Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero sits down with Kristen Balboni to talk about his journey to the Panthers, his coaching philosophy, and what he sees in the Panthers defense.
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Ajiro congratulations welcome to the Panthers uh it's it's neat to be here in The locker room there have been so many Great Panthers defensive players that Have put on their jerseys in this room And now you are really leading the next Iteration of that as defensive Coordinator so first of all like what's It been like getting used to everything And being in the building yeah it's been Great uh like you said this is a you Know great tradition it's not a long Tradition but it's a great tradition and Uh you know obviously coach Dom started It here a couple years uh 20 something Years ago and uh they've continued all The way through and a lot of success Team success and you know our goal is to Come in and take that next step which is Get to the playoffs and then hopefully Deliver something that's not happened Here which is a championship and uh so We're excited for it we're excited for The challenge and uh we look forward to Meeting all the players and getting to Know them and really diving into Football well because you mentioned Dom Capers I I have to ask you about him I Had a chance to talk to him I asked him About you and I said you know tell me About him and he went through all of These amazing qualities but the one that Stuck out to me he said that he's an Early riser so what time does that alarm
Go off well I am a morning guy Um you know I've actually gotten to the Point where I don't set an alarm anymore My body clock is just working but it's Typically 3 45 or so oh my goodness and Uh but you know about five o'clock I'm Starting to fade so you can't you can't Burn it on both ends A relationship like with the two of you That history is so neat well it's great You know first time coordinator last Year there's just so many things about The job that you really are never going To know until you start doing it and When you have a sounding board like Dom Who has all that experience who is so Wise who is a team player I mean really Doesn't care about credit or anything Like that all he wants to do is win as a Team and he was the same way when he was A coordinator when I was his quality Control coach and so uh yeah it's just Uh it's been amazing and I don't think I've been so blessed to have a mentor Like that especially at my first go Around as a coordinator you mentioned You know the first time coordinator last Year in Denver were able to do great Things with that defense what were some Of the biggest things that you learned That you'll take into this job well the First thing you learned is that it's the Organizational part of it because you Always think about like hey I'm a
Coordinator now and you need to know all The stuff I need to understand the back End understand the front end but what You start learning is that the scheme is A big part of it but so much of it is Just organizing right you're organizing Your staff you're organizing the players Be responsible for the entire defense And so in order to have efficiency and Operate at a high level you got to make Sure that you're operating at a high Level so and how do you start that just Coming in here the building the first Few days what are the things that are Important to you well first thing is Learn to roster so um you know obviously Some of the players you know like the Derrick Browns and the Brian Burns and The JC horns you know you know those Guys automatically right and it's really Learning the rest of the roster learning What they do well because so much of our Defense is not about like my scheme it's About putting these guys in great Position to be at their very best and so That's what we're trying to get done Diving a little bit deeper into that Your scheme you tell me a little bit About it and how it's going to fit with This Panthers team yeah you know we'll Be a base 3-4 defense Um we'll be multiple in our sub packages Uh but at the end of the day it's like I Oh I never want to come into a situation
Say hey this is what we're going to do I Always want to have the mindset of this Is the these are the players that we Have what do they do well and kind of Work from that direction so and what Have you seen that this defense does Well and what do you want to build on as You start this off-season process well I See one there's High High character and You can just watch that by watching the Film and these guys play hard they run To the ball they play with great effort Which is always got to be your starting Point and there's some high level Players here I think there's at each Level of the defense you have some big Time impact players and so that's what We just want to build on we know they've Done a good job there's been some good Moments of Defense here the last couple Years and we just want to try to build Upon that with the support and Collaboration with the players aside From from character what are the things When you're looking for a player and you Said this is a guy that you know I can Get behind I want to coach him where do You what are you looking for what tops Your list uh physicality yeah we want Guys that play with great effort and Guys that play physical and that's going To be our identity and what kind of Coach are you what how do you describe Yourself out on the field well I don't
Think I fit a mold all the time a Certain mold all the time you know I'm Passionate about the game but you know Some people would say I'm reserved uh But everyone that knows me knows that uh I will get on guys when I need to Um but uh you know I just want to I Think if anything describes me best I Want to be known as a great teacher I Want to be known as somebody that can Connect with the players and allow them To get to their best place are there Certain parts that you really enjoy Diving into you know a defensive Coordinator now it's so all-encompassing What are the parts that you still love To just really get involved in well you Know I'll say this the part that I miss The most from being a position coach is Having your own room and having a group Of guys or you're with all the time you Know and so I'm looking forward to uh Because I felt like last year still Learning the job and I wanted to make Sure that I was good and all in so I Didn't spend as much time with that but This year I really want to dive into a Position group and just like really Spend my time with it and so I'm looking Forward to that have you decided which One yet I know you've only been here a Couple days we'll fill it out all right I'll follow up with that yeah yeah but Congratulations once again and and
Welcome to Carolina we're so excited to Have you here and thank you so much for The time thanks a lot [Music]
Charlotte North Carolina – Things to Do
Charlotte North Carolina is a beautiful city that has many things to offer. If you want to go and see the famous Hornets, Panthers and Checkers or you just want to hang out with friends there is plenty of activities that can be done in this beautiful city.
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Weather:
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