Who is Carolina Panthers new GM Scott Fitterer?

[Mr. Scot]

SCOTT FITTERER

Current Job: Vice President of Football Operations, Seattle Seahawks (2020-Present)
Age: 47 (11/4/1973)
Hometown: Seattle, WA
College: UCLA, LSU

PRIOR JOBS:

· Co-Director of Player Personnel, Seattle Seahawks (2015-2019)
· Director of College Scouting, Seattle Seahawks (2011-2014)
· Western Region Director of College Scouting, Seattle Seahawks (2004-2010)
· Area Scout, Seattle Seahawks (2001-2003)
· College Scout, New York Giants (1998-2000)

CONNECTIONS:

Over the years, Fitterer has had a number of Panther adjacent colleagues.  He spent the last several years working alongside Trent Kirchner who was part of the Panthers organization as a pro scout for eight years. Former Panthers GM candidate Ed Dodds was a part of that front office too. So was former Panthers linebacker Dan Morgan, who  got his start in the personnel field working in the Seattle scouting department before moving on to Buffalo.  Former Panthers Director of College Scouting Eric Stokes was also in the Seahawks organization for a while, in his case before he joined the Panthers.  At the start of his football career, Fitterer was part of a New York Giants staff that included soon to be Panthers coach John Fox and later Saints coach Sean Payton. Given that he was in scouting though, he'd have worked more closely with then Scout/Pro Personnel Director Dave Gettleman (no, he never worked with Marty Hurney, at least not that I found). And finally, Fitterer has seen many former Panthers players, including most recently prominent Panther Greg Olsen (Fitterer would have played a part in his acquisition).

NOTES:

· Youth must be served. Fitterer is the only candidate for the Panthers general manager job who is older than head coach Matt Rhule. On the flipside though, all four are younger than David Tepper (and Marty Hurney).

· As part of Seattle's personnel department, Fitterer was part of building two Super Bowl rosters, the "Legion of Boom" and the drafting of quarterback Russell Wilson.

· In an unusual arrangement, Fitterer spent several years as a "Co-Director" of player personnel along with Trent Kirchner. Despite having the same title, it was generally understood that one would focus more on college scouting (Fitterer) and the other on pro personnel (Kirchner).

· Speaking of sharing, Fitterer shares an agent with fellow GM candidate Adam Peters. That same agent also represents another person involved in the GM search, but on the other side: Panthers head coach Matt Rhule.

· This won't be his first GM interview. Fitterer has been a popular candidate for other GM jobs in prior years but has yet to be named to the role. The Panthers could be his chance.

· Fitterer has seen rough times with the Seahawks, among them major changes following the resignation of GM Tim Ruskell prior to the end of the 2009 season that led to a lot of turnover the following year.

· To give you an idea of how much change Fitterer has seen on his job, when he started in Seattle the head coach (and General Manager) was Mike Holmgren. Prior to joining Seattle, Holmgren had been one of the candidates for the Panthers head coaching job that went to George Seifert.

· Fitterer was a good enough baseball player in college to be drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays as a pitcher. He spent most of his career in the minors though before shoulder surgery finally ended his baseball dreams.

CHATTER:

QUOTES:

There’s a great dynamic. John is very involved day-to-day in college and pro. Pete during the season really focuses on the team, but afterwards during January, February and March, he is very involved in the player personnel side. It’s a very nice give-and-take throughout the season.
- Fitterer on his relationship with GM John Dorsey and head coach Pete Carroll

We start with about ten thousand names...get down to about a hundred and eighty. It's a pretty good process. The scouts do a good job of working on the entire senior list, figuring out who the prospects are and who can help our team.
- Fitterer on the Seahawks process of preparing for the Draft

While the time has changed, the non-stop banter between that trio did not. Nearly every minute of down time was filled by jokes at one of the trio's expense, that or some rather humorous trash talk about who is the best and most accurate timer. For years, Kirchner, Fitterer and Berry have had a contest throughout the combine in which they each pick a player out of every position group who they think will run the fastest 40 as well as the slowest.
- Seahawks reporter John Boyle on the relationship between Fitterer and his colleagues

LINKS:

The most important, least heralded members of the Seahawks front office

Behind The Scenes With The Seahawks For A Day During The New-Look NFL Scouting Combine

Minor League Baseball Bio Page

MEDIA:

2016 NFL Draft: Scott Fitterer Interview

 

[Zod]

Excellent stuff

[Panther'sBigD]

He looks like an adult version of Bobby Hill. 

I think he's going to be a legit hire though. 

[Zod]

Well, he worked with Dan Morgan for a while. So theres that. 

[CarolinaSunday]

1 minute ago, Panther'sBigD said:

He looks like an adult version of Bobby Hill. 

I think he's going to be a legit hire though. 

Omg, I'm never going to be able to unsee that. 

[Mr. Scot]

He's not a small man (6'2 per his minor league baseball bio).

Not an easy guy to find pictures or video of either, but here's one (Fitterer is on the right)

[Mr. Scot]

4 minutes ago, Panther'sBigD said:

He looks like an adult version of Bobby Hill. 

I think he's going to be a legit hire though. 

When I was looking for pics of him, I found this shot of John Schneider with Pete Carroll.

 

 

[Mr. Scot]

Fitterer arriving at the Combine...

[Zod]

Seahawks have the best 10 year draft return in the league. 

Quote

Who has the top season by draft return in the last 10 years? The Seattle Seahawks, of course! The Seahawks came out of the 2012 draft with the best player in the class (Russell Wilson) … as well as the second-best player in the class (Bobby Wagner). You can see the string of great drafts from 2010, 2011, and 2012 for the Seahawks that propelled them to two Super Bowls shortly thereafter, making Seattle the only team with more than one year above 5%. After Seattle in 2012, Indianapolis and Baltimore have the next two best drafts, both coming in 2018 when they combined to draft Quenton Nelson, Darius Leonard, Lamar Jackson, and Orlando Brown.

https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stat-analysis/2020/nfl-drafting-efficiency-2010-2019

 

If you are going to pull from somewhere, why not from the best. 

[Mr. Scot]

6 minutes ago, Zod said:

Well, he worked with Dan Morgan for a while. So theres that. 

Which could be interesting if, say, we're looking for a new pro personnel guy...or even an Assistant GM.

[Memphis]

Someone else posted it, but here is an interview with the man if you want to get a sense of him.

 

https://www.seahawks.com/video/2016-nfl-draft-scott-fitterer-interview-157471

[trueblade]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

Fitterer arriving at the Combine...

Fitterer on the phone with David Tepper:

[blueandblackattack]

PLEASE please someone say they have his baseball card

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, blueandblackattack said:

PLEASE please someone say they have his baseball card

Never thought to look for that...kudos