Tag: Peter Hansen

Panthers LB Josey Jewell talks about familiarity in Ejiro Evero’s defense

Josey Jewell said his reunion with Panthers DC Ejiro Evero has given him a big advantage this offseason.

Not everything is new for new Carolina Panthers linebacker Josey Jewell.

The seventh-year defender, who joined the Panthers on a three-year, $22.75 million deal this offseason, spoke with reporters following Wednesday’s session of team organized activities. He was asked about how Carolina’s defense, one headed by a familiar face in defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, is progressing thus far.

“Coming back to this type of defense with Coach E and Pete [Hansen] and some other guys, it’s been awesome,” he stated. “These last couple of weeks have been great to get to know the guys, feel each other out a little bit, communicate and really just be able to move and understand where people are gonna be. So it’s been very valuable for us.”

Jewell’s most productive NFL campaign came back in 2022, when Evero was the defensive coordinator for the Denver Broncos. He recorded a career-high 128 tackles with 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and two forced fumbles.

He was then asked about how that familiarity has translated during his transition out east.

“I mean, I’m already coming to a bunch of new things,” Jewell replied. “New players to play with, new people upstairs. So to have the familiarity with some of the coaching staff is amazing for me. And picking up the old lingo we used to have in Denver is big. Gives me a step up from where I’d be with the coaching staff I haven’t been with.”

Jewell is currently projected as one of the unit’s two starting inside linebackers. Shaq Thompson, the second-longest tenured Panther, is the other.

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Josey Jewell: Ejiro Evero, Peter Hansen were ‘big’ in decision to sign with Panthers

Panthers LB Josey Jewell on Ejiro Evero, Peter Hansen: “They were definitely big to me coming here and playing.”

Like A’Shawn Robinson before him (literally), Josey Jewell spoke about how familiarity pulled him into the Queen City.

The 29-year-old linebacker spoke with reporters on Wednesday afternoon, his first such chat since signing with the Carolina Panthers out of free agency last month. He was asked how much the team’s coaching staff, specifically defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and linebackers coach Peter Hansen, had influenced his decision and his game.

“They were definitely big to me coming here and playing,” Jewell replied. “Really enjoyed my time with them, even though it was just a year. Just the way they coach the game and they allow you to play the game and just go out there and flow and play to its true value and just go out there and findin’ the football. So that’s what I’ve enjoyed playin’ for them. Enjoyed bein’ in a specific room with Pete and he’s just a great coach.”

Josey, Pete and Ejiro spent the 2022 campaign together in Denver. That also just so happened to be the most productive season of Jewell’s NFL career—as he amassed 128 total tackles, 2.5 sacks, two interceptions and two fumble recoveries.

Jewell, who inked a three-year, $22.75 million pact, is currently projected to start alongside Shaq Thompson in the middle of Carolina’s defense.

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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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8 Panthers assistants named future head-coaching candidates

A total of eight Panthers assistants were named as future head-coaching candidates by SI’s Conor Orr.

Considering they remain winless through about a quarter of the season, it might be difficult for someone to sell the Carolina Panthers coaching staff at the moment. But not for Sports Illustrated senior writer Conor Orr.

Orr recently published his annual future head coaches index—an “exhaustive list” (Conor’s words, not ours) that accounts for names who will, may and/or should be considered for openings this offseason. Amongst the slew of those mentioned are eight current Panthers assistants—beginning with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

Evero, according to Orr, is considered a “lock” to nail down a new job in 2024. He writes:

“Ejiro is a star, man. A bona fide future head coach,” an NFC coach says. “Impressive” was the first word that came on another text about Evero, whose body of work last year as the defensive coordinator with the Broncos is worth a deep dive. Denver allowed 20 or fewer points in nine games last season, but the way in which he manipulated and transformed his personnel to attack opponents on a week-to-week basis was epic. Evero has an elite coaching apprenticeship résumé, having worked under Jim Harbaugh, Mike McCarthy, Sean McVay and now Frank Reich. His quiet confidence is a respect generator. Evero was among the most sought-after defensive coordinators on the market after a series of head coaching interviews last year with the Colts and Panthers, among other teams.

Despite Carolina’s 0-4 start, Evero has his unit working at a pretty admirable rate—even with injuries to key starters such as cornerback Jaycee Horn and linebacker Shaq Thompson. Heading into Week 4’s Monday nighter, the Panthers have allowed the 14th-fewest total yards per game (313.0), the sixth-fewest first downs (40) and have racked up a respectable 12 sacks.

Heck, they were even able to “hold” Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson down to 85 yards in Sunday’s loss. Granted, he scored two touchdowns and the run defense was quite leaky—but those 85 yards were a far cry from what the All-Pro pass catcher did in his first three weeks.

Evero is joined on the list by his following co-workers:

  • Offensive coordinator Thomas Brown
  • Quarterbacks coach Josh McCown
  • Assistant head coach/running backs coach Duce Staley
  • Secondary/cornerbacks coach Jonathan Cooley
  • Assistant defensive backs coach DeAngelo Hall
  • Linebackers coach Peter Hansen
  • Outside linebackers coach Tem Lukabu

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Panthers LB coach Peter Hansen: We have to figure out what cape Jeremy Chinn will wear

Panthers LB coach Peter Hansen told reporters that Jeremy Chinn is a superhero that he, DC Ejiro Evero and the rest of the staff have to figure out how to use.

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There’s a lot of “new” when it comes to the Carolina Panthers defense in 2023. They have a new defensive coordinator, a new defensive coaching staff, a few new players and a new scheme.

So, what should we except to see from Ejiro Evero and—at least to some fans—his mysterious unit? Linebackers coach Peter Hansen, who is also new to the organization, gave us an idea on Wednesday.

“I think the main thing we can expect is just the effort from the guys,” he said during his first presser in Carolina. “That’s No. 1 emphasis at this point of the year. It was an emphasis the entire year last year. And to do that within the defense, we don’t wanna give ’em a ton to think about play to play. We just want them to be able to fly around and use their ability.”

Another mystery for the Panthers surrounds the ability of Jeremy Chinn, who doesn’t have a defined role in the defense just yet. But Hansen had a pretty heroic way of looking at it.

“We’ll see,” he replied when asked of Chinn’s usage. “At this point, obviously, we haven’t gotten that far. But we’ll see what the future holds. Like a lot of our secondary guys, we see him a superhero. We just don’t know which cape he’ll wear from day to day.”

With the team’s switch to a 3-4 base as well as the addition of safety Vonn Bell, Chinn may no longer be roaming the secondary like he’s done in years past. He could, rather, move down closer to the line of scrimmage and play more as a linebacker in the middle of the group.

Whatever the case may be, Evero—who spoke about Chinn last week—also sees the fourth-year defender as a valuable weapon. They just have to figure out how to use his superpowers for good.

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Updated list of DC candidates the Eagles could target with Jonathan Gannon heading to Arizona

We’re looking at an updated list of coaching candidates that could replace Jonathan Gannon as the Eagles’ defensive coordinator

Nick Sirianni now officially has his own coaching tree after the Colts hired Shane Steichen and the Cardinals hired Jonathan Gannon on Tuesday.

Sirianni rightfully gets a lot of credit for the Eagles’ success.

Philadelphia’s second-year head coach has far exceeded expectations and proven that he was the perfect target for the role. However, it’s important to remember that Shane Steichen had a massive role in the offense.

Gannon had interviews with Denver, Houston, and Minnesota last offseason and with Philadelphia reaching the Super Bowl and having a top-five defense, it was only a matter of time before he accepted an offer.

Sirianni knew his assistants were wanted and he stated has a plan for their departures.

“Of course, I want to keep these guys, they’re great coordinators, but in the event that I lose them, I have an idea of what I want to do at both spots. The answer is sometimes, yes, it’s in the building, and sometimes it’s outside of the building. But I feel like we have a lot of good options, and I feel like we have a lot of good options in the building that we’d be excited about if that were to happen.”

With Gannon landing one of the coveted vacancies, here’s an updated list of eight potential targets that could lead the Eagles’ defense in 2023.

Broncos coaching staff updates: Denver might make an unconventional move

Here are some of the latest updates for the Broncos’ 2023 coaching staff.

There have been a few developments since our last update on the state of the Denver Broncos’ coaching staff.

First up, the departures: After being let go by Denver, inside linebackers coach Peter Hansen has joined the Carolina Panthers in a lateral move. He will reunite with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Charlotte.

The Broncos are also losing defensive intern coach DeAndre Thompson, who announced on Twitter he has joined the Detroit Lions.

Elsewhere on the coaching front, offensive assistant Kevin Petry has decided to remain with the New Orleans Saints after drawing interest from Denver. And former Broncos offensive line coach Butch Barry has landed an o-line coach job with the Miami Dolphins.

Finally, the most notable development of the last 48 hours: The Broncos have discussed bringing 75-year-old coach Mike Westhoff out of retirement to join Sean Payton‘s staff “in some capacity,” according to The MMQB’s Albert Breer.

Bringing coaches out of retirement certainly isn’t unheard of — Denver just brought a 67-year-old Jerry Rosburg out of retirement last year to serve as a senior assistant, but it’s also not common.

Westhoff has served as a special teams coach with four different teams, but he hasn’t coached in the NFL since 2018. The veteran coach worked under Payton with the Saints from 2017-2018.

If the Broncos do hire Westhoff, it presumably wouldn’t be as the special teams coordinator. He would be more likely to join the team as a consultant or senior assistant, similar to the kind of role Bill Kollar (70) had last year.

We are tracking all of the coaching staff changes on this page.

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Panthers hire Peter Hansen as LB coach

The Panthers are hiring Peter Hansen as their new linebackers coach.

Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero isn’t coming over to Charlotte alone.

As announced by the team on Wednesday morning, the Panthers have agreed to terms with Peter Hansen—who will serve as the new linebackers coach.

Hansen, a former football and basketball player at the University of Arizona, got his coaching career started with Stanford University in 2008. There, he’d work as the strength and conditioning coach, a defensive assistant and inside linebackers coach over a total of nine years.

In the middle of that tenure came his first NFL stint, as a defensive assistant and quality control coach for the San Francisco 49ers. It’d be there, between 2011 to 2013, where Hansen would cross paths with Evero—who was also a quality control coach and assistant.

Hansen, who’d go on to assume the roles of defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the University of Nevada Las Vegas between 2020 and 2021, was then brought on by Evero and the Denver Broncos for the 2022 season.

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Former Broncos LB coach Peter Hansen could join Panthers, Ejiro Evero

LB coach Peter Hansen, who was just let go by the Broncos, may now be of interest to the Panthers and DC Ejiro Evero.

With a new coordinator and—presumably—a new scheme coming to town, the Carolina Panthers have a whole defensive staff to build themselves. And one of the first assistants could soon be on his way.

As first reported by Mike Klis of 9News on Monday afternoon, the Denver Broncos have parted ways with linebackers coach Peter Hansen. Klis goes on to note that Hansen could join new Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero in Carolina.

This lengthy linebackers coach got his start on the sidelines with Stanford University in 2008. He’d serve as the strength and conditioning coach, a defensive assistant and inside linebackers coach over a total of nine years.

In the middle of that tenure came his first NFL stop, as a defensive assistant and quality control coach with the San Francisco 49ers. It’d be there, from 2011 to 2013, where Hansen would initially cross paths with Evero—who was also a quality control coach and assistant.

Hansen, who’d go on to assume the roles of defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach for the University of Nevada Las Vegas between 2020 and 2021, was then brought to Denver by Evero for the 2022 campaign.

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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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