For the fifth time in Sean McVay‘s seven-year tenure, the Rams have seen one of their assistants become a head coach. Raheem Morris is the latest to make the jump, being hired by the Falcons. The Rams are now determining how they will replace him.
They have two familiar names in the mix. In addition to McVay considering a Brandon Staley reunion, The Athletic’s Jourdan Rodrigue indicates Ejiro Evero will be a strong candidate for the position. Though, the matter of the Panthers letting Evero out of his contract looms.
Evero, a Rams assistant from 2017-21, has seen his profile skyrocket despite being the defensive coordinator for two losing teams. After a stay on the 5-12 Broncos in 2022, Evero interviewed for every available HC job last year and subsequently became an in-demand coordinator candidate. The Panthers’ 2-15 record did not impede Evero, either, as HC interviews have followed.
Evero, 43, cannot devote full focus to a coordinator future just yet. Although the Panthers and Falcons hired other candidates over him, the rising staffer has a second Seahawks interview on tap for Saturday. Evero, who was born in England, served as the Rams’ safeties coach from 2017-20 before being elevated to DBs coach prior to the team’s Super Bowl-winning season.
While the chance of Evero being a coordinator for three teams in three years looms, the Panthers have previously shown interest in retaining him. Prior to hiring Dave Canales, Carolina blocked a Jacksonville request to meet with Evero about its DC job. It is unclear if Canales will retain Evero, but with Dan Morgan rising up the chain to the GM spot, it would not surprise if the organization stuck to its guns and kept Evero as DC despite hiring a new coach.
Additionally, at least one candidate without a past with McVay has surfaced. The Rams sent Cowboys defensive line coach Aden Durde a request to meet about the position, ESPN.com’s Todd Archer tweets. Durde has been on the Cowboys’ staff for the past three years, following Dan Quinn over from Atlanta. Durde, who is English, helped develop players in the U.K. as part of the NFL’s international pathway program prior to joining the Falcons midway through Quinn’s tenure.
After working with two disastrous head coaching tenures for organizations in tumult, I’m sure Evero would be thrilled for his next DC gig to be back with the Rams working with McVay. Staying in Carolina to work with a first time head coach who has less coordinator experience than he does can’t be the most enticing situation, especially with Burns still not locked up.
It’s not really his choice, it’s the Panthers’. And considering they’ve blocked every non-HC interview for him, it certainly appears that they’re not yet willing to let him walk – which makes sense considering how well of a job he did and the fact they’re bringing in an offensive-centric HC. Probably want stability on the other side of the ball while they try and unscrew the Young situation.
I realize it’s not his choice, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they held onto him. They also might have just been waiting to see who they hired as HC and if that person wanted to keep Evero around. But also one of the better DC positions in football just came open and it’s somewhere he worked before. It wouldn’t shock me if they let him go either.
Fair enough.