The Carolina Panthers finally moved on from defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, ending a nearly four-year tenure that probably should have ended when Dave Canales took over as head coach in 2024.
But while Evero certainly deserves criticism for how things unfolded, the Panthers' front office deserves some blame here, too.
When Carolina hired Canales in 2024, the organization had a chance to completely reset its coaching staff. Instead, it kept Evero from Frank Reich's staff, doubled down on him after some historically bad defensive performances, and even handed him a contract extension earlier this year.
Carolina Panthers should have started their new era without Ejiro Evero
Now, less than a season after that extension, the Panthers are right back where they could have been nearly three years ago.
To be fair, keeping Evero around in 2024 wasn't exactly an unpopular decision at the time.
Despite Carolina's disastrous 2-15 season under Reich and interim head coach Chris Tabor, Evero's defense finished fourth in total yards allowed. He was also considered a respected defensive mind around the league, and Canales publicly supported keeping him when he arrived.
But the results that followed made that decision increasingly hard to defend.
Carolina finished dead last in scoring defense and total defense while allowing an NFL-record 534 points in 2024. The Panthers also surrendered 3,057 rushing yards, another indication of just how badly things had fallen apart.
Sure, the roster wasn't exactly loaded with talent. But allowing more points than any team in NFL history should have been enough to seriously reconsider the defense's direction.
Ejiro Evero didn't do enough to keep the Carolina Panthers' belief
Instead, Carolina brought Evero back for 2025.
While the defense improved considerably, finishing 15th in scoring defense and 16th in total defense, the Panthers ultimately rewarded that progress with another commitment to their defensive coordinator.
Evero received a contract extension through 2027 following the season. Less than a year later, he's out of a job.
The numbers from Evero's tenure tell a pretty concerning story.
The Panthers ranked 32nd in rushing yards allowed per game, 30th in points allowed per game, and 32nd in opponent third-down conversion rate during his time as defensive coordinator.
Carolina also ranked fourth in fewest passing yards allowed per game, so it's not like everything Evero did was a failure.
But the inability to consistently stop the run or get opposing offenses off the field became a recurring problem.
And by 2026, even after the Panthers invested heavily in their defense during the offseason, those issues were still showing up.
Carolina entered Week 8 ranked last against the run, and according to the Associated Press, the Panthers had allowed 12 games of at least 200 rushing yards since the beginning of the 2024 season.
The organization has already wasted enough time trying to make the Evero experiment work. It can't afford to make the same mistake twice.
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