Sean McVay’s primary task right now is finding a new defensive coordinator after losing Raheem Morris. He’s begun looking at a handful of potential candidates, including Brandon Staley, with several more likely to be on the Rams’ radar, too.
One name to watch is Ejiro Evero, the Panthers’ defensive coordinator. Evero left the Rams in 2022 after five years in Los Angeles, accepting a position as the Broncos’ defensive coordinator under Nathaniel Hackett. He then became the Panthers’ defensive coordinator last year after Hackett was fired in Denver.
The Panthers fired Frank Reich in November and hired Dave Canales last week, but Evero may not be out of a job like he was in Denver when Hackett was fired. He’s still under contract in Carolina, which is a major issue for the Rams.
Because Evero has a year left on his contract, the Panthers can block him from interviewing for other defensive coordinator positions, being that it’s a lateral move and not a promotion to head coach. And they’re using that to their advantage, already blocking him from interviewing with the Jaguars, Dolphins and Giants thus far, according to Joe Person of The Athletic.
There haven’t been any reports about the Rams requesting to interview Evero but it’s highly unlikely the Panthers will let him audition for Los Angeles’ defensive coordinator job. Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated noted in his column Monday that the Rams and Packers would have Evero “near or at the top of their lists” if he were a free agent.
Via Breer:
Evero has emerged as an interesting figure to watch in the next few weeks. He’s on a deal at over $3 million per year to be the Carolina’s defensive coordinator, but was hired as part of a Frank Reich’s staff now being inherited by Dave Canales. Meanwhile, the Packers and Rams—whose head coaches know Evero well—have openings. They would both have the 43-year-old, if available, near or at the top of their lists. And those places, at least on paper, could better pipeline Evero into a head-coaching shot. So … stay tuned.
Evero has become a popular candidate among Rams fans as a potential replacement for Morris, but it’s unlikely Los Angeles will even get the chance to interview him so long as David Tepper and Canales want to keep him in Carolina – which seems to be the path the Panthers are going down.
There isn’t much the Rams can do to lure Evero out of the Panthers’ building, even if they were to offer him a boatload of money to coach their defense. He’s under contract and the Panthers seem to think so highly of him that they’d like to retain him despite being from Reich’s regime.
It’s rare for a coordinator to stick around after a head coaching change, but it’s a testament to how much Carolina likes the job Evero has done thus far.