The Carolina Panthers finally made the move many fans had been waiting for.
Dave Canales fired defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley following Carolina's 27-19 loss to the Green Bay Packers . Todd Wash will take over as interim defensive coordinator and play caller with 10 games still left to salvage the season.
The move makes sense because something had to change. But the Evero firing doesn't solve the Panthers' biggest problem. If anything, it highlights it.
Carolina still doesn't have an identity.
Look at how this team has played through seven games.
The Panthers have had stretches where the offense looks capable of moving the football , followed by times when everything becomes difficult. The running game hasn't been consistent enough to establish pressure for a defense. The offensive line has dealt with injuries and uncertainty. The defense has been unable to stop anyone's running game or get off the field on third down. There isn't one thing Carolina can point to and say, This is how we win football games.
The Panthers came into Week 8 ranked near the bottom of the league defensively and had already been beaten badly on the ground multiple times. Then Tampa Bay walked into Bank of America Stadium and ran for 258 yards in a 43-13 win .
The Buccaneers didn't just beat Carolina. They exposed every problem the Panthers had been trying to hide . Then four days later they lost to Green Bay in a sad display of inconsistency and scheme fit. Seventy points allowed after two games. Ejiro Evero, the defensive coordinator, was fired.
Evero deserves criticism for how the defense performed, but this isn't about one coach failing to call the right defense. Carolina has spent multiple seasons trying to figure out what this unit is supposed to be.
Now it's starting over again.
Originally, we thought firing Evero midseason would be a disaster .
The idea was to make the change after the season, give the organization time to evaluate everything, and allow a new defensive coordinator to install his system during the offseason. But keeping things the same became the bigger risk.
The defense has become too inconsistent, and the Panthers can't continue watching the same problems show up every week. It just becomes demoralizing to watch and play with. Canales took responsibility for the decision . He made it clear that the decision was about finding a better path forward for the team and establishing the kind of football Carolina wants to play.
That last part may be the most important. What kind of football does Carolina actually want to play?
That's the question the Panthers need to answer.
Good football teams know what they want to do. Carolina doesn't have that luxury right now.
The Panthers can point to the numbers. They've been a top-five passing offense at times , and Chuba Hubbard has provided some strong moments in the running game. But there is a difference between putting up numbers and having an effective attack that defenses fear.
Carolina's passing game is especially concerning. Bryce Young can make plays, but Thursday night showed what happens when the offensive line can't protect him. With injuries piling up up front, teams will keep bringing pressure until Carolina proves it can consistently stop it. Young can't be expected to absorb that kind of punishment every week.
The running game has had its moments, but it doesn't force defenses to change the way they play. The Panthers aren't consistently controlling games on the ground or making opponents fear what happens if they commit too many defenders to stopping it.
That's the problem. Carolina has production, but not a dependable formula. What can this team rely on every Sunday?
That's what an identity provides. The Panthers still haven't found it.
Discussion around Bryce Young needs to keep being part of the larger conversation.
Young is doing a lot of what Carolina needs from its quarterback. He's making plays, developing chemistry with a young group of receivers, and giving the Panthers stability at a position that desperately needed it.
But there is a difference between being a franchise quarterback and being a superstar quarterback.
Alex Smith is a good example. Smith became the franchise quarterback Kansas City needed after Andy Reid arrived. He stabilized the position and helped turn the Chiefs into a consistent playoff team. Then Kansas City drafted Patrick Mahomes. Smith wasn't a bad quarterback. Mahomes is on another level.
That matters for Carolina moving forward. Young can be the franchise quarterback the Panthers need without becoming Patrick Mahomes. He shouldn't have to play Superman every Sunday just to give Carolina a chance.
That's why the Panthers need to build an identity around Young rather than making Young the identity.
If Carolina wants to run the football, build a scheme around that. If it wants to be a passing team, protect Young and continue developing the young receivers. If it wants to be a physical defensive team, build the front seven to play that way.
But pick something.
That falls on Dave Canales. Canales kept Ejiro Evero because he believed the defensive system could work with better players and continued development. It didn't happen. Now Todd Wash gets an opportunity to provide a different voice and stabilize the defense. Maybe the Panthers become more physical. Maybe they finally figure out how to stop the run.
But that's the short-term question.
The bigger question comes after the season: Who does Canales want the Panthers to be?
Whatever that answer is, it has to influence everything that comes next.
The next defensive coordinator needs to fit that answer. The personnel decisions need to fit it. The offensive philosophy needs to fit it. The players Carolina drafts need to fit it.
Otherwise, the Panthers will keep bouncing between ideas without ever becoming particularly good at any of them.
It's good that Evero is gone. At the same time, firing him in the middle of the season was a risky decision. Both things can be true.
Something needed to change, and Canales made the decision. Now he has to make the next one count. Carolina still has a chance to win the NFC South, so this season isn't over. But winning the division can't be the finish line.
The Panthers need to figure out what kind of football team they want to be. After this week's loss, they need to find their offensive identity. They need a defensive identity. They need an identity in the trenches. Everywhere it is, it should allow Bryce Young to be the quarterback, not the solution to every problem the roster creates.
The Evero era is over. The Panthers' identity crisis is not.
That's the problem Canales has to solve next.
