Miles Sanders shares how Panthers have grown after difficult 2023 season

The Carolina Panthers endured a difficult 2023 season that included the November firing of head coach Frank Reich and the club finishing the campaign with a 2-15 record.

Panthers running back Miles Sanders spoke with reporters on Sunday about how things have changed for the organization with former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales serving as Reich's full-time replacement.

"It’s a different type of culture that we’re building here that there’s been here previously," Sanders said, per Anthony Rizzuti of Panthers Wire/USA Today. "It’s nothing but positive vibes, but he’s honest. The stuff that we’re harping on—as players, within each other—he’s harping on in the meetings, and then he don’t really, like, say too much on the field. Player-led teams are the ones that have the most success."

For a piece published in December of last year, Joseph Person and Dianna Russini of The Athletic detailed the alleged "Hunger Games" culture that included some Carolina staff members "text messaging [Panthers owner David Tepper] behind Reich’s back about issues they saw with the team" before Reich’s dismissal. Along with fixing such supposed behind-the-scenes problems, Canales is tasked with helping quarterback Bryce Young turn things around after the first pick of the 2023 draft largely failed to impress as a rookie.

"It’s night and day from last year to this year," Sanders added about the vibes hovering over the Panthers this summer. "But that’s the whole point of making changes. You hope for the better. So I can say what we got right now is good. We just laying the foundation and all we gotta do is keep grinding, get better every day."

As of Monday afternoon, DraftKings Sportsbook had the Panthers at +280 betting odds to win over 7.5 games this coming season. As much as Canales seemingly has improved Carolina's culture following all that went wrong for the club during the 2023 campaign, the fact remains that the Panthers are likely at least another offseason of roster moves away from competing for anything of note.

With that said, Young taking multiple steps in the right direction from September through Week 18 would likely make teammates such as Sanders feel even better about the state of the franchise heading into next summer.