Former South Carolina, NFL star Captain Munnerlyn starts coaching career

Former South Carolina and NFL cornerback Captain Munnerlyn is moving on to a new chapter in his career. Munnerlyn is heading to the sidelines, accepting a job as cornerbacks coach at Myers Park High School in Charlotte.

The former cornerback will remain close to his roots, as he played eight of his 11 pro seasons with the Carolina Panthers. Munnerlyn set a pair of records while with the franchise with five interceptions returned for touchdowns over his career and two pick-sixes in both the 2012 and 2013 seasons. Although three other players have achieved the single-season feat, Munnerlyn is the only one to accomplish it twice.

Following his career with the Gamecocks, Munnerlyn was a seventh-round pick to the Panthers in the 2009 NFL Draft. He spent the next five seasons in Carolina, including as a full-time starter from 2011-13. He later played three seasons with the Minnesota Vikings (2014-16) before returning to the Panthers in 2017.

Captain Munnerlyn finished his pro career with 529 tackles, 10 sacks, 12 interceptions, six forced fumbles and six total defensive touchdowns. In college, he played three seasons for South Carolina, recording 127 tackles and five interceptions.

Munnerlyn is set to work under first-year coach Chris James at Myers Park. The team went 3-7 this past fall but will hope for better results with help from the former NFL corner.

Munnerlyn isn’t the only person with South Carolina ties to get a new coaching job this offseason, however. Former Gamecocks running backs coach Thomas Brown was recently hired to serve as offensive coordinator for the Panthers.

Thomas Brown takes over as Panthers OC

The Carolina Panthers plan to hire Los Angeles Rams assistant head coach Thomas Brown as their offensive coordinator, according to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport. Brown is a well thought of young coach that has interviewed a number of times for head coaching positions across the league for the past two offseasons.

He’s got an extensive amount of coaching experience, both on the collegiate level and the NFL level. In the college football coaching ranks, Brown has worked with Georgia (2011 and 2015), Chattanooga (2012), Marshall (2013), Wisconsin (2014), Miami (Florida) (2016-2018), and South Carolina (2019). His first stint as an offensive coordinator came with the Miami Hurricanes, where he served under Mark Richt, his former head coach with the Georgia Bulldogs.

In the NFL coaching ranks, Brown has been with the Los Angeles Rams since 2020. He worked as their running backs coach in 2020, before being promoted to their assistant head coach role in 2021 and 2022. Brown worked with their running backs in 2021, before working with their tight ends during the 2022 season.

On3’s Wade Peery contributed to this report.