The Panthers have their entire 2026 coaching staff in place.
The team previously announced the additions of associate head coach/offensive specialist Darrell Bevell and senior offensive consultant Carl Smith to the staff. Wednesday’s announcement included word that they have hired special teams and defensive assistant Dwayne Stukes to Dave Canales’s staff.
Other new announcements include an assistant defensive coordinator title for linebackers coach Pete Hansen and new titles for offensive passing game coordinator Mike Bercovici.
Bercovici will work with offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, offensive assistant Keyshawn Colmon, offensive line coach Joe Gilbert, assistant head coach/run game coordinator Harold Goodwin, quarterbacks coach Will Harriger, tight ends coach Pat McPherson, wide receivers coach Rob Moore, running backs coach Bernie Parmalee, and offensive assistant Drew Petzing.
Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero will oversee a group that includes Hansen, outside linebackers coach/run game specialist AC Carter, assistant linebackers coach Mayur Chaudhari, defensive pass game coordinator Jonathan Cooley, defensive assistant Ilir Emini, secondary coach Renaldo Hill, defensive assistant Kevin Peterson, and defensive line coach Todd Wash.
Special teams coordinator Tracy Smith, special teams assistant Daren Bates, head coaching assistant/coaching operations manager Jessica Beckenstein, director of coaching development Scott Cooper, and game management coordinator George Li round out this year’s staff.
Panthers Clips
The Panthers have added a versatile tight end to their 90-man roster.
The team announced the signing of Heinrich Haarberg on Wednesday morning. They waived outside linebacker Jamil Muhammad in a corresponding move.
Haarberg caught eight passes for 52 yards and a touchdown at Nebraska last season. It was the first season that he was listed as a tight end with the Cornhuskers after spending his first years at the school as a quarterback who sometimes saw time at other spots on the field.
Haarberg started eight games at quarterback in 2023 and one game in 2024. He was deployed in a similar fashion to the way Taysom Hill was utilized by the Saints during the 2024 season and he’ll hope his experience playing multiple spots will help his bid to stick around in Carolina.
The Panthers made a handful of roster moves on Monday.
They announced the signing of defensive tackle Tywone Malone and running back Miles Davis to their 90-man roster. They waived tight end Bryce Pierre and running back Montrell Johnson with injury designations to create room for the new players.
Malone played two seasons at Ole Miss and three at Ohio State before going undrafted this year. He had 26 tackles for the Buckeyes last season and 52 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks over his entire college run.
Davis played in 27 games for BYU before transferring to Utah State in 2025. He had 932 yards from scrimmage and 11 touchdowns last year.
Jim Caldwell is no longer with the Panthers after serving as the top senior advisor for three seasons.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales said he hired Carl Smith to replace Caldwell. Smith and Canales worked together in Seattle from 2011-18 and again from 2021-22.
“At the end of this past season, I had an opportunity to bring in Carl Smith — a coach that we affectionately call ‘Tater,’” Canales said, via Anthony Rizzuti of USA Today. “He’s one of my primary football mentors, somebody who brings years of experience, was a sounding board for Pete [Carroll] for a lot of those years while we were in Seattle and a guy that I really trust who really raised me in the coaching profession in terms of game-clock management, training the quarterback, just offensive philosophy and different things we’ve talked about over the years.
“This was an opportunity for him to fill in the role in a similar capacity. He’ll be working remotely, but he’ll be here for camps, for minicamp. He’ll pop in during training camp. But it really is an opportunity to have somebody who’s not in the building every day, who’s watching the same film we are, but also being able to evaluate our roster and talk about players that we may not be talking about in our meetings.”
Smith, 78, began his NFL coaching career with the Saints in 1986. He also has coached for the Jaguars, Browns and Texans, serving as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator from 2005-06.
Caldwell, 71, was head coach of the Colts from 2009-11 and the Lions from 2014-17.
Carolina head coach Dave Canales liked what he saw when he read to the end of the Panthers’ 2026 schedule.
The Panthers finish with four of their final five games at home, and Canales thinks that gives them a great opportunity to finish strong in what he hopes is a season when his team repeats as NFC South champions.
“That was something I saw right away and was very appreciative of that going into the finish of the season,” Canales said, via Panthers.com. “Being able to be at home, in front of our crowd at Bank of America Stadium, the energy that was building towards the end of last season, it just excites me to be able to see that through the holiday season.”
The Panthers also open the season at home against the Bears, and Canales likes that one as well.
“Right off the bat, get in front of our fan base and really pick up where we left off in terms of where they were showing up with such great energy, coming out early, being out there during warm-ups, and welcoming the players that came out group by group. To feel that energy kind of build into the game, the guys will be really excited to get that started the right way,” Canales said.
Overall, Canales said, he appreciates what the NFL schedule makers gave his team.
Panthers defensive lineman Tershawn Wharton is going to need to recover from neck surgery before he’s ready to get back on the field.
Head coach Dave Canales said at a Monday press conference that Wharton told the team he was “feeling a little bit of discomfort” earlier this month and that doctors felt that the condition was something that needed to be addressed surgically. Canales said that Wharton is recovering well, but is likely to open training camp on the physically unable to perform list.
“Obviously, with the timetable of the season and all those things, this is something that needs to be done now, and he’s recovering great, and we’ll just take it week by week and see where he’s at,” Canales said, via the team’s website.
The Panthers drafted Lee Hunter in the second round last month and he’ll join Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown, Cam Jackson, LaBryan Ray, and Jared Harrison-Hunte on the line in Wharton’s absence.
The Panthers will get a chance to work against a couple of other teams coming off of playoff appearances during training camp this summer.
Head coach Dave Canales said at a Monday press conference that the team is going to hold joint practices with the Jaguars and Texans. The team will play at Jacksonville in the second week of the preseason and they’ll be at home against Houston for their final preseason game in August.
Carolina played the Jaguars in Week 1 of the 2025 season and lost 26-10.
The Panthers will be playing four preseason games this year as they are scheduled to face the Cardinals in the Hall of Fame Game along with a game in Buffalo before the two matchups with the AFC South teams.
NFL Network lost its schedule-release show. It’s nevertheless gaining a late-season Saturday doubleheader.
In Week 16, on the day after Christmas, NFLN will televise a game at 4:30 p.m. ET and 8:00 p.m. ET.
The schedule identifies four potential games for the two slots: Buccaneers-Falcons, Bengals-Colts, Commanders-Vikings, and Panthers Steelers.
The decision as to which games will slide from Sunday to Saturday will be made during the season.
Coupled with a Thursday night game and three Christmas Day games, Week 16 will have 10 total windows — one more than Thanksgiving week. That leaves only eight games to be played on the Saturday afternoon windows.
The Panthers took care of some contractual business on Friday.
They announced that they have signed defensive tackle Lee Hunter to a four-year deal. The second-round pick was the final member of their seven-player draft class to sign his rookie contract with the team.
Carolina traded up to take Hunter with the 49th overall pick after watching him at Texas Tech. He had 41 tackles, 11 tackles for loss, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble during his final season with the Red Raiders.
Derrick Brown, Bobby Brown, Tershawn Wharton, LaBryan Ray, Jared Harrison-Hunte, Cam Jackson, Aaron Hall, and Parker Petersen are also on the defensive line for the Panthers.
The NFL did the Chiefs a favor, giving them an early off week as Patrick Mahomes works his way back.
The Chiefs and Panthers have the earliest possible bye, getting an off week in Week 5.
The Chiefs quarterback tore the ACL and LCL in his left knee in a Dec. 14 game against the Chargers and underwent surgery the following day. There is no timeline for his return, although Mahomes reportedly is ahead of schedule in his rehab and is shooting for Week 1.
If he’s not ready, Mahomes would miss only four games in six weeks. Those four games are the Broncos, Colts, Dolphins and Raiders, so the start to the season is not nearly as hard as it could have been.
The Cowboys and Cardinals have the latest possible off week, with their bye coming in Week 14.
Here are the other bye weeks:
Week 6 — Bengals, Lions, Dolphins, Vikings.
Week 7 — Bills, Jaguars, Chargers, Commanders.
Week 8 — Giants, Texans, Saints, 49ers.
Week 9 — Steelers, Titans.
Week 10 — Bears, Broncos, Eagles, Bucs.
Week 11 — Seahawks, Rams, Falcons, Patriots, Browns, Packers.
Week 13 — Ravens, Jets, Colts, Raiders.
