like I’ve been told how historically bad the Carolina Panthers have been at least seven different times this month. Not that we don’t deserve it, but sheesh!

As a Bears fan, I hope the Panthers pull it together and become a respected franchise again. I loved the Panthers during the Cam years and Kuechly was one of my favorite defenders from that time too. I hope they get it together…just not this season. We need that first overall pick lol.

Looking forward to the next episode of "That's Good Fudge."

Cam Newton was the Man

Bryce has been disappointing this year for sure but acting like dropping stroud into this shit show of an organization instead would make things better or saved Reichs job ignores how much the offensive line regressed this year under his scheme as well as the fact that the offense is simply poorly designed and overall underwhelming in terms of personnel. Dj would definitely help any rookie qb out but I don’t think he fixes the scheme related issues this team has on offense. Bryce has shown flashes and I think he can be very good but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t horrified about tepper ruining him if he hasn’t already

As a bears fan, I'm just glad it wasn't us making the trade 🤣🤣 I love DJ

Being a hands on owner is good in business when you know what you're doing. But business men should stand back and let football guys do their thing that they've spent their life learning and maybe learning the ropes. Instead Tepper is meddling and not listening to guys and insists on his own way.

There are panthers fans among us that legitimately think Tepper is sabotaging the team in an attempt to move them. That’s how bad it has been. And I can’t even blame them because there’s no way this guy KEEPS getting this wrong. His failures will stack infinitely until the end of time.

I lost all respect for Cam that day. And he lost his own self respect, he knows. He was never the same after he decided not to jump on that ball.

I became a panthers fan when they were crested. And my brother liked Jacksonville. It was just something fun for us as young kids. Now I'm just sad that I'll probably be 50 before the panthers are good again.

As a Panthers fan, it’s become increasingly difficult for me to care about the team let alone the game as a whole. I was a fan for such a long time and then 2015 hit and I was so excited for our team. Then, within 4 years, all of those players were gone, we had a new owner, a new head coach, and an entirely new team. And not a good one. After Wilkes stepped in last season I had hope after they let go of McCaffrey. And thinking about it now. If Tepper didn’t step in and trade for the first round pick, we could’ve had DJ Moore, Adam Thielen, Tank Dell, and all of those weapons with Andi Dalton or we could’ve even been the top landing spot for Rodgers or Carr. Either way we would’ve been ok. We could’ve gone 7-10. Or we could’ve yanked and drafted a different QB but still had Moore. We could’ve kept McCaffrey. What did we get from that trade? Literally nothing. We traded all of the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th round picks for absolutely nothing. This team has become tiring and almost like a job with how stressful it is. I will continue to root for them and when they do eventually have a winning season I will be there excited. They are my team and I won’t give up on them. Honestly, hear me out. I live near St. Louis. St. Louis misses their team big time. Why don’t we move the Panthers to St. Louis? Get rid of Tepper in the process.

Jake Delhomme and Cam Newton have been to the super bowl but both ain't been the same since then

I clicked so fast knowing everything that he was going to cover in this video but wanted to hear it again. Tis the life of a panthers fan

Luke Kuechly had three concussions we know about over three consecutive seasons, some of which were really bad looking ones, he was an old 28

My 49ers love your incompetence, Tepper. Thank you for CMC and Steve Wilks!

I know a Panthers fan in a Discord sports server I'm in, and me being the Lions fan, he told me and others "We're the new Detroit Lions, as they have become good, so someone else needed to take their spot", and god, I wish I could say he is wrong, but I'd be lying to him, esp. with Tepper being whatever the hell all of this is

I've been waiting for this video. Thanks.

11:05 This graphic is interesting how many of these picks were traded 61 - Benton Strange was a Jags pick and the other two went to Pittsburgh.

As a Colts fan I started following the Panthers to watch the Frank Reich car crash and have stuck around for the phenomenal soap opera that is The David Tepper Experience. I was with you up to your warm wishes for Bryce Young. He ain't it - undersized, weakish arm, slowish speed. Just like the Broncos screwed the pooch with Tim Tebow, Carolina traded away the farm for a bag of non-magic beans. They should start Andy Dalton tomorrow and send Minime to Zach Wilson land... Nice job on the Panthers though. Well informed and funny at the same time. Excellent work!