Todd Wash takes over Carolina’s defensive play calls after a Friday coaching change that reaches two Texas A&M alumni. Nic Scourton’s outside-linebacker coach has a larger assignment, while Will Lee III is coming off a hamstring injury. A new coordinator can redistribute the responsibility around them. He cannot make the roster’s problems disappear by accepting the headset.
The Panthers named Wash interim defensive coordinator Friday, replacing Ejiro Evero. Passing-game coordinator Cooley was also dismissed. Coach Dave Canales said the decision had developed over time and followed discussions with team leadership; it was ultimately his call. Thursday’s 27-19 loss at Green Bay supplies context for the change, rather than its entire explanation.
That distinction gives Wash a real assignment rather than a ceremonial promotion. He joined the Panthers in 2023 and previously ran Jacksonville’s defense from 2016–20. The Jaguars finished second in the NFL defensively and reached the AFC Championship Game in 2017 during that span.
Those credentials make an experienced coach a sensible choice for an unsettled job. They do not reproduce that Jacksonville defense in Carolina, and they certainly do not heal Carolina’s secondary.
The Thursday game explains why the temptation to search for one clean answer should be resisted. Carolina forced three turnovers, one coming on an early kickoff return, yet collected only three points from those takeaways. Green Bay won while rushing for 66 yards, a modest figure that might ordinarily suggest the Panthers had handled one major defensive responsibility.
Jordan Love instead completed 30 passes on 41 attempts for 288 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Carolina did not sack him.
Green Bay also converted 9 of 16 third downs. That combination is more revealing than any single number: the Panthers created disruption in isolated moments but did not consistently convert those chances into control of the game.
Bryce Young was also sacked six times, though assigning the defeat entirely to the defense would be as lazy as assigning the defensive change entirely to one Thursday performance.
Ten games remain in Carolina’s regular season, and the team sits at 3-4. The extra days following Thursday’s game give Wash and the staff a mini-bye to organize their work. There is a practical advantage in making the change now: the next game is not immediately upon them. The staff still has to turn that time into assignments the available players can execute.
The Friday staff move involving AC Carter may be more consequential than the title change. Carter, previously the outside linebackers coach and run-game specialist, will add responsibility for the defensive line. Renaldo Hill will continue overseeing the defensive backs.
Wash therefore takes the broad defensive brief and the calls, Carter gains a larger role with the front, and Hill retains the back end. That is a usable division of labor, not a vague appeal to a new voice.
For Scourton, a second-year outside linebacker from Texas A&M, Carter’s expanded job is the immediate coaching detail. Carter will still work with the outside linebackers while adding the defensive line. That places more of the front under his brief while Wash handles the calls.
