Seahawks VP of Football Operations Scott Fitterer hired as Panthers GM
Jan 14, 2021, 1:28 PM
Seahawks VP of Player Personnel Scott Fitterer has been hired by as the Panthers GM. (Getty)
(Getty)
After years of speculation that he would be hired elsewhere, Seahawks Vice President of Football Operations Scott Fitterer has finally gotten his big break as it has been reported he will be the next general manager of the Carolina Panthers.
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Fitterer has been in the Seahawks organization since 2001 and has a background in scouting. Eventually, he worked his way up to co-director of player personnel along with Trent Kirchner before being promoted to VP of football operations in 2019.
Both Fitterer and Kirchner, who is the Seahawks’ current vice president of player personnel, have been rumored general manager targets for a while now, with both taking interviews seemingly every offseason in recent years. The Panthers reportedly interviewed Fitterer twice before deciding he was their target this cycle.
Fitterer’s career in Seattle started in 2001 as an area scout and he later spent five years as the Seahawks’ regional director of scouting. He and Kirchner have been seen as top understudies to Seahawks general manager John Schneider, who this week signed a long-term deal to stay in Seattle through the 2027 NFL Draft.
During his time with the Seahawks, Fitterer has been a part of 14 playoff appearances, three NFC championships and a Super Bowl title. He also has been in a front office that helped the Seahawks’ three-year stretch of drafting elite talent such as quarterback Russell Wilson, safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor, cornerback Richard Sherman and linebackers Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright.
According to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, who was the first to report that Fitterer was leaving the Seahawks for the Panthers, Fitterer was a late addition to Carolina’s search for a general manager but that he made a “quick impression.”
There is still work to be done as far as hammering out the deal. But Scott Fitterer is the choice for the #Panthers after an exhaustive search. https://t.co/Ky16IBUMLv
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 14, 2021
The Panthers went 5-11 in 2020, the first year under head coach Matt Rhule. Carolina also was without star running back Christian McCaffrey for essentially all of the season as he played in just three games.
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