The Carolina Panthers have agreed to terms with Jim Caldwell to be a senior assistant on Frank Reich’s coaching staff, the team announced Tuesday.
He will help Reich with offense, defense and special teams.
Caldwell, 68, was one of nine candidates to interview for the Panthers’ head-coaching job, which went to Reich. He is the second of those candidates to join Reich’s staff, joining Ejiro Evero, who was hired as the team’s defensive coordinator.
Reich and Caldwell were both on Tony Dungy’s Indianapolis Colts staff, starting in 2006 when Reich was a coaching intern and Caldwell was assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. The Colts won a championship that season when they beat the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI. Caldwell became head coach in 2009 when Dungy retired and Reich was his quarterbacks coach.
Caldwell has head-coaching experience with the Colts (2009-11) and Detroit Lions (2014-17). He had winning records at both stops — 26-22 with the Colts, including an AFC championship in 2009 before losing to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, and 62-50 with the Lions. He reached the postseason four times in all, two with each franchise.
Other assistants that have been hired to Reich’s staff include Josh McCown as quarterbacks coach and Dom Capers as a senior defensive assistant.
Capers also is a former head coach, with the Panthers (1995-98) and Houston Texans (2002-05).