Carolina Panthers: The architects of a new defense
By Alex Duran
It’s been quite a week for Carolina Panthers fans.
On Tuesday January fourteenth, 2020 at approximately 8:30 p.m. EST Panthers middle linebacker, Luke Kuechly, officially announced his retirement. Then on Thursday January sixteenth, 2020 at approximately 9:17 a.m. the Panthers officially hired former LSU passing game coordinator, Joe Brady, as their offensive coordinator.
A proven legendary defensive mastermind of the last decade exits the organization as the first proven offensive mastermind of the current decade enters. The void left behind by Kuechly will be hard to fill, but Matt Rhule has reportedly been hard at work putting together a squad of defensive architects for his new team.
While the hires haven’t been officially announced yet, Rhule is expected to add Baylor’s defensive coordinator Phil Snow, Colts’ defensive line coach Mike Phair, and Browns’ linebackers coach and run game coordinator Al Holcomb.
The theme of the projected coaching staff is familiarity, experience, and proven success. The Panthers organization (especially Tepper) prided themselves on acquiring someone like Rhule who turned the Baylor program into one of admirable talent. The new hires will enable Rhule to do the same in Charlotte.
The new defensive coaches will be working with a relatively fresh mold of players seeking to replace the bevy of talent that’s left over the last couple of years. Additionally, they’ll be doing it with the assistance of someone who served as an offensive assistant to the Panthers’ divisional arch rival Saints. Now, let’s see how all the pieces fit together.