David Tepper: You Have To Try To Win For The Fans

Panthers owner David Tepper says he wants to instill a winning culture in Carolina following the firing of Matt Rhule.

Carolina’s 37-15 loss to the 49ers on Sunday was the final straw with regard to the head coach. Steve Wilks will take over for Rhule, who is the first coach in Panthers history not to last three full seasons.

It’s the second time David Tepper has fired his coach since taking ownership in 2018, having dispensed with Ron Rivera in 2019.

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“I think that we have to figure out how to get a culture of winning here, which we haven’t had in a long time in this place,” David Tepper said. “As I said at some point, this team has never had two winning seasons (in a row). So I don’t really think it ever really had a culture of winning.

“I think we always have an expectation to win and trying to find a way to win,” he said. “That’s never changing. Steve is familiar with the team, you know I have confidence in him and we’ll see.

“No way that everyday you can’t go in with a winning attitude,” Tepper said. “There’s no other way to be — you have to try to win all the time. You have to try and win for the players, you have tor try to win for the fans.”

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“It’s winning,” Tepper said. “Winning more this year than you did last year. Have the appearance of winning more than you did last year. Looking like you’re going to win more than you did last year. By that definition, I don’t think we’re over the hump. We start off 1-4 this year, had five wins the past two seasons, had a different lack of success in other seasons, so we have to somehow change that culture.”