David Newton, ESPN Staff Writer 6y

Eric Washington replaces Steve Wilks as Panthers' defensive coordinator

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- For the second straight year, the Carolina Panthers promoted from within to replace a defensive coordinator moving on to become a head coach.

Defensive line coach Eric Washington has replaced Steve Wilks, who was named the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Wilks was promoted from secondary coach/assistant head coach to coordinator last offseason after Sean McDermott was named the head coach of the Buffalo Bills.

This isn’t the first time a team has lost its defensive coordinator in consecutive seasons. Seattle lost Gus Bradley to become the head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2012 and then Dan Quinn to Atlanta in 2013.

Coach Ron Rivera anticipated this might happen after the season when Wilks became a candidate at Arizona and for several other teams. He said at the time he had some "young guys in place" to replace Wilks, adding he felt really good about those coaches.

The other option was linebackers coach Al Holcomb, who was a candidate to become McDermott’s defensive coordinator at Buffalo before Leslie Frazier was hired.

But Washington, who just completed his seventh season as the defensive line coach at Carolina, was the most obvious choice because he was qualified and had opportunities elsewhere.

His defensive line has produced more sacks (219) than any group in the league since 2012. The Panthers have allowed the third-fewest run yards (96.2) during that span as well, and much of that has to do with the play up front.

A big reason undrafted free agent end Bryan Cox Jr., the son of three-time Pro Bowl linebacker Bryan Cox, came to Carolina was his dad considers Washington the "best defensive line coach in the league."

"Having been in the division, having watched his guys play, I felt like he was the best coach in the NFL on the defensive line," said the elder Cox, who was the defensive line coach at Atlanta from 2014-16.

Cox Jr. said in training camp he already could see the influence Washington had on his game.

"He’s tightened up my technique, got me coming off the ball and playing my keys," Cox Jr. said. "It’s a great system. We’re a penetrating front. We get off the ball, and we get vertical and disrupt."

While Rivera has admitted concern after losing defensive coordinators in consecutive seasons, he said the team's system is in place, and that is as important -- or more important -- as the people running it.

The Panthers also will have a new offensive coordinator in 2018. Norv Turner, 65, recently was hired to replace Mike Shula.

Rivera brought Turner in from the outside but they had worked together in San Diego. As was the case with Wilks, promoting Washington made sense based on his résumé.

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