The NFL offseason hasn't officially begun just yet, but the Carolina Panthers have already made one of their most important moves. The team will retain Ejiro Evero as its 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 coaxed better-than-expected results out of an undermanned Panthers defense, with the team finishing sixth in the NFL in yards allowed per play. He had previously been the defensive coordinator on the 2022 Denver Broncos team that finished the season ranked third in yards per play, seventh in points per drive and 13th in FTN's DVOA.
Canales and Evero squared off against each other as division rivals last season, and in his introductory press conference, the new head coach expressed an appreciation for what the returning defensive coordinator brings to the table.
"I played against the Panthers twice (in 2023 as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator), and the job that EJ Evero did with the defense was really hard to deal with," Canales said. "Great, sound football, playing hard, some great players in some spots, and just the whole thing coming together."
Evero's defense was successful in holding Canales' offense to one of its worst performances of the season, and the Panthers repeatedly blocked requests for other teams to interview Evero for their defensive coordinator openings. Teams are allowed to block interviews for lateral hires, and that the Panthers did so was a clear sign that they wanted -- and perhaps expected -- to bring Evero back in the same role.
"This is really important for me," Canales said of retaining Evero, per The Athletic. "Especially as a first-time head coach who's like, 'I'm here to make sure we get our football right.'"
