What Ejiro Evero Said in His First Press Conference as Panthers DC

Defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero met with the Charlotte media for the first time on Wednesday.

What drew you to Carolina

"As you look at the roster, as you look at some of the players here. Look at what Coach Reich is bringing in terms of coaching staff, there are just so many pieces here that are just attractive to success. That's the biggest reason. I wanted to be in a situation where we can win."

Thoughts on the defense as currently constructed

"The first thing I observed is, they play hard. They play with great effort. That's always going to be the starting point of our defenses. And there's big-time players. There's a lot of youthful talent that we are hoping we can get the best out of. So when you combine that effort and you combine those players, I think the sky is the limit."

Relationship with Dom Capers 

"It first started off in Green Bay back in 2016 when I was his quality control coach. Dom was the coordinator and I was doing all of the grunt work. And then transitioning into last year as a first time coordinator there's a lot of things that you really don't know about the job even though you feel like you're prepared for the opportunity until you get in that seat. And Coach Capers, in terms of a guy to know how to do the job at a high level, an elite level. Someone to bounce ideas off of. Just a main of great character. So all of those things as a first time coordinator were so valuable to me." 

Process of interviewing for the head job and then coming back around as the DC

"I don't think too much about that. My approach my entire career has been, hey, wherever you are, that's where you are. I'm not really worried about the next job. I'm worried about the job that's present. And I think the best way to advance in this league is to do a great job of where you are and that's my concern. Very fortunate I had the opportunities I had these last couple of weeks. It was a great experience for me to interview for those jobs. But once that process is over, once I signed the papers to come to Carolina, none of that really matters anymore. It's about building a winning program here."

First impressions of the Panthers' offense

"I told Scott [Fitterer] and Dan Morgan when I was interviewing for the job that the Panthers blocked us as well as anybody that we played all year. So from an offensive standpoint, you saw the offensive line come to life. There are some really good pieces on this offense."

If he would like to have Shaq Thompson on this defense

"Those are all questions that are above my pay grade but if you talk about the player, that's definitely a player that I really admire. I think he's a heck of a player and definitely would love to coach him. He [fits] very well. He's an inside backer. He's a three-down player. He's a guy that can play the run game. He's good in zone coverage. He can see the quarterback. He can match running backs. He fits just right."

How Jeremy Chinn will be used

"He's a guy that's very, very talented. Big, fast, physical, can tackle. Gets the ball out. And I think that's where we got to do a good job of just finding those places for him to play. It might be a matter of him moving around and doing different things. But definitely excited to work with a player like him."

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