Carolina Panthers, Atlanta Falcons plan second interviews with Ejiro Evero

Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero is a very popular name in the NFL head coaching market so far this offseason.

Despite a rough year for Carolina as a whole, Evero’s defensive unit arguably performed better than expectations, especially with a disastrous offensive operation for much of rookie QB Bryce Young’s first season. So, when the Panthers evaluated potential options for their new head coach in 2024, Evero was at the top of the list.

Carolina already interviewed him once, but so did several other teams, including the Seahawks and Falcons. According to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Carolina and Atlanta are arranging a second interview with Evero — along with Seattle, who had already requested to speak with the Panther coordinator a second time.

Here was Pelissero’s report of Evero’s second interviews, which he posted to Twitter Monday morning:

“The Panthers plan to conduct a second interview Monday with DC Ejiro Evero for their head coaching job, per source. So Evero — whose undermanned defense was a bright spot this year — is getting a longer look with both Carolina and Seattle.”

He added the Atlanta news in a follow-up:

“And another one: The Falcons requested a second interview with Ejiro Evero for their head coaching job, per source.”

With three second interviews potentially coming, it seems fairly likely that Evero will land somewhere as a head coach for the 2024 season.

Other Panther interviews

The Panthers have also announced they would like to interview Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan a second time, as well as Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Like Evero, he’s another hot name in this head coaching cycle and also has second interview requests from the Falcons and Titans.

In addition to Evero and Callahan, Carolina also interviewed a slew of candidates once, but there is no news yet on whether any of the others will get a second call.

Here is the list of other candidates the Panthers have interviewed thus far:

• Chris Tabor — Panthers Interim Coach
• Todd Monken — Ravens Offensive Coordinator
• Mike Macdonald — Ravens Defensive Coordinator
• Frank Smith — Dolphins Offensive Coordinator
• Raheem Morris — Rams Defensive Coordinator
• Dan Quinn — Cowboys Defensive Coordinator
• Ben Johnson — Lions Offensive Coordinator
• Bobby Slowik — Texans Offensive Coordinator
• Dave Canales — Buccaneers Offensive Coordinator

Tabor is a long-time special teams coordinator who served that role for the last 13 seasons — including seven seasons with Cleveland, four with Chicago and then two with Carolina before he was promoted to interim head coach during the second season. Meanwhile, Ejiro Evero just completed his first season as Panthers DC after serving his first year as a defensive coordinator in Denver the year prior.

Otherwise, it’s quite a diverse mix of names on both sides of the ball contending for the Panthers job.