Associated Press6:53 PM ET1 Minute Read
CHARLOTTE, NC — The Carolina Panthers added the last major chunk of Frank Reich’s coaching staff, hiring Thomas Brown as offensive coordinator on Friday.
The team has now filled all three coordinator positions.
After the decision not to keep last year’s caretaker coach Steve Wilks, who is Black, the Panthers hired two Black coordinators in Brown and Ejiro Evero who will coach the defense.
Brown, 36, was the assistant head coach/tight ends coach for the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay last year. Brown has spent the last three seasons in Los Angeles and was the team’s assistant head coach/running backs coach when the Rams won the Super Bowl two years ago.
The Panthers also announced Friday that they have hired Tem Lukabu as an outside linebacker coach, Bert Watts as a safety coach, and Devin Fitzsimmons as an assistant special teams coach.
Brown was interviewing for the Houston Texans head coach position before the team settled on DeMeco Ryans.
Brown has spent 12 years as an NFL assistant and worked at the collegiate level. He played four seasons with Georgia (2004-07) as a running back. He is 10th on the Bulldogs all-time rushing list.
It’s unclear if Reich or Brown will be naming plays for the Panthers, but Reich indicated in his introductory press conference that he enjoys that part of the job.
Carolina’s offensive team includes senior assistant Jim Caldwell, running backs coach Duce Staley, quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, and passing game coordinator Parks Frazier. Carolina also retained offense coach James Campen and assistant offense coach Robert Kugler from last season.