Carolina Panthers hiring former Lions' DL coach Todd Wash

The Carolina Panthers have lured former Detroit Lions defensive line coach Todd Wash to join them in Charlotte, according to Dan Graziano of ESPN. Before joining the Detroit Lions in 2021, Wash spent eight seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars. With Jacksonville, he served as the team’s defensive coordinator during his last five seasons there (2016-2020). Wash has also coached at a number of other stops across the National Football League, including the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He served as the Bucs’ defensive line coach from 2008-2010 and the Seahawks’ defensive line coach from 2011-2012. In the college football coaching ranks, Wash also spent time with Missouri Southern State and North Dakota State.

In his NFL career, Wash spent a brief period of time with the Houston Oilers in 1982. He played his college football with the North Dakota State Bison. He was a member of two national championship teams in 1988 and 1990.

The move for the Panthers is just one of many different moves the franchise has made with their coaching staff this offseason, following the dismissal of Matt Rhule, who has since moved onto the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Carolina decided to hire Frank Reich as their new head coach.

Reich takes over as the Panthers head coach after a nearly five-year run as the Colts head coach. Previously he was an offensive coordinator with the Philadelphia Eagles, where he won a Super Bowl in 2018.

Reich played in the NFL as a quarterback, spending much of his career as a backup to Buffalo Bills legend Jim Kelly. After 10 years in Buffalo, he spent one season with the Panthers in 1995 as the first starting quarterback in the history of the franchise, before brief stints with the New York Jets and Detroit Lions to finish his playing career.

Additionally, Reich is the first head coach in franchise history to come from a background of playing and coaching offense. All the pervious coaches, from Dom Capers in 1995 through Matt Rhule and Wilks in 2022, every Panthers head coach had been a defensive coach prior.

On3’s Andrew Graham also contributed to this article.