The Carolina Panthers had a bit of leakage on their coaching staff from the 2021 campaign. So now that everything is seemingly in its place, they decided to fortify the ship on Wednesday afternoon.
As first reported by Aaron Wilson of Pro Football Network, the team promoted Al Holcomb to assistant head coach of the defense. Holcomb has served as the run game coordinator for the past two seasons.
The 51-year-old is currently in his second stint for Carolina, with the first coming back during the Panthers’ most sustained run of success in franchise history. That happened when the Ron Rivera and Cam Newton-led squad ripped off three straight NFC South titles and a Super Bowl 50 appearance between 2013 and 2017, where Holcomb was the linebackers coach under defensive coordinators Sean McDermott and Steve Wilks.
Holcomb was joined in his promotion by Jeff Nixon—who, according to The Charlotte Observer‘s Jonathan M. Alexander, was bumped up to assistant head coach of the offense. Nixon, after being brought on as the running backs coach in 2020, took over as offensive coordinator this past season following the dismissal of Joe Brady.
