NFC CHAMPIONS Panthers' turnaround a miracle

Just 1-15 two years ago, Carolina is now in the Super Bowl.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The lowest moment in the Carolina Panthers' history was a 38-6 home loss to the New England Patriots that capped a 1-15 season.
The turnaround from that miserable day took just two years and is almost complete: The Panthers are about to make the first Super Bowl appearance in franchise history.
"One of the first things I thought of is we played against New England in the final game of the 1-15 season," general manager Marty Hurney said. "That was one of the low points, and now we are playing them in the Super Bowl two years later. It's gratifying, we have one game to go to accomplish our goal."
No one thought the turnaround would be easy. But doing it in just two years, under the direction of coach John Fox, has been nothing short of a miracle.
Panthers fans realize that and celebrated by covering Fox's house and lawn with toilet paper following Carolina's 14-3 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC championship game.
"We've got great fans and they were out at the airport and all along our trail to the stadium, and there were a number of people to greet us here at the stadium," Fox said. "I had all kinds of things on my house and everybody was really excited."
Hit rock-bottom in 2002
A young franchise that had long been troubled by off-field problems, Carolina hit bottom on Jan. 6, 2002. The Patriots came to town for the regular season finale and humiliated the Panthers in front of a half-empty stadium. Of the franchise-low 21,070 in attendance, over half were New England fans.
The Patriots, who went on to win the Super Bowl a month later, felt so at home that owner Bob Kraft was on the field shaking hands with their supporters after the game.
"The energy has been sucked out of our organization and our fan base," Panthers owner Jerry Richardson said the next day in firing coach George Seifert.
So Richardson went after a high-energy coach full of enthusiasm. He found it in Fox, who immediately set out to turn around the franchise.
Fox challenged team
He challenged the Panthers' toughness in his first team meeting while laying out a blueprint for success. He wanted a hard-nosed defense, a run-first offense and to lift morale on a team that ranked last in the league in nearly every statistic.
And he planned to boost Carolina's talent level with smart draft picks and a selective process in free agency.
It was supposed to take several years -- not two.
"I am not sure anybody expected it to happen in two years, to happen that fast," Fox said. "But we've changed the attitude and taken the approach that the foundation and the cornerstones were enthusiasm and hard work."
Still, Carolina is a longshot to complete the turnaround: The Las Vegas oddsmakers made New England a seven-point favorite to beat Carolina.
But that's a huge improvement from how the Panthers were perceived last year. Just days after the last Super Bowl, Carolina was listed by oddsmakers as anywhere from 75-1 to 100-1 shots to win the NFL championship.