Report: Panthers part ways with big-name assistant coach

The Panthers have now moved on from four defensive coaches this offseason.

The Carolina Panthers are continuing to reshape their defensive coaching staff.

As first reported by Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer on Friday morning, the team has parted ways with assistant defensive backs coach DeAngelo Hall. Hall joined the Panthers at the beginning of last season, under former head coach Frank Reich.

The former eighth overall pick and three-time Pro Bowl cornerback played for 14 years in the NFL. He split his long and successful career between the Atlanta Falcons (2004 to 2007), the Oakland Raiders (2008) and the then-Washington Redskins (2008 to 2017).

His first coaching gig came in 2023, when he was hired by the Panthers to the assistant defensive backs coaching position.

Hall is now the fourth defensive coach, and fifth in total, to be let go from the organization this offseason—joining outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, secondary coach Bert Watts, defensive quality control coach Bobby Maffei and offensive passing game coordinator Nathan Carroll.

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Report: Panthers part ways with another coach

The Panthers are moving forward without passing game coordinator Nate Carroll.

The Carolina Panthers have decided to leave behind another staffer ahead of the 2025 season.

According to Joe Person of The Athletic, the team has decided to part ways with passing game coordinator Nate Carroll. Carroll was hired as part of first-year head coach Dave Canales’ staff for 2024.

Canales and Carroll spent 12 seasons together under Nate’s father, Pete, in Seattle. Carroll served in numerous roles for the Seahawks, including defensive assistant (2011 to 2012), offensive assistant (2013), assistant wide receivers coach (2014 to 2017), wide receivers coach (2018 to 2021) and senior offensive assistant (2022 to 2023).

Carolina has now parted ways with four assistant coaches since the conclusion of the 2024 campaign. Along with Carroll, Carolina is moving on without outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, safeties coach Bert Watts and defensive quality control coach Bobby Maffei.

Person also noted that “rumblings” about Carroll’s future surfaced with his father drawing interest from multiple organizations. Pete has been linked to the head-coaching vacancies for the Chicago Bears and Las Vegas Raiders.

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Reports: Panthers make more changes to staff on Monday

The Panthers reportedly made a few firings on Monday.

The Carolina Panthers made a few more adjustments to their staff on Monday.

As first reported by Joe Person of The Athletic, the team has fired head athletic trainer Kevin King and health/performance/nutrition director Andrew Althoff. Team beat writer Sheena Quick and Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer later confirmed the moves.

King started with the organization in 2013, when he was hired as the assistant athletic trainer. He’d be promoted to head athletic trainer in 2020.

That’d be the same year in which Althoff arrived in Carolina, coming over with then-head coach Matt Rhule from Baylor University.

The departures of King and Althoff are just the latest for the Panthers, who also parted ways with three defensive coaches last week. Carolina, this past Wednesday, dismissed outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, secondary coach Bert Watts and defensive quality control coach Bobby Maffei.

2024 saw the Panthers allow 534 points, a new single-season NFL record.

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Report: Panthers make several coaching changes to defensive staff

The Panthers are reportedly parting ways with several defensive coaches.

Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero may be retaining his job heading into the 2025 season, but a handful of his assistants won’t be sticking around with him.

According to ESPN senior NFL report Jeremy Fowler, the team is making several coaching changes to the defensive staff. Fowler posted on Wednesday that the Panthers will be parting ways with outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu, secondary coach Bert Watts and defensive quality control coach Bobby Maffei.

Head coach Dave Canales, after affirming Evero’s return on Monday, didn’t rule out changes to the staff.

“We have a lot of things to evaluate, you know, over the next couple of days and into the offseason to reflect on our schemes, to reflect on personnel, to reflect on the guys we have here going forward,” Canales told reporters. “There’s a lot of important conversations to be had on all of those factors and that will be great to have.”

The Panthers set a new NFL record for most points allowed in a season (534) in 2024.

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Panthers retain 13 assistant coaches, including entire defensive staff

Panthers DC Ejiro Evero will have his entire staff back for 2024.

The Carolina Panthers did more than just roll out the hirings of six new faces on Thursday. They also announced the returns of 13 familiar ones.

In addition to their additions, the team is retaining 13 assistant coaches—headlined by defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. Evero will be joined back by his entire defensive staff.

The group is as follows:

  • Dom Capers (defensive assistant)
  • Todd Wash (defensive line coach)
  • Bert Watts (secondary/safeties coach)
  • Jonathan Cooley (secondary/cornerbacks coach)
  • Peter Hansen (inside linebackers coach)
  • Tem Lukabu (outside linebackers coach)
  • DeAngelo Hall (assistant defensive backs coach)
  • Mayur Chaudhari (defensive assistant)
  • Bobby Maffei (defensive quality control coach)

Carolina will also keep a few offensive minds in senior assistant Jim Caldwell and offensive assistant Mike Bercovici. Game management coordinator George Li will be staying on as well.

Along with Evero, the organization previously announced the hirings of their two new coordinators in Brad Idzik and Tracy Smith—who will lead the offense and special teams, respectively.

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Panthers safeties coach Bert Watts: There’s ‘no BS’ with Jammie Robinson

Panthers safeties coach Bert Watts is excited over rookie Jammie Robinson’s “no BS” attitude.

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Jammie Robinson was all business from the moment the Carolina Panthers selected him with the 145th overall pick of the 2023 NFL draft. And apparently, his business is still boomin’.

On Thursday, new safeties coach Bert Watts spoke with reporters after closing up this week’s string of organized team activities. He was asked how much the team has explored Robinson’s versatility as a defensive back, and replied with the following:

“Jammie’s a guy that really has come in and impressed us right from the beginning—just with his knowledge, work ethic, being able to learn and pick up the defense quickly,” Watts said. “So whenever you have a young guy like that that has the ability to . . . it’s a lot of information to retain in a short amount of time, and he’s shown the ability to do that. We’re still working through it as we get through the workouts. This is early in the process, so trying to identify where our personnel best fits. But he’s shown that he can really play multiple positions.”

The 5-foot-11, 191-pounder has the chops to line up both as a safety and a nickel corner. He exhibited exactly that at the collegiate level, particularly as a two-time First-team All-ACC selection for Florida State University between 2021 and 2022.

Watts also talked about Robinson’s personality, one this defense will likely benefit from right away.

“He’s playin’ to win,” he replied. “He’s not too worried about . . as far as, if he says something, it’s gonna bother somebody. He’s more concerned about helpin’ this team and gettin’ himself better every single day. I’m excited about a personality like that because there’s no BS. You’re just, ‘Hey, let’s go to work, let’s get better.’ And he’s all about that.”

With the Panthers set on their starting safeties in Vonn Bell and Xavier Woods and with Jeremy Chinn as a possibility to fill the nickel role, Robinson may not have a featured role off the bat. But there’s always room for another dog on this defense.

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Panthers TE Tommy Tremble welcomes uncle Bert Watts to Carolina

Panthers TE Tommy Tremble tweeted out a message for his uncle Bert, who the team hired as their new safeties coach on Thursday.

It’s been somewhat of a family affair for the Carolina Panthers and their new-look coaching staff this offseason.

Head coach Frank Reich will be united with his daughter Hannah, who was hired to the team’s marketing department in early January, back at home in Charlotte. Former team reporter Caroline Cann is also making her return to The Queen City, coming along with husband and new passing game coordinator Parks Frazier.

And on Thursday morning, we learned—through a report from NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport—that the Panthers are hiring former Denver Broncos outside linebackers coach Bert Watts as their new safeties coach. Watts, coincidentally, is the uncle of Carolina tight end Tommy Tremble—who acknowledged the news a few hours after it broke . . .

Watts actually played a part in Tremble’s career path, as documented in a story from 2020 by Patrick Engel of InsideNDSports. Tommy’s mother Abigail sent Bert, her brother and defensive coordinator for UC Davis, high school film of the young tight end—to which replied:

“He goes, ‘Uh, yeah. He’s going to be really good,’” Abigail recalled. “I learned all about hip-flipping and what was important.”

Well, they’ll have plenty of time for hip-flipping now.

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Panthers hiring Bert Watts as safeties coach

The Panthers are set to hire Bert Watts, who just so happens to be Tommy Tremble’s uncle, as their new safeties coach.

To the Carolina Panthers, Bert Watts is now known as Coach. But to one Panther in particular, he’s Uncle Bert.

As first reported by NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport, Carolina is set to hire Watts as their new safeties coach. He also just so happens to be the uncle of tight end Tommy Tremble.

Watts comes over from the Denver Broncos, where he served as the outside linebackers coach for the 2022 campaign. He is now the third man new defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero has taken out of the Mile High City—having already hired Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant and Peter Hansen as a linebackers coach.

Prior to joining Evero and the Broncos this past season—his second stint with the organization after working as a staff assistant in 2012—Watts was the special teams coordinator and outside linebackers coach for Auburn University in 2021. He’s also picked up stops at the University of California-Davis, Fresno State University and the University of Memphis.

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Broncos have officially hired 10 assistant coaches so far

More hires are on the way.

After hiring Justin Outten (offensive coordinator), Butch Barry (offensive line coach) and Klint Kubiak (passing game coordinator/quarterbacks coach) earlier this month, Denver Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett made seven more hires official on Monday.

Denver announced the official additions of Dom Capers (senior defensive assistant), Ramon Chinyoung (offensive quality control), Peter Hansen (linebackers), Mike Mallory (assistant special teams), Jake Moreland (tight ends), Ben Steele (assistant offensive line) and Bert Watts (outside linebackers), bringing the total to 10 new coaches so far.

More hires are on the way.

Most notably, Los Angeles Rams secondary coach/pass game coordinator Ejiro Evero is expected to become the team’s new defensive coordinator. The Rams just won the Super Bowl on Sunday, so that move not becoming official on Monday is not surprising.

The Broncos are also expected to hire Rams assistant special teams coach Dwayne Stukes as their new offensive coordinator. Other additions that are not yet official include Tyrone Wheatley (running backs coach) and Marcus Dixon (defensive line coach).

We are tracking all of Denver’s coaching changes on this page.

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Report: Bert Watts heading to the NFL with the Denver Broncos

Bert Watts will leave Auburn as return to the NFL.

Associate head coach Bert Watts appears to be on the move from the Auburn Tigers. He joined the staff after arriving from Memphis after just one season there. Watts also spent three seasons at Fresno State as the linebackers coach.

It appears that now head coach Bryan Harsin will have another assistant on this staff. Watts served as the associate head coach, special teams coordinator, and outside linebackers coach for the Tigers.

Dan Graziano of ESPN is reporting that Watts will head to the NFL to join the new staff with the Denver Broncos.

This will make the sixth coordinator to be replaced on the staff during the tenure of Harsin. The team has yet to place offensive coordinator Austin Davis, who stepped down from his post less than two months on the job.

Watts now returns to the Broncos where he helped them to the top seed in 2012. The hunt begins for his replacement. Safe to say that head coach Bryan Harsin has plenty of work to do.

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