The 1995 Carolina Panthers season was the franchise's inaugural season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

and the first under

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Dom Capers Ernest Dominic Capers (born August 7, 1950) is an American football coach who is a senior defensive assistant for the Carolina Panthers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the inaugural head coach of the Panthers and the Ho ...

. They went 7–9, the best debut year for any expansion franchise since the NFL's inception. The Panthers played their first season's home games at

Clemson University Clemson University () is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university near Clemson, South Carolina, United States. - The blue-shaded pattern denotes university property. This shows Clemson University is ''out ...

because what would become Ericsson Stadium was still under construction after a deadline point in 1995 for scheduling Carolina's first set of NFL games.

Offseason

The Panthers were jokingly called "

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo–Niagara Falls metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC East, East div ...

South" because of the large number of former Bills on the roster. Quarterback

Frank Reich Frank Michael Reich (; ; born December 4, 1961) is an American football coach and former player who is the interim head coach at Stanford University. He played 14 seasons as a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL). He became a coac ...

, wide receiver

Don Beebe Donald Lee Beebe (born December 18, 1964) is an American college football coach and former wide receiver. He is the head football coach for Aurora University, a position he has held since 2019. He previously played in the National Football Leag ...

, tight end

Pete Metzelaars Peter Henry Metzelaars (born May 24, 1960) is an American former professional football player who was a tight end for 16 seasons in the National Football League (NFL) with the Seattle Seahawks, the Buffalo Bills, the Carolina Panthers and the D ...

and linebacker

Carlton Bailey Carlton Wilson Bailey (born December 15, 1964) is an American former professional american football player who was a linebacker in the National Football League (NFL) for the Buffalo Bills, New York Giants, and Carolina Panthers. He played colle ...

had played key roles in the Bills' run of four consecutive

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual History of the NFL championship, league championship game of the National Football League (NFL) of the United States. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966 NFL season, 1966 (with the excep ...

s earlier in the 1990s and were on the Panthers' inaugural roster. Furthermore, the team's general manager was longtime Bills GM and executive

Bill Polian William Patrick Polian Jr. (born December 8, 1942) is an American former professional football executive. He rose to league prominence as the general manager of the Buffalo Bills, building a team that participated in four straight Super Bowls— ...

. (See also the

2001 San Diego Chargers season The San Diego Chargers season was the franchise's 32nd season in the National Football League (NFL) and the 42nd overall and the third and final season under head coach Mike Riley. The team improved on their 1–15 record in 2000 to finish 5� ...

, in which a similar situation arose when

John Butler John Butler may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John "Picayune" Butler (died 1864), American banjo performer; may have been used by a number of performers * John Butler (artist) (1890–1976), American artist * John Butler (author) (born 1937), ...

brought several former Bills with him to San Diego after being fired.)

Expansion draft

^ Made roster.

NFL draft

Draft trades

Personnel

Staff

Roster

Preseason

Regular season

Season summary

Week 1: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 2: at Buffalo Bills

Week 3: vs. St. Louis Rams

Week 5: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 6: at Chicago Bears

Week 7: vs New York Jets

Players dumped Gatorade on

after the win."Panthers earn first victory". ''

Gainesville Sun ''The Gainesville Sun'' () is a newspaper published daily in Gainesville, Florida, United States, covering the North-Central portion of the state. History The paper was founded in July 1876 as the ''Gainesville Times'', by brothers E. M. and ...

''. October 16, 1995. Retrieved September 17, 2019.

Week 8: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 9: at New England Patriots

Week 10: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 11: at St. Louis Rams

Week 12: vs. Arizona Cardinals

Week 13: at New Orleans Saints

Week 14: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week 15: vs. San Francisco 49ers

Week 16: vs. Atlanta Falcons

Week 17: at Washington Redskins

Standings

Records

* Most victories by an expansion team (7)NFL 2001 Record and Fact Book, Workman Publishing Co, New York, NY, , p. 92 * First expansion team to have a winning record at home (5–3) * First expansion team to have a four-game winning streak (weeks 7–10) * First expansion team to defeat a defending Super Bowl champion in its inaugural season (13–7 over the

San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners and nicknamed the Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member ...

in San Francisco)

References

{{1995 NFL season by team Carolina Panthers seasons Carolina Panthers Season, 1995 Carolina 1990s in Charlotte, North Carolina