Panthers GM Scott Fitterer’s Seattle roots point to him keeping after a QB
When the Panthers journey to Seattle this weekend, normal supervisor Scott Fitterer will return to the place the place he grew up and have become a successful three-sport star via two excessive colleges.
He may also return to the town the place he spent 20 years climbing the Seahawks’ scouting ladder, twenty years that ready Fitterer to take his first GM job in 2021 – a job he would really like to preserve.
While Panthers proprietor David Tepper searches for a alternative for Matt Rhule, Fitterer’s destiny is considerably unsure. Tepper has not publicly dedicated to keeping Fitterer and informed reporters after firing Rhule in October that questions on Fitterer’s future have been “premature”.
But after the Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey, Fitterer stated he would “absolutely” play a position in hiring the following coach, suggesting he can be again subsequent yr. The Panthers declined to present Tepper for this story, whereas a workforce spokesman stated Fitterer will meet with the media after the season.
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Fitterer’s first two years with the Panthers included a string of hits and misses. But as a result of Rhule’s contract gave him the ultimate say within the 53-man squad, officers from different groups stated the athlete It’s troublesome to criticize Fitterer’s hiring selections, together with trades for a pair of top-three quarterbacks from the 2018 draft.
“You can’t say all the good ones were from him and all the bad were from Rhule. That’s the part I don’t know,” said a longtime hiring manager who was granted anonymity so he could speak freely.
“He acted for Sam Darnold. Is that his turn or is that Rhule’s turn? He acted for Baker Mayfield. Is this his train? I do not know.”
While Tepper said he would try to strike a “better balance” between the next coach and the GM in terms of staffing, current and former colleagues say one of Fitterer’s strengths is his willingness to listen and work together, without being less than the biggest personality having to appear the loudest guy in the room.
“I think Scott is doing well. He has a great personality. He never rattled. He is always balanced and in control. And he has this approach where he’s always trying to learn,” said Panthers assistant general manager Dan Morgan, one of Fitterer’s closest friends who worked with him in Seattle.
“He doesn’t have all the answers. He will always try to learn from everyone, no matter who you are. And then he’ll get opinions,” Morgan continued. “Of course he must know who he is getting these opinions from and know his scouts. But I think he knows who to listen to and who is good at what.”
Fitterer was a quarterback and pitcher at UCLA earlier than becoming a member of LSU, the place he was 22 years previousndIn 1995 he was chosen by the Blue Jays for the Blue Jays. After a shoulder damage ended his baseball profession after two minor league seasons, Fitterer was a scout for the New York Giants for 3 years earlier than settling in his hometown with the Seahawks’ scouting division.
With Tepper engaged on Fitterer within the background, Seahawks normal supervisor John Schneider informed the Panthers’ proprietor that if he employed Fitterer, he would get a balanced chief and nice communicator.
“He would not get overly excessive, he would not come down. He can keep within the second in high-pressure conditions,” said Schneider in a telephone interview on Thursday. “I have a lot of people who talk to me during the design process. And Scott was always a very reassuring presence when he sat next to me. He’d say calm down and just get on with what you’re doing, man. Don’t go moving.”
It did not take lengthy for Fitterer’s Seattle affect to present in Charlotte. Three months after his arrival, Fitterer went on a buying and selling spree that resulted within the Panthers being moved up or down the draft board 5 instances. He realized that from Schneider, who has by no means been afraid to commerce down or fold within the first spherical to achieve worth later within the draft.
Fitterer caught to the Panthers’ prime 10 picks in his first two drafts, however was in any other case open to enterprise. Many of the gamers Fitterer drafted additionally match the Seahawks’ profile—tall, lean guys with athleticism. Think Jaycee Horn, Ikem Ekwonu, Brandon Smith and Amaré Barno.
Like Schneider, Fitterer has been churning down the Panthers’ decrease roster to search for signings like working again Ameer Abdullah or neglected athletes like undrafted returnee Raheem Blackshear, who Fitterer introduced in from Buffalo’s follow workforce. Another factor Schneider stated Fitterer was rewarding high-performing draft picks with contract extensions, which Fitterer has accomplished with Taylor Moton, DJ Moore, and Donte Jackson.
Not all of Fitterer’s traits labored out. The choice to award Robbie Anderson, who performed for Rhule at Temple, a two-year, $29.5 million extension was a full failure. Former first-round choose CJ Henderson, who the Panthers took over from Jacksonville for a third-round choose and tight finish Dan Arnold, seemed extra like a rotation man than a shutdown nook.
But it was the quarterback’s errors that led to Rhule’s dismissal, and Fitterer may very well be his undoing if he would not hit one quickly. Early in Fitterer’s tenure, the Panthers gave the Jets three draft picks for Darnold after which exercised a fifth-year choice (for $18.9 million) on a quarterback who was the worst in his senior yr in New York Passer of the league was.
“Not only did you trade for Sam Darnold, you took his fifth-year option,” the veteran expertise evaluator stated. “Maybe there was pressure from Matt Rhule and Tepper said to do it — whatever.”
Schneider and former Seahawks College scouting director Scott McCloughan labored in Green Bay with Hall of Famer normal supervisor Ron Wolf, who believed in including a quarterback yearly.
Schneider took the identical strategy after turning into Seattle’s GM in 2010, beginning with a commerce for former Clemson QB Charlie Whitehurst. A month after free agent Matt Flynn signed a three-year, $26 million contract, the Seahawks capitalized on a third-round choose on Russell Wilson, which led Seattle to a Super Bowl championship and may have had one other.
Panthers GM Scott Fitterer (Trevor Ruszkowski/USA Today)
“(Installer) has experience. He has the intelligence. He has the wherewithal to find good football players. You just have to find a quarterback,” said McCloughan, the ex-San Francisco and Washington GM who scouts for several teams including the Panthers.
“Ron Wolf told me if you make a quarterback out of 10, you get all the money in the world,” McCloughan added. “But you have to find the one in 10.”
Rhule treated quarterbacks like a speed dating exercise during his three seasons. Three quarterbacks have started this year, and Darnold will start Sunday for the second straight year at Lumen Field in Seattle. Fitterer is still looking for his Russell Wilson.
“We did some shots of quarterbacks here. This is the most valuable position. And I think so many hits on the plate and you’re taking calculated risks, I think you have to do that,” Morgan said.
“If you’re feeling good about that and everyone’s on the same page, I think you’ve got to swing and take some shots and kind of see where it goes. Some of them work, some don’t. You just have to keep going until you find the guy. Hopefully we’ll make it sometime.”
The Panthers traded last year for Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral, who was on injured reserve all season after foot surgery. Fitterer and Morgan set out this fall to find the top quarterbacks in a class considered talented.
McCloughan, whose son Caden is an intern in the Panthers’ scouting department, believes Fitterer should make a big move this time around.
“The best of the best search and search and search and do all these different analyzes and physical tests and talk (to) teammates and advisors,” said McCloughan, who is looking for a franchise quarterback.
“He has to find that to be the GM he wants to be in Carolina. And that has to be this year. He has to find him this year. He doesn’t have to, but he should. It’s the time.”
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Likewise, Fitterer is looking forward to meeting some of his old Seahawks buddies for dinner this weekend. When the conversation turns to glorious memories, Fitterer is unlikely to contribute much. Schneider called Morgan and Fitterer “low ego individuals”.
Morgan said he knew Fitterer long before learning secondhand that he played in the SEC and played in the Blue Jays’ system.
“He was just Scott Fitterer. He was one of my bosses out there and I just liked him for it. Then I found out about it (sports background) and I was like, ‘Dude, I didn’t even know that,'” said Morgan, the former Panthers’ first-round pick who went to the 2004 Pro Bowl.
“And that’s the part you love about Scott. He is humble. He will never blow his own horn. He’s just going about his business and he’s just a really good guy.”
(Top photograph by David Tepper and Scott Fitterer: Bob Donnan/USA Today)
