Panthers Hire Jim Caldwell As Senior Assistant

The former Colts and Lions coach reunites with Frank Reich.

The Panthers will have not one, but two former Colts head coaches steering the ship during the 2023 NFL season. After hiring Frank Reich as the team’s new head coach, Carolina added Jim Caldwell, who led the Colts (’09 to ’11) and Lions (’14 to ’17) to two playoff appearances each, as a senior assistant.

Carolina announced the move on Tuesday morning. He had interviewed for the head coaching job during the Panthers’ search, and now joins Reich’s staff. It is Caldwell’s first job in the league since 2019 when he spent a year as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach for the Dolphins.

Reich and Caldwell have worked closely together in the past. Reich’s first NFL coaching job began in 2006 in Indianapolis as an intern, with Caldwell serving as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach under Tony Dungy. The two won Super Bowl XLI as assistants, and Caldwell became head coach after Dungy’s retirement, with Reich moving into the quarterbacks coach role. Caldwell later won a second ring as a member of John Harbaugh’s Ravens staff for Super Bowl XLVII during the 2012–13 season.

He posted a 62–50 record as coach of the Colts and Lions, with a 2–4 mark in the postseason.