Who is Chris Tabor? Meet Carolina Panthers interim coach | Charlotte Observer

Carolina Panthers head coach Frank Reich was fired Monday morning, and many of the franchise’s most casual fans probably read the announcement and shared a common question:

Who is Chris Tabor?

Tabor, the team’s special teams coordinator, has taken over as interim head coach of the struggling Panthers. The 52-year-old NFL coaching veteran arrived in Carolina in 2022 under Matt Rhule and kept his role even after the regime change a year ago.

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Here are four things to know about Tabor:

Tabor leads a bright spot for Panthers team

Rarely is it ideal when the best unit on a team is special teams — but under Tabor’s leadership, that’s what has happened. In 2022, he helped a unit that led the NFL in field goal percentage and set a franchise record with four blocked field goals, along with a blocked punt.

Tabor worked closely with team kicker Eddy Piñeiro in Chicago, at one point referring to him as a member of the family, and was important to getting the right-footed star to Carolina. The special teams unit this year has benefited from having Johnny Hekker — who has a case for being a future Hall of Famer — at punter, and the longest tenured Panther in long-snapper JJ Jansen.

It’s worth noting, too, that special teams has also brought points to a Panthers squad that has struggled scoring. A Piñeiro kick is what punctuated the Panthers’ only win of 2023 to date, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette, a preseason acquisition, returned a punt for a touchdown earlier this year, too.

Tabor’s robust NFL resume

Tabor began his coaching career in 1993 as an assistant at his high school alma mater, Benton High School in St. Joseph, Missouri. He then spent a bunch of time in the college ranks — most prominently working as a head coach at Culver-Stockton, a private liberal arts college in Missouri, and as an assistant at Utah State (2002-04) and Western Michigan (2006-07) before getting his shot at the pro ranks in 2008.

He’s only coached with three NFL teams. The first was with the Bears, from 2008-10 as an assistant special teams coach on Lovie Smith’s staff. The second was with the Cleveland Browns, who hired Tabor as special teams coordinator in 2011, and he enjoyed success there — including coaching returner Josh Cribbs and kicker Phil Dawson, who each made Pro Bowl appearances in 2012. During his Browns tenure, the team led the NFL in punt return average, kickoff return average and was tied for sixth in punt return touchdowns (with four).

Tabor returned to the Bears for the special teams coordinator job in 2018, and then took the Panthers job in 2022.

Chris Tabor has been interim head coach before

This isn’t the first time Tabor has been tapped to be an interim head coach. The first came in Oct. 2021, when Bears head coach Matt Nagy tested positive for COVID-19.

His head coaching NFL debut, thus, came in Week 8 of the 2021 season. The Bears lost, 33-22, to the San Francisco 49ers.

Panthers new interim is animated

It’s tough to deduce exactly what the Panthers are going to get with Tabor at the helm — besides one thing:

They’re going to get intensity.

Tabor is calm and soft-spoken at the news conference podium, but he’s often the loudest coach at Panthers practice, and even at times runs with the kicking team during kickoff return “walk-throughs” to ensure the operation is working smoothly.

This will be a change of pace from Reich, who was always strategically stoic on the sideline.

This story was originally published November 27, 2023 2:17 PM.