Panthers fire two defensive assistants, including Brady Hoke
The Carolina Panthers lost their fourth straight game on Sunday, a sour stretch that has taken them from being on the path to the playoffs to currently being on the outside looking in.
While the most recent loss, to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, could be blamed more on the four turnovers by Cam Newton than the defense, coach Ron Rivera decided it was time to part ways with two members of the defensive coaching staff.
Brady Hoke, Jeff Imamura fired
The Panthers announced that defensive line coach Brady Hoke and assistant secondary/cornerbacks coach Jeff Imamura have been let go.
“In my judgment, I felt this was best for the team moving forward,” head coach Ron Rivera said in a statement. “These are always difficult decisions, and I thank Brady and Jeff for their hard work.
“Ultimately, I’m charged with putting the team in the best position to succeed, and I felt these moves were necessary in order to do that.”
After the moves, Rivera spoke with media and said he met with owner David Tepper and general manager Marty Hurney since the loss to Tampa Bay, and that those talks were positive; Tepper did not influence the decision to fire Hoke and Imamura.
Carolina allowed the Buccaneers to roll up 444 yards of offense this week (276 passing, 168 rushing), and 476 yards the week before in a loss to Seattle (256 passing, 220 rushing).
Rivera will take bigger role
Rivera, whose coaching background is on the defensive side of the ball, will take a bigger role in coaching the defense. Panthers reporter Bill Voth tweeted that Rivera will handle defensive play-calling duties and first-year defensive coordinator Eric Washington will oversee the front seven.
To us, that reads like a bit of a demotion for Washington, who was promoted from defensive line coach to coordinator earlier this year, after Steve Wilks was hired by the Arizona Cardinals.
Washington has been speaking with media on Mondays this season, but not this Monday.
After the game Sunday, Rivera said he was “helping” with defensive play-calling but didn’t elaborate.
Sam Mills III will lead the defensive line.
Hoke’s first foray in NFL was brief
This was Hoke’s first foray into coaching in the NFL, and it was pretty brief — he was hired by the Panthers in January. The 60-year-old coached college teams from 1983-2017, including stints as the head coach at Ball State, San Diego State and Michigan. He was interim head coach at Tennessee for the final few games last year after Butch Jones was fired.
Imamura was in his second season with the Panthers.
The two are the second and third Carolina defensive assistants to leave the team this year: in May, defensive backs coach Curtis Fuller resigned after an internal team investigation. Fuller had been accused of workplace misconduct.
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