The Carolina Panthers made the surprising decision to fire defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero on Friday, hours after the Panthers fell to the Green Bay Packers. It is surprising not because it wasn't warranted, but because the Panthers had previously not shown that they cared enough to do something.
Firing Evero was warranted. Too many times, his players didn't look ready to play . Too many times, his decision-making boggled the mind and led to success for the opposing offense. And far too many times, some aspect of his defense completely fell off.
Dan Orlovsky couldn't believe the news, but we could.
NFL Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Dan Orlovsky, former NFL quarterback turned analyst for ESPN, was in shock when he learned that the Panthers had fired Ejiro Evero. Perhaps he was a little surprised by the timing after a decent defensive outing, but this was coming after Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay.
He captioned his tweet with a claim that Evero is a "really good coach," and on ESPN, he said, "That's a good coach, man. Ejiro is a very good coach, very good coach. They're beat up in the secondary, he's a very good coach." This was after a mouth-agape stare in shock for a few seconds.
Evero is well-respected across the NFL, but there are no tangible results one can point to to back Orlovsky's point up. Evero was a good coach in Denver, which is why the Panthers poached him, and he was decent in 2023, which is why Dave Canales kept him around.
The production just wasn't there. In 2024, they set a record for the most points allowed in NFL history. In 2025, they were middle-of-the-pack in yards and points, but they had bad success rates and other advanced analytics.
This year, after bringing in Devin Lloyd, Jaelan Phillips, Bobby Okereke, Lee Hunter, Zakee Wheatley, and Will Lee, production was both too inconsistent and not good enough on the better days.
Injuries have played a role, but injuries aren't why Evero couldn't time a blitz right or get home with any amount of rushers. Injuries aren't why the defense forgot how to tackle or where to play every other week.
This was supposed to be a top-10 unit. If you'd told someone before Week 1 that the Panthers would be tied for first on October 30, they would've believed that hyped defense had delivered. It hasn't.
Carolina Panthers linebacker Devin Lloyd (55) chats with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
The defense is bottom-10 in yards per game, third-worst in rushing yards per game (bolstered by the Green Bay Packers' 32nd-ranked rushing attack), and sixth-worst in points per game.
And at some point, injuries or not, someone has to be accountable for the miscues on defense. That is, more often than not, the coordinator.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/panthers/onsi as Dan Orlovsky Disagrees With Panthers Firing Ejiro Evero, But He's Wrong .
