New Panthers head coach Matt Rhule has always made it clear that he wanted to build his coaching staff, his way, and he’s done that again with the announcement of his defensive coordinator.
The Panthers announced today that Phil Snow, who was Rhule’s defensive coordinator for the last seven years (three at Baylor and four at Temple), is officially the defensive coordinator of the Panthers as well.
That announcement had been expected, as Rhule and Snow have been close for decades. Rhule was close to accepting the Jets head coaching job a year ago but pulled out because of a dispute with management about the extent to which he’d have full authority to build his staff, and with the Panthers it’s clear that he has that authority and is hiring the people he’s comfortable with.
Snow coached the Lions’ linebackers from 2005 to 2008 but otherwise has not coached in the NFL.