Panthers make forward-thinking hire to the coaching staff with a former player that could lead to even more after 2026
The Carolina Panthers made an underrated addition to head coach Dave Canales’ coaching staff this week by hiring former safety Mike Adams a Bill Walsh coaching fellow.
The Carolina Panthers have made another addition to the coaching staff under head coach Dave Canales going into the 2026 season, this time on the defensive side of the ball while reuniting with a former player.
According to Aaron Wilson, Mike Adams is joining the Panthers’ staff. Adams played two seasons with the Panthers, starting 32 games during the 2017 and 2018 seasons. After retiring in 2019, Adams entered the coaching ranks with four years of experience now under his belt.
Mike Kaye of The Charlotte Observer added Adams is joining the staff as a Bill Walsh coaching fellow.
Carolina Panthers’ hire of Mike Adams gives the team a nice internal pipeline on the defensive staff.
Adams brings plenty of experience to the Panthers’ staff both during his 16 year NFL career and as coach, where he worked as the assistant defensive backs coach with the Chicago Bears in 2021 before becoming the assistant special teams coach and assistant secondary coach for the New York Giants from 2023-2025.
The Bill Walsh coaching fellowship will allow Adams to observe, participate, and gain experience on the Panthers’ staff throughout the offseason, training camp, and the preseason with the intention of landing a full-time position on the staff.
The Panthers already have an experienced defensive staff led by defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero. Given his background work with defensive backs, Adams will likely be working close with defensive passing game coordinator Jonathan Cooley and new secondary coach Renaldo Hill.
The interesting thing here is that if the Panthers give Adams a role on the staff for the 2026 season after the summer, likely as an assistant secondary coach again, Carolina would have a nice internal pipeline on the defensive staff. Something the team noticed they’ll need to start developing sooner than later.
This offseason, Evero got close to landing the Las Vegas Raiders head coaching job and Cooley interviewed for the Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator position. With another strong season from the defense and the secondary, both coaches could likely be top candidates again next cycle.
If they eventually get poached, the Panthers would have experienced candidates in-house to promote in Hill and possibly even Adams. It’s a forward-thinking approach and at the very least this move gives a former player an opportunity to advance his coaching career.