The NFL offseason hasn’t officially started yet, but the Carolina Panthers have already made one of their biggest moves. The team will retain Ejiro Evero as defensive coordinator under recently hired head coach Dave Canales, according to ESPN.
Evero was hired last offseason by Frank Reich, who was fired midway through his first season in Carolina. He performed better than expected from an undermanned Panthers defense, with the team finishing sixth in the NFL in yards allowed per play. He previously served as the defensive coordinator for the 2022 Denver Broncos team that finished the season ranked third in yards per play, seventh in points per drive and 13th in FTN DVOA.
Canales and Evero faced off as division rivals last season, and during his introductory press conference, the new head coach expressed his appreciation for what the returning defensive coordinator brings to the table.
“I played against the Panthers twice (in 2023 as offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers), and the job that EJ Evero did with the defense was really difficult to deal with,” Canales said. “Great, solid football, tough play, great players in some places, and it’s all coming together.”
Evero’s defense managed to hold Canales’ offense to one of its worst performances of the season, and the Panthers repeatedly blocked requests from other teams to interview Evero for their defensive coordinator openings. Teams are allowed to block interviews for lateral hires, and the fact that the Panthers did so was a clear sign that they wanted — and perhaps expected — to bring Evero back in the same role.
“It’s really important to me,” Canales said of keeping Evero, according to The Athletic. “Especially as a first-time head coach who says, ‘I’m here to make sure our football is good.’”
