2002 Carolina Panthers season

The 2002 Carolina Panthers season was the eighth season for the team in the National Football League. They tried to improve upon their 1-15 record in 2001, and make it to the playoffs for the second time in franchise history.

2002 Carolina Panthers season
Head Coach	John Fox
Home Field	Ericsson Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Place	4th NFC South
Playoff Finish	did not qualify
Timeline
Previous season	Next season
2001	2003

The Panthers would improve six games, but would not escape the cellar, despite moving from the NFC West to the NFC South, finishing 7-9, five games behind the division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Main article: 2002 NFL Draft

The 2002 NFL Draft took place at Radio City Music Hall in New York City on April 15 and April 16, 2002. The Panthers selected nine players in seven rounds.

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1	2	Julius Peppers	Defensive End	North Carolina
2	34	DeShaun Foster	Running Back	UCLA
3	73	Will Witherspoon	Linebacker	Georgia
4	100	Dante Wesley	Cornerback	Arkansas-Pine Bluff
5	137	Randy Fasani	Quarterback	Stanford
5	145	Kyle Johnson	Fullback	Syracuse
6	174	Keith Heinrich	Tight End	Sam Houston State
7	213	Pete Campion	Guard	North Dakota State
7	258	Brad Franklin	Cornerback	Louisiana-Lafayette

Personnel

Staff

2002 Carolina Panthers staff
Front Office Owner/Founder – Jerry Richardson President – Mark Richardson General Manager – Marty Hurney Director of Player Personnel – Jack Bushofsky Head Coaches Head Coach – John Fox Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams – Scott O'Brien Offensive Coaches Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks – Dan Henning Running Backs – Jim Skipper Wide Receivers – Richard Williamson Tight Ends – Don Breaux Offensive Line – Paul Boudreau Offensive Assistant – Mike McCoy			Defensive Coaches Defensive Coordinator – Jack Del Rio Defensive Line – Mike Trgovac Linebackers – Sam Mills Secondary – Rod Perry Defensive Assistant – Alvin Reynolds Defensive Assistant – Sal Sunseri Special Teams Coaches Special Teams Assistant – Darrin Simmons Strength and Conditioning Strength and Conditioning – Jerry Simmons Assistant Strength and Conditioning – Darrin Simmons

Roster

2002 Carolina Panthers roster
	Quarterbacks 12 Randy Fasani  7 Tim Hasselbeck  9 Rodney Peete 16 Chris Weinke Running backs Wide receivers Tight ends		Offensive linemen Defensive linemen		Linebackers Defensive backs Special teams		Reserve lists Practice squad Rookies in italics Active, Inactive, Practice squad

Schedule

Date	Week	Opponent	Result	Stadium	Record	Tv Time
9/8/2002	1	Baltimore Ravens	W 10-7	CBS 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	1-0
9/15/2002	2	Detroit Lions	W 31-7	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	2-0
9/22/2002	3	Minnesota Vikings	W 21-14	FOX 1:00pm	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome	3-0
9/29/2002	4	Green Bay Packers	L 14-17	FOX 1:00pm	Lambeau Field	3-1
10/6/2002	5	Arizona Cardinals	L 13-16	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	3-2
10/13/2002	6	Dallas Cowboys	L 13-14	FOX 1:00pm	Texas Stadium	3-3
10/20/2002	7	Atlanta Falcons	L 0-30	FOX 1:00pm	Georgia Dome	3-4
10/27/2002	8	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 9-12	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	3-5
11/3/2002	9	Bye
11/10/2002	10	New Orleans Saints	L 24-34	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	3-6
11/17/2002	11	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	L 10-23	FOX 4:05pm	Raymond James Stadium	3-7
11/24/2002	12	Atlanta Falcons	L 0-41	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	3-8
12/1/2002	13	Cleveland Browns	W 13-6	FOX 1:00pm	Cleveland Browns Stadium	4-8
12/8/2002	14	Cincinnati Bengals	W 52-31	CBS 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	5-8
12/15/2002	15	Pittsburgh Steelers	L 14-30	FOX 1:00pm	Heinz Field	5-9
12/22/2002	16	Chicago Bears	W 24-14	FOX 1:00pm	Ericsson Stadium	6-9
12/29/2002	17	New Orleans Saints	W 10-6	FOX 1:00pm	Louisiana Superdome	7-9

Standings

NFC South
	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
z (2) Tampa Bay Buccaneers	12	4	0	.750	4–2	9–3	346	196	W1
y (6) Atlanta Falcons	9	6	1	.594	4–2	7–5	402	314	L1
New Orleans Saints	9	7	0	.563	3–3	7–5	432	388	L3
Carolina Panthers	7	9	0	.438	1–5	4–8	258	302	W2