The coaching staff of the Carolina Panthers has been finalized for the 2024 campaign. A football support staff member and five new coaches were hired, as revealed by general manager Dan Morgan and head coach Dave Canales on Thursday. They are listed in the following order:
- Will Harriger: Quarterbacks
- Nathan Carroll: Pass game coordinator
- Pat McPherson: Tight ends
- Keli’i Kekuewa: Assistant offensive line
- Daren Bates: Special teams assistant
- Scott Cooper: Director of coaching development
Harriger spent ten seasons as a collegiate coach after starting his career on the defensive end of the ball. Harriger moved to the offensive side of the ball after making the leap to the NFL in 2014. He played for the Seattle Seahawks for five seasons, serving as the quarterbacks coach’s assistant for two of those seasons with Canales. After that, Harriger played a variety of positions for two seasons with the Atlanta Falcons, including coach of running backs. After working with quarterbacks, such as Caleb Williams, for the Jaguars and Trevor Lawrence in 2021, Harriger joined the USC Trojans staff in 2022. He played quality control and offensive assistant for the Dallas Cowboys in 2023.
Carroll is the son of Pete Carroll, the former coach of the Seahawks. In 2011, he started working for his father’s team. In 2013, he was transferred to the attacking end of the field. Since then, he has advanced through the offensive staff’s ranks and, at one point, served as Canales’ assistant wide receivers coach.
Since 1996, McPherson has been an NFL coach. He played defense and quality control with the San Francisco 49ers for a single season in 1996. He has only played for two additional clubs since then: the Seattle Seahawks (2010–2023) and the Denver Broncos (1998–2008). McPherson was the tight ends coach for the entirety of his tenure with the Seahawks.
Before entering the NFL, Bowling Green graduate Keli’i Kekuewa worked as a college coach. Prior to taking a position as assistant offensive line coach in 2021, he worked as an offensive assistant for the Seahawks.
Bates is a veteran NFL linebacker and an alumnus of Auburn. He played for the Falcons until 2021, when he signed a contract with the St. Louis Rams in 2013. In 2023, Bates began working for the Seahawks as a member of the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.
Canales has kept 13 assistants, including the entire defensive staff under coordinator Ejiro Evero, in addition to the new players. Those going back to their positions are as follows:
- Ejiro Evero: Defensive coordinator
- Dom Capers: Senior defensive assistant
- Jim Caldwell: Senior assistant
- Todd Wash: Defensive line
- Bert Watts: Secondary/Safeties
- Jonathan Cooley: Secondary/Cornerbacks
- Peter Hansen: Inside linebackers
- Tem Lukabu: Outside linebackers
- DeAngelo Hall: Assistant defensive backs
- Mayur Chaudhari: Defensive assistant
- Bobby Maffei: Defensive QC
- Mike Bercovici: Offensive assistant
- The organization earlier announced the acquisition of Brad Idzik as offensive coordinator and Tracy Smith as special teams coordinator, along with the retention of all four offensive coaches, in Charlotte.
- Harold Goodwin: Assistant head coach/run game coordinator
- Bernie Parmalee: Running backs
- Rob Moore: Wide receivers
- Joe Gilbert: Offensive line
