The Carolina Panthers didn’t waste any time.
They lost on Thursday Night Football to the Green Bay Packers in Week 8, and on Friday morning, they fired two coaches.
It was a quick and startling move for Carolina, which entered Thursday night leading the NFC South Division but has fallen to 3-4 with the loss.
The Panthers hoped to repeat as division champs this season but surely wanted to do it with a better record than their 8-9 from a year ago.
Instead, it’s again looking like a slog for every team in the NFC South. Carolina has decided not to wait around too long before making changes.
Who Did Panthers Fire?
Reports from multiple insiders on Friday morning indicate that the Panthers made two firings, soon confirmed in an official announcement by the Panthers.
The big one was defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.
Evero has been the Panthers’ defensive coordinator since 2023, but his seat was hot as soon as Carolina gave up 59 points in Week 1 to the Chicago Bears.
The Panthers have also fired their defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley.
Panthers’ Coaching Replacements
The Panthers have named defensive line coach Todd Walsh the interim defensive coordinator.
Carolina’s official press release says this about Walsh:
“Wash originally joined Carolina’s staff in 2023 and has 31 years of coaching experience, including 20 in the NFL. He spent five seasons (2016-20) serving as the defensive coordinator for the Jacksonville Jaguars, including in 2017 when the team had the second-ranked defense in the league and advanced to the AFC Championship Game.”
The Panthers also announced that AC Carter, who was already the outside linebackers coach and run game specialist, will now coach the defensive line, too. Renaldo Hill remains in his role as secondary coach.
Why Panthers Fired Ejiro Evero
The Panthers clearly felt their defense hadn’t performed as well as it could this season.
That began in the Week 1 loss to the Bears, when the Panthers’ offense scored 37 points — and still lost by 22 to the 59-point outburst.
After Thursday night, the Panthers rank 10th-worst in the league, allowing 349.6 yards per game.
They’ve been run on more often than thrown on, but Thursday night was an example of them struggling to do both — the Packers could hardly move the ball on the ground at all, but they still got whatever they wanted through the air.
There will be those who point out that Carolina’s defense is quite injured. Jaelan Phillips’ pass rushing wasn’t available on Thursday night, and starting cornerbacks Mike Jackson and Jaycee Horn have been on IR — and then rookie CB Will Lee III left Thursday night with an injury.
But evidently Carolina has decided change was needed, and they decided to make it happen sooner rather than later.
Panthers Fire 2 Coaches After TNF Loss — Here’s Why and Replacement Plan