Credit: Kirthmon F. Dozier, Detroit Free Press via Imagn Content Services, LLC
The Carolina Panthers hired former two-time NFL head coach Jim Caldwell as a senior assistant Tuesday.
Caldwell, 68, will report directly to head coach Frank Reich and help out on all three phases — offense, defense and special teams, the team announced.
He becomes the second coach to join the Panthers after interviewing for the head coaching vacancy that eventually went to Reich. Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is the other.
The hire reunites Caldwell and Reich, who both coached on Tony Dungy’s staff in Indianapolis starting in 2006. Reich was an intern then while Caldwell was assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach. Reich became Caldwell’s QBs coach in Indy when the latter was hired to replace a retiring Dungy in 2009.
Caldwell went 62-50 as head coach for the Colts (2009-11) and Detroit Lions (2014-17), taking each team to the postseason twice. He was also a head coach at Wake Forest from 1993-2000.
In addition to Evero, the Panthers have added Josh McCown as QBs coach and Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant. Capers was the head coach of the expansion Panthers from 1995-98.
The Panthers are also interviewing for the offensive coordinator role after parting ways with Ben McAdoo. They’re reportedly interviewing the Rams’ Thomas Brown a second time. Brown, however, is also an OC candidate for Tampa Bay.
–Field Level Media