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Panthers coach Dave Canales will keep Ejiro Evero and most of his defensive staff

New Panthers head coach Dave Canales was hired to re-invigorate the offense, but he’s not planning many changes on defense.

Canales will keep defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero as well as most of the Panthers’ defensive staff, according to Joe Person of TheAthletic.com.

That’s not a big surprise, given that Canales praised Evero at his introductory press conference as Panthers head coach last week. Canales spent last season as the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, and he said that he was impressed in both games against the Panthers by how well coached their defense was. Keeping Evero and other defensive assistant coaches will mean continuity on one side of the ball, while Canales brings a new system on the other side of the ball.

Evero interviewed to be the Panthers’ head coach and also interviewed for the Seahawks and Falcons openings. He hasn’t received a head-coaching job yet but is viewed as a strong candidate in the future. Canales will hope that Evero coaches the Panthers’ defense well enough that other teams want to hire him away a year from now.