Many tongues are wagging and mixed reactions erupting in USA’s National Football League (NFL), following the decision by Caroline Panthers to sack their Nigerian-born defensive coach, Ejiro Evero.
Sports247 gathered that many fans and even some of the team’s players have spoken out in support of the sacked trainer, who was born to Nigerian parents in England but grew up in USA, where he started playing American Football in high school.
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Sadly, things now appear heading downhill for Evero, as The Panthers opted to fire him from his post as their defensive coordinator along with his defensive passing game assistant, Jonathan Cooley on Friday morning.
The team’s defensive line coach, Todd Wash was named as interim defensive coordinator and will assist their head coach, Dave Canales, as The Panthers aim to quickly rebound from a deficit of 70 points in two losses across five days, including Thursday’s 27-19 setback at Green Bay.
Despite widespread heated debate the move has generated, Canales took full responsibility and disclosed: “Ultimately, this is my decision. This falls squarely under the responsibilities of the head coach. So, I was evaluating it and looking for what was best for the 2026 Carolina Panthers.
“This was a decision that we discussed and weighed in all the factors, the timing of it, the position of our group, all of those things, to make the best decision going forward. But, ultimately, it had to come from me. It had to come from something that I believe in and that I want for our players.”
Sports247 gathered further that Evero’s sack came at a point in which Carolina have allowed in 27.6 points and 349.6 yards per contest, which rank 27th and 23rd in the NFL, respectively; after yielding 59 points in their season-opening loss to Chicago Bears on September 13th and 43 more against Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday.
It also comes during an extended break, as The Panthers’ next game is not until the following Sunday, Novemver 8th, when they host Denver Broncos, which Canales believes will give him and the squad enough time to adjust to being without Evero and his defensive assistant.
“The urgency really just comes from myself and our staff, our expectations for our players, across the board. So, nothing is more urgent than today. Nothing is more urgent than the Denver Broncos game coming up next week.
“If we can keep that mentality, we keep the focus right in front of us, that allows us to just work on things that we can control, things that we can affect, and finding solutions for those things.
“That’s a good enough amount of pressure to put. Because I understand the difficulty and challenge of what it is in this league,” the head coach submitted.
Sports247 also reports that the 45-year-old Evero was defensive coordinator of Broncos in 2022 before joining Panthers for the same role in 2023, but he will now have to hunt around for another team after his unceremonious sack.
