The Carolina Panthers are making another splash in the coaching world. The team, under new head coach Frank Reich, hired Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown as its next offensive coordinator on Friday.
#Panthers agree to terms with Thomas Brown as offensive coordinatorhttps://t.co/OzFoi8C0zX
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) February 17, 2023
Brown is a highly respected assistant who has served as both a running backs coach and tight ends coach. He has spent the past three seasons in Los Angeles, which was his first NFL stop after years coaching running backs in the collegiate ranks, as well as serving as offensive coordinator for the University of Miami for three seasons.
Brown was a running back himself, selected in the sixth round of the 2008 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. He missed his entire rookie year due to injury and was waived prior to the following season. He spent the next two years with the Cleveland Browns on their practice squad before getting into coaching.
Brown is the latest addition to Reich's coaching staff, who is putting together a high-quality group in his first season in Carolina. Owner David Tepper is clearly prepared to throw some money around to land a high-quality staff around Reich, and has begun to do just that.
The team previously hired former Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as its new defensive coordinator. Evero and Brown were on the same staff with the Rams in 2020 and 2021. The Panthers also hired Duce Staley as running backs coach, Parks Frazier as passing game coordinator, Josh McCown as quarterbacks coach, Jonathan Cooley as secondary/cornerbacks coach (Cooley previously worked with Brown and Evero in Los Angeles), Todd Wash as defensive line coach, Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant and retained offensive line coach James Campen.
The Panthers got off to a horrendous start last season under former coach Matt Rhule before rebounding with a stronger finish under interim head coach Steve Wilks. Reich beat out Wilks for the head-coaching position, and Wilks then accepted the defensive coordinator role with the San Francisco 49ers.
