The 2026 NFL Hall of Fame Game saw the Carolina Panthers defeat the Arizona Cardinals with a 33-30 score at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium. However, despite the win, the Panthers’ surprising change of taking away the defensive play-calling duties from defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero left everyone in surprise.

“[Dave] Canales said Jonathan Cooley called the defense tonight,” The Athletic’s Joe Person noted on X.

Passing game coordinator and secondary coach Jonathan Cooley called the defensive plays instead. He has been with the team since 2023.

This isn’t the first time the Panthers gave Jonathan Cooley a chance to call defensive plays. Back in 2024 during a preseason game against the Bills, he took charge of the defense in the second half of Carolina’s 31-26 win.

Jonathan Cooley joined the Carolina Panthers in February 2023. Before that, he worked with defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero for two seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Their time together helped them build a strong working relationship. Cooley also gained important experience with the Rams, who won Super Bowl 56 in the 2021 season.

During that season, he worked with Evero, who coached the Rams’ secondary. Cooley started his college coaching career at Kentucky as a defensive graduate assistant from 2015-16.

Cooley started his coaching career at Kentucky, working as a defensive graduate assistant from 2015 to 2016. He then became a defensive backs coach at Tennessee at Chattanooga in 2017. Under his coaching, the team had a strong defense and led the Southern Conference in both total defense and pass defense.

All this experience helped the Panthers trust him with bigger coaching duties.

But the Panthers’ defense also had problems. It gave up 30 points and allowed rookie Carson Beck and later Kedon Slovis to move the ball well. Beck completed 15 of 19 passes for 188 yards and one touchdown without an interception, while Slovis threw for 106 yards and one touchdown. Arizona put together several long scoring drives, showing the Panthers’ defense still has areas to improve.

Despite difficulties, the Panthers managed to win the Hall of Fame game. Their defensive lineup also looks solid ahead of the game. Derrick Brown remains an important part of the Panthers’ defensive line. Carolina also added Bobby Brown III, Tershawn Wharton, Cam Jackson and LaBryan Ray to give the line more strength and depth. At linebacker, the Panthers added Devin Lloyd and also have Nic Scourton to add more talent to the defense.

Now, let’s wait and see if they can transition the same success on the field or not in the 2026 season.