Al Holcomb doesn’t want to be in the comfy confines of the press box on Sundays. Instead, he wants to be where the action is — on the sideline.
Holcomb, 52, yearns to feel the energy coming from his players. More importantly, he wants to know what they’re thinking.
The Carolina Panthers’ interim defensive coordinator is keen on feedback from his troops and his boss, interim head coach Steve Wilks. Being on the sideline, like he was for the Panthers’ 21-3 upset win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last weekend, gives Holcomb everything he needs to know, so he can call plays effectively.
“You have the opportunity to interact with the players more in the game, so you can kind of see things from their scope as well,” Holcomb told the Charlotte Observer on Thursday. “But I will always listen to the players — I may not always say yes or agree with them — but I think that’s one of the things I’ve kind of prided myself on over the years, in terms of just understanding how the players see it, how to relate that, and how to make it manageable so that they’re comfortable and we’re still doing the things we need to do.”
Holcomb’s defense — in his second game calling plays this year — held the Buccaneers to one scoring drive and shut down their rushing attack. Legendary quarterback Tom Brady failed to throw a touchdown.
“I felt like we were doing a good job of getting off the field — which was a point of emphasis for us,” Holcomb said. “And our players, you could just feel their energy when they came off the field after each series. I was pretty confident in them, they were confident in what we were executing, and we ended up with the victory.”
Veteran linebacker Shaq Thompson said Holcomb did an excellent job putting defenders in position to succeed.
“I will say it was a perfect game because he allowed us to go out there and execute fast,” Thompson said. “He called a great game. Everybody had the call, we were able to set up, execute and go play fast.”
Holcomb, Wilks’ longtime confidante, was promoted following the firing of his former boss, Phil Snow. With Wilks replacing Matt Rhule at the top, the new interim head coach wanted his longtime friend and partner to man the controls on defense.
“Just being together for years, we’ve had a lot of success,” Wilks said. “He knows what I want, and I felt like in taking this job, I was going to have to spend a lot of time in the offensive room with Ben McAdoo and the offensive coaches, so I knew with Al that everything was going to get done the way I wanted it to.”
‘Good cop, bad cop’
Following the win against the Buccaneers, Holcomb dashed into the locker room to congratulate his players on a job well done. He then watched Panthers owner David Tepper hand a game ball to Wilks.
“For me, personally, it was awesome,” Holcomb said. “But I know it’s not about him. It’s about those guys going out and playing, because at the end of the day, they’re the ones who play the game, and they went out and executed. But, personally, I love the fact that he got the game ball.”
The relationship between Wilks and Holcomb dates back to the tenure of former Panthers head coach Ron Rivera. Wilks arrived in town in 2012 and Holcomb joined the staff a year later.
Wilks was a defensive backs coach, while Holcomb — who won a Super Bowl ring with the New York Giants as an assistant coach — led the linebackers. Together, Wilks and Holcomb were key cogs under then-defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, who is now head coach of the Buffalo Bills.
According to Holcomb, he and Wilks immediately hit it off because they share similar philosophies on defense and coaching. Former Panthers safety Kurt Coleman believes Wilks and Holcomb fit well together because they come from similar backgrounds.
“I think a lot of their stories are similar with how they came up in the coaching ranks, both family men with kids who are out of college or in college, so there’s a lot in common with the family structures and household,” Coleman told the Observer earlier this month. “I think they just have a very common bond.”
Wilks and Holcomb have worked together on and off since the latter arrived in Carolina 10 seasons ago.
Holcomb worked with and under Wilks as he climbed the NFL coaching ladder, from Panthers position coach to defensive coordinator to Arizona Cardinals head coach to Cleveland Browns defensive coordinator.
The pair was separated for two seasons following their one-year stop in Cleveland in 2019. Holcomb returned to Carolina as a running game coordinator under Rhule in 2020, while Wilks spent last season coaching the Missouri Tigers’ defense after taking a year off.
Wilks decided to return to Charlotte this offseason, knowing his ties with Holcomb were still strong.
“To me, in this profession, it’s always great when you can surround yourself with people that you trust, you have a great working relationship with, so I was very attracted to coming home, but also coming over here because I knew a lot of the individuals,” Wilks said. “Al, being one.”
Wilks hired Holcomb as his defensive coordinator when he was named the Cardinals’ head coach in 2018. He did the same when he was promoted to the interim job in Carolina in Week 6.
Wilks and Holcomb have worked together for so many years that they know— at least most of the time — what the other is thinking. With Wilks overseeing the entire squad, Holcomb is relaying Wilks’ messaging to the defense.
“It’s no different when you talk about parenting,” Wilks said. “It’s a ‘good cop, bad cop’ kind of thing. We both share those different roles in how we want to approach guys. I think you’ve got to find those teachable moments, and with me, I try to thrive on those. And sometimes, I allow Al to be able to use those teachable moments in the things we need to get done, because sometimes I feel like it’s great for them to hear his voice.”
Wilks has a lot of trust in Holcomb. That trust has been gained over the many years and travels that they’ve experienced together. And while Wilks is in charge, Holcomb feels like the early days of their relationship helped craft a mutual respect between the two.
“I view it as we work together, we’ve been in a lot of meetings together — with players as coaches — so the interaction has always been just equal, so to speak,” Holcomb said. “When we were first here, initially when he was coaching the DBs, I was coaching the linebackers, so we had to have a great working relationship because the communication between the defensive backs — the safeties — and the linebackers is one of the main things you have to have. As coaches, we had to see things the same way in order for our players to see things the same way.”
From a player standpoint, Wilks and Holcomb have a strong relationship. They’ve been through the ups and downs of the Panthers’ Super Bowl contention and their quick dismissals from Arizona and Cleveland together.
Those highs and lows have given the pair common ground to stand on. And while they will sometimes clash, players see how important they are to each other and the team.
“It’s like big brother, little brother,” Thompson said. “They always agree to disagree, but at the end of the day, they’re always going to be on the same page.”
The standard is the standard
Ben Jacobs played for the Panthers throughout Holcomb’s entire first run with the franchise. The former linebacker and special teams ace has followed Holcomb into coaching as an assistant for the Washington Commanders.
When Jacobs looks back on his five seasons under Holcomb, he remembers how collaborative the then-linebackers coach was in his first major NFL job.
Guiding franchise legends like Thomas Davis Sr. and Luke Kuechly, Holcomb wanted to know what they were thinking in order to cater his coaching to their preferences.
“He was very upfront,” Jacobs said. “The biggest thing that I take away from my time with him — and granted, this was a very, very good room — it was more like a conversation, like, ‘How do you guys see this?’ The player input really, really mattered to him.”
According to Holcomb, he and his former players still chat in a text chain. He built those relationships through respect, trust and production.
“What you want to create as a position coach is an environment where those guys enjoy coming to work every day,” Holcomb said. “So, we would have a lot of fun in the linebacker room, but when it was time to get to work, it was time to get to work, and guys were dialed in.”
In three of Holcomb’s first four seasons with the Panthers, the defense ranked in the top 10 in yardage allowed, according to Pro Football Reference. The defense ranked in the top six in points allowed in two of those three seasons.
From 2013 to 2017 — Holcomb’s first stint in Carolina — Kuechly was named to five consecutive Pro Bowls and was a four-time first-team All-Pro. Davis made three consecutive Pro Bowls and earned his only career first-team All-Pro nod in 2015.
“He used to preach this all the time — the standard is the standard,” Jacobs said. “Meaning, the bar is set here and that’s where it’s at, and we’ve got to meet it all the time.”
And while Holcomb is no longer a position coach, he still has a pupil on the roster who remembers that time period.
Thompson, the Panthers’ defensive signal-caller, was drafted in the first round by the organization in 2015. He served under Holcomb during his formative years in the league.
The pair was reunited in Carolina in 2020. And now that Holcomb has been promoted to the defensive play-caller, Thompson sees the ownership his old position coach has taken in his new role.
“Now it’s his defense, so he can call what he wants, do what he wants,” Thompson said. “But the good thing is, he asks different coaches what they like, too. … It’s not just, ‘Oh, we’re going to run this because I like it,’ it’s a collective group, and if we all buy in on it, we all see it’s going to work, then he’s going to put it in the game plan.”
Bringing the past to the present
Despite the winding road to this point in his career, Holcomb is still the same guy that he was during his initial stint with the Panthers. That’s partially why it’s been an easy transition from Snow to Holcomb in the middle of the campaign.
It also helps that Wilks and Thompson, two major figures in the defense’s history during the past decade, are still by Holcomb’s side. Wilks, Holcomb and Thompson are all on the same page, and the trio is looking to bring some of their past success to the present.
“We have past history and Shaq was a part of a lot of that success, so my words and my speaking sometimes goes through him,” Wilks said. “He can echo to the players, ‘This is how we used to be,’ and ‘This is what we are known for,’ and sometimes as a coach, you don’t want to sit here and harp on things in the past, because it’s all about writing your own narrative.”
Wilks and Holcomb agree that the defensive line is the key to making the defense run smoothly. For Thompson, it’s about conveying that shared message repeatedly on the field.
“It’s just what we used to do back in the day,” Thompson said. “Philosophy on defense — how it all starts up front. … Linebackers, we play down hill, and safeties, they play the ball in the air. And they’re starting to bring that philosophy back, because it worked for years. This defense always led the franchise, so that’s what they’re trying to get back to.”
As Wilks looks to prove that he deserves the permanent head-coaching position in Carolina or elsewhere, Holcomb is also trying to show he is capable of building a successful defense. With a shared philosophy, the duo is hoping to show they belong during their 12-game tryout.
“He kind of knows my mindset and what I’m thinking, and I kind of know his mindset and what he’s thinking,” Holcomb said. “There’s a good chemistry, and that’s just because we’ve been around each other for so many years.”
