Former C-SC coach Chris Tabor takes over as interim coach of Carolina Panthers

CANTON, Mo. — Former Culver-Stockton College football coach Chris Tabor wasted no time taking control of the Carolina Panthers.

Tabor, who is in second season as the special teams coordinator for the Panthers, was named the team’s interim coach Monday after Carolina owner David Tepper fired head coach Frank Reich. The Panthers are 1-10 following Sunday’s 17-10 loss to the Tennessee Titans.

Tabor’s first move was to fire quarterbacks coach Josh McCown and running backs coach Duce Staley.

“I made those decisions,” Tabor said during an introductory press conference Tuesday at the Panthers’ headquarters that was streamed online. “Coaching is about relationships and I respect both those coaches as people and as coaches. I’m going to keep our talks in house. Anything that we do, we’re always trying to continue to improve our team.”

Tabor served as the head coach at Culver-Stockton in 2001, guiding the Wildcats to a 6-5 record — their first winning season in 15 years. He left to become the assistant head coach and wide receivers coach at Utah State, where he stayed for four seasons.

After a two-year stint as the running backs coach and special teams coach at Western Michigan, Tabor joined the Chicago Bears staff in 2008 as assistant special teams coach, a position he held for three seasons. He served as the special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns from 2011-17 before returning to the Bears as special teams coordinator from 2018-21.

During the 2021 season, Tabor served one game as interim coach when Bears head coach Matt Nagy missed a game against the San Francisco 49ers after testing positive for COVID-19.

Tabor joined the Panthers’ staff in 2022 and is the fourth head coach in that span. Matt Rhule was fired as the Panthers’ head coach in October 2022 and Steve Wilks was named the interim coach. Wilks went 6-6 while in charge but was passed over when the Panthers named Reich the head coach last January.

Tabor said he has been given no assurances he will be considered for the permanent job when the season ends.

“I’m working on today,” Tabor said. “That’s all I’m focused on.”

Although his role changes, Tabor said it doesn’t dramatically alter how he goes about his business. As special teams coordinator, he always kept tabs on what the offense and defense were doing.

“You just kind of expand everything,” Tabor said. “I have to have more of a peripheral view.”

But it’s clear how he wants others to view this team.

“When you turn the tape on, I just want people to say that’s a classy, hard-hitting unit that plays with a lot of unity,” Tabor said. “That’s probably how I’d sum that up.”