Frank Reich's staff in Carolina is taking shape with the addition of two respected veteran coaches.
The Panthers named Jim Caldwell as a senior assistant and Duce Staley as running backs coach and assistant head coach on Tuesday.
Originally, Caldwell interviewed for the Panthers’ head coaching position. That job went to Reich -- and now Caldwell will join Reich’s staff, reporting directly to Reich and assisting on offense, defense and special teams.
Caldwell, 68, has a background primarily on the offensive side of the ball, but he’s also twice been a head coach in the NFL -- with the Indianapolis Colts and Detroit Lions -- as well as in college at Wake Forest. Caldwell’s regular-season record with the Colts and Lions was a combined 62-50 with a 2-4 postseason mark. He took Indianapolis to Super Bowl XLV as a rookie head coach.
Staley worked with Reich when he was the Eagles offensive coordinator during Philadelphia's 2017 Super Bowl title run as the RBs coach. The 47-year-old had been in Detroit the past two seasons under Dan Campbell, working with the same titles bestowed on him in Carolina.
Reich has begun assembling an impressive staff so far, including defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero (who also interviewed for the Panthers’ head-coaching job), quarterbacks coach Josh McCown, senior defensive assistant Dom Capers (who was the first HC in Panthers history) and now Caldwell.
Caldwell and Reich coached together for six years with the Colts under former head coach Tony Dungy. Reich was a coaching intern when he joined Dungy’s staff in 2006, with Caldwell serving as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach. When Dungy retired, Caldwell took over as head coach and Reich was elevated to quarterbacks coach.