The National Football League is a results driven business as we have seen with the firing of multiple head coaches and coordinators after just one year with their teams. The New England Patriots fired Jerod Mayo after one year, the Las Vegas Raiders fired Antonio Pierce after one year, and there were countless coordinators such as San Francisco 49ers first-year leader Nick Sorensen who was just recently let go after a disappointing 2024.

Despite the constant need for change, the Carolina Panthers and their new leader Dave Canales did something that was, in my opinion, extremely strong and intelligent for the franchise as they move forward. Canales and the ownership retained defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Evero cut his cloth as a coach early in 2007 when he joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers with head coach Jon Gruden as a defensive quality control coach. He then left in 2009 and joined the University of Redlands for one season as the team’s special teams coordinator and safeties coach. In 2011, Evero joined the 49ers as a quality control coach under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, and worked his way up the ladder becoming an offensive and defensive assistant.

While being with the 49ers, Evero learned both sides of the football which helped him understand the “Why” behind football schemes and plays. Over the next five years, he continued to work his way to new and better roles and finally became a defensive coordinator in 2022 with the Denver Broncos. While the team finished with a disappointing 5-12 record, ultimately firing head coach Nathaniel Hackett in week 16, Evero’s defense proved to be the only bright spot.

When the Panthers were offseason shopping for a new head coach in the winter of 2023, Frank Reich needed a leader of men with a strong work ethic and knowledge to lead a struggling organization. Reich hired Evero and after Reich was fired, new leader Canales retained him.

Although the Panthers’ 2024 campaign saw a 5-12 record, eerily similar to the 2022 Broncos, Evero was once again retained for next season. The reason has a lot to do with how his defense performed well at times despite key injuries. Franchise defensive tackle Derrick Brown was placed on the injured reserve ending his season, linebacker Shaq Green-Thompson had an Achilles injury, linebackers Claudin Cherelus and Trevin Wallace had injures that placed them all on the injured reserved in 2024.

Canales has full faith in Evero and told reporters this shortly after the regular season ended.

Yeah, I’ve played against this defense, I’ve played against it in Seattle with the Rams for a bunch of years. I played against it twice last year. I know what this defense will look like. And I’m committed to that, Ejiro’s committed to that. So, it’s about developing the players we brought in. It’s about evaluating our schemes—so we have to be able to look at our schemes and be really critical of all those things as well. And it’s about seeing who’s out there to challenge our roster, who can help us to get this defense to the place that we know we can.

The hallmark of a good coach is someone who can do more with less. However, this is what Ejiro Evero is capable of with Burns, Luvu, and Derrick Brown. Get him some talent this offseason and I truly believe he can flourish again. pic.twitter.com/HroQpW7646

— Michael Bell (@avl_mike) January 6, 2025

Continuity is a key word here that needed to occur. Canales retaining Evero is a smart move. The organization lost several key pieces on defense due to injuries/ free agency and were a shell of themselves. The good news is that even though the injuries occurred, the Panthers showed sparks and improvement at times during the year. Evero is a coach that is a strong leader of men and someone who can teach; that is needed while coaching, especially in the NFL.

If the injures of the key athletes subside, and Evero’s defense does not improve in 2025, then it will be time to move on. I, however, don’t think that will be the case as his track record with solid athletes has shown that he knows what he is doing and can get the best out of any athlete.