CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers are starting over on defense in Charlotte, N.C. Head coach Dave Canales on Friday dismissed coordinator Ejiro Evero along with Jonathan Cooley, who coordinated the pass defense, one day after Carolina fell 27-19 at Green Bay on Thursday night.
For the rest of the way, the defensive calls belong to Todd Wash, who had been coaching the line and now holds the coordinator title on an interim basis. Wash came to Carolina in 2023 and brings 31 years of coaching to the job, 20 of them in the NFL. From 2016 through 2020 he ran the Jacksonville Jaguars defense, and his 2017 group ranked second in the league on a team that reached the AFC title game.
Other assignments shift as well. Outside linebackers coach and run game specialist AC Carter adds the defensive line to his duties, and secondary coach Renaldo Hill stays in charge of the defensive backs.
Evero had been in Charlotte for four seasons. He arrived on Frank Reich’s staff and was kept when Canales was hired in 2024. His defenses finished 29th, 32nd, 15th and 27th in scoring defense, and the 2024 unit allowed more points than any defense in a single NFL season.
Canales said the goal is to steady a leaky run defense and get more out of the players already on the roster, with 10 regular season games left. He added that more staff changes are still possible.
Wash gets some breathing room before his debut as play caller. The Panthers have 10 days before their next game, and they return home to face the Denver Broncos in Charlotte on Nov. 8, hoping to get some injured players back first.
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