Jim Caldwell is no longer with the Panthers after serving as the top senior advisor for three seasons.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales said he hired Carl Smith to replace Caldwell. Smith and Canales worked together in Seattle from 2011-18 and again from 2021-22.
“At the end of this past season, I had an opportunity to bring in Carl Smith — a coach that we affectionately call ‘Tater,'” Canales said, via Anthony Rizzuti of USA Today. “He’s one of my primary football mentors, somebody who brings years of experience, was a sounding board for Pete [Carroll] for a lot of those years while we were in Seattle and a guy that I really trust who really raised me in the coaching profession in terms of game-clock management, training the quarterback, just offensive philosophy and different things we’ve talked about over the years.
“This was an opportunity for him to fill in the role in a similar capacity. He’ll be working remotely, but he’ll be here for camps, for minicamp. He’ll pop in during training camp. But it really is an opportunity to have somebody who’s not in the building every day, who’s watching the same film we are, but also being able to evaluate our roster and talk about players that we may not be talking about in our meetings.”
Smith, 78, began his NFL coaching career with the Saints in 1986. He also has coached for the Jaguars, Browns and Texans, serving as Jacksonville’s offensive coordinator from 2005-06.
Caldwell, 71, was head coach of the Colts from 2009-11 and the Lions from 2014-17.