Panthers Hire Ejiro Evero
On Sunday afternoon, the Carolina Panthers hired Ejiro Evero as their defensive coordinator. Evero has been a one of the more sought after defensive coordinators in football since the regular season ended.
After Reich’s *reported* first choice Vic Fangio was hired by the Miami Dolphins, the Panthers quickly pivoted to Evero once Denver allowed him to interview with other organizations. Carolina’s biggest competitor for Ejiro’s future services were the Minnesota Vikings. It was the Vikings coincidentally, that wanted to interview him when the reports started to surface that Denver wasn’t permitting him to interview for outside positions & Sean Payton wanted to meet with him to supposedly try to convince him to stay in Colorado.
Evero has worked under multiple big names in NFL defense; including Vic Fangio & Carolina’s first head coach in franchise history, Dom Capers (Reich’s head coach while he QB’d the Panthers). In San Francisco under Jim Harbaugh, he even dabbled in the offensive side of the ball in 2012 & 2013 as an Offensive Assistant on their staff.
He’ll most likely bring the 3-4 defense with him to Carolina; meaning 3 down linemen & 4 linebackers on the defensive front. One interesting thought I have with Evero’s hiring is what this means for Jeremy Chinn.
Chinn is an exceptional athlete, obviously. He’s not particularly excellent at man-coverage, at least not good enough to be a full-time safety. BUT, he is however who I believe would be perfect as the 4th linebacker in a 3-4 that can make his money in zone coverage when not rushing the quarterback.
Former Panther Haason Reddick’s stellar season in Philadelphia is a glimpse into the best case scenario for Chinn in Evero’s scheme, him or Brian Burns.