Report: Ejiro Evero to Return as Panthers DC After Dave Canales Hired as HC

After hiring Dave Canales as head coach, the Carolina Panthers will be retaining some familiar faces on their coaching staff.

According to ESPN's David Newton, defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero will return to the Panthers in 2024 and most of his staff will be sticking around as well.

Canales indicated he would be interested in retaining Evero, as he said keeping him around is "a huge piece of what we're doing" during his introductory press conference last week.

Newton noted that the Panthers had always intended to keep Evero on staff, as the franchise denied a request from the Jacksonville Jaguars to interview him for their defensive coordinator vacancy earlier this offseason. Evero, who has two years remaining on his contract with Carolina, interviewed for head coaching positions with the Atlanta Falcons, Seattle Seahawks and the Panthers before they hired Canales.

Evero and Canales have some familiarity with one another, but mainly as opponents. Canales was on the Seahawks staff when Evero was defensive coordinator of the Denver Broncos in 2022, and the two of them faced off twice this season while Canales was offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"I just know it was really difficult on me for years, whether it was in Seattle going against the Rams in that family or this year just going against EJ twice,'' he said. "This is really important for me, especially as a first-time head coach who's like, 'I'm here to make sure we get our football right, especially on the offensive side, that we have that continuity with the players, with EJ, just being able to have the mentality that I saw that was really challenging to play against."

The Panthers are facing the tall task of bouncing back from a 2-15 finish to this season, so keeping Evero will provide them with some continuity as they gear up for the 2024 campaign.