The 2002 season was the Carolina Panthers' eighth in the National Football League and their first under head coach John Fox.
After moving from the NFC West to the more geographically accurate NFC South, they improved by six games to finish 7–9, but were still five games behind the division champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and failed to make the playoffs.
Their Week 12, 41–0 loss against the Atlanta Falcons was the Panthers' last shutout for 21 years.
Despite having the worst record in the league the previous season, the Panthers picked 2nd overall due to the Houston Texans picking first overall in their inaugural draft, as is tradition (under NFL rules) with expansion teams.
Front office Head coaches Offensive coaches Special teams coaches Strength and conditioning [1] Running backs (RB) Wide receivers (WR) Tight ends (TE) Defensive linemen (DL) Defensive backs (DB) Special teams Reserve Under the NFL’s new scheduling formula put in place for this season, the Panthers would play two games each season against their NFC South division rivals.