Overview
- Head coach Dave Canales said Monday he hired longtime assistant Carl “Tater” Smith as the team's top senior advisor to replace Jim Caldwell.
- Canales said Smith will work remotely and attend camps, minicamp and parts of training camp to evaluate the roster and advise on offense and quarterbacks.
- Smith previously worked with Canales in Seattle from 2011 to 2018 and again from 2021 to 2022, including time as quarterbacks coach and associate head coach.
- Caldwell, who served as Carolina’s senior advisor since 2023, is no longer with the team after a run that drew on his past as head coach of the Colts and Lions.
- Smith, 78, started his NFL career in 1986 and has coached with the Saints, Jaguars, Browns and Texans, and his arrival adds to Carolina’s recent string of Seattle-linked hires.