Why did Dan Morgan read from a prepared statement to open camp?

It seemed out of character and I wonder why he felt the need to open with it.

It has been one week since Dan Morgan addressed the media at training camp.

Like last year, he chatted with the media from the podium before camp began.

This press conference was just a bit different than last year’s version.

Last year, Morgan made some quick remarks and started taking questions.

This year, Morgan read from a prepared statement before taking questions. Since he was elevated to his current position within the organization, I don’t recall Morgan reading from any type of prepared statement when addressing the media.

Here's his full opening statement from last Tuesday:

“As we begin the season I just wanted to reaffirm our commitment to building a smart, tough, passionate, competitive, resilient and adaptable team. We aim to trust our process, be disciplined and build a team that can sustain over time. Over the offseason, we’ve made targeted upgrades to our roster, adding key pieces on both sides of the ball to address our needs and create more dynamic options offensively and defensively. While still in process we believe these moves - combined with our existing talent, veteran leadership and the development of our young players - position us well for the challenges ahead. This season our goals are clear: improve our consistency, develop our young core, have our vets lead the way and compete every week with a relentless team first mindset. We’re committed to playing disciplined, physical football and creating a culture of high character and resilience. I have full confidence in our players, coaches and staff to rise to the occasion. Together, along with ownership empowerment, we aim to build a foundation for long term success while putting in the work and earning our arrival.”

Maybe I’m the only person in the city of Charlotte that finds it unusual that he read from a prepared statement. I’m still asking myself questions on why a week later.

Photo courtesy of Andrew Stein from Panthers.com.

For starters - who wrote the statement? Reading from a prepared statement doesn’t seem to fit Morgan’s style, especially one that reads like an individual stock’s forward-looking statement.

Morgan’s statement talked about what they’re committed to and the clear goals they have for the season. Oddly enough the words “winning” and “playoffs” weren’t included in that 184 word statement. Why?

Most rational fans don’t expect this team to make a run to the Super Bowl. However, most are hoping for more than five wins and would like to see the team be in contention for a playoff spot at the end of the season.

Perhaps Morgan is still scarred from watching former GM Scott Fitterer proclaim that the team was better at most positions as they entered the 2023 season, which ended up as arguably the worst in Panthers history. Morgan has been incredibly guarded when it has come to any sort of response about expectations for the team.

He noted the targeted upgrades to the roster on both sides of the ball. While resources were invested into the defense, they were historically horrendous in 2024. Hours after he spoke to the media, news broke that the team cut starting linebacker Josey Jewell. That made one of the weaker links on paper potentially the biggest question mark on the roster.

Maybe Morgan is trying to manage expectations and not trying to put any unnecessary additional pressure on the team or organization and that was the purpose of the statement.

“Together, along with ownership empowerment, we aim to build a foundation for long term success while putting in the work and earning our arrival.”

Long term success is great but this fan base doesn’t want to wait around another seven years to be relevant again. That arrival will need to come soon.