Panthers lose assistant coaches Jake Peetz, DJ Mangas to LSU offensive staff
Three days into the offseason and the Carolina Panthers have already lost two assistant coach.
Quarterback coach Jake Peetz and offensive assistant DJ Mangas have accepted jobs with LSU under Ed Orgeron, LSU announced Wednesday. Peetz will be the Tigers offensive coordinator, while Mangas will work with him as the passing game coordinator.
“Both Jake and DJ come highly recommended from one of the premier and innovative offensive coaches in the game in Joe Brady,” Orgeron said in a statement. “Jake brings 10 years of NFL experience with him to our staff. He spent a season coaching alongside and learning from Joe (Brady), so we couldn’t be more excited about Jake joining our staff. His knowledge of football combined with the players we have on our roster, will make for a dynamic offense for LSU in 2021.”
Both coaches spent the 2020 season working under Panthers offensive coordinator Brady, who was the Tigers’ passing game coordinator during their national championship run with Heisman Trophy winner Joe Burrow in 2019.
Peetz spent the 2019 season as the Panthers running back coach and was one of a couple of holdovers from Ron Rivera’s coaching staff. Prior to that, he was an offensive analyst at Alabama and held a variety of offensive coaching positions in the NFL.
Mangas is one of Brady’s closest friends and a former roommate. He worked with him closely at LSU, as well, as an offensive analyst. He was also with Brady at William & Mary, playing as a quarterback and wide receiver. Mangas then served as running backs coach at his alma mater from 2014-16 before being elevated to offensive coordinator for two years from 2017-18
The Panthers may also lose Brady, who interviewed for the Houston Texans head-coaching job Tuesday. He also met with the Atlanta Falcons about their head coaching job Wednesday, per an NFL Network report, and is expected to interview with the Los Angeles Chargers for their opening.
Carolina’s quarterback room this season included Teddy Bridgewater, P.J. Walker. Will Grier and Tommy Stevens. Bridgewater had a difficult second half of the season, as the offense struggled to have a dominant level of production. In his last five games in the red zone, he completed 6-of-17 passes (35.3%) for 32 yards, one touchdown, three interceptions and two rushing touchdowns.
During the 2019 season when Peetz was running back coach, Christian McCaffrey became the third player in NFL history to have 1,000 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards in a single season.
This season, Carolina’s offense finished with four players totaling over 1,000 scrimmage yards — DJ Moore, Robby Anderson, Curtis Samuel and Mike Davis — becoming the fifth team in the Super Bowl era to do so. In 2020, the Panthers offense was 21st in net yards (349.5) and 24th in points per game (24.9).
Panthers head coach Matt Rhule said he hopes to have clarity on his coaching staff for 2021 over the next couple of weeks.
“I think we’ll have some chances for some guys might have some opportunities that they might feel are right for them,” Rhule said Monday. “I’m excited for them if it’s a good opportunity, whether it’s chance to be a head coach, whether it’s a chance to call plays. I think those are valuable opportunities that guys have to at least look at. I think we’ll have some guys that have some things maybe rumbling around the next week or so and then, hopefully, by the end of this week or into next week, we’ll know exactly where we are staff-wise.”
This story was originally published January 4, 2021 at 3:54 PM with the headline "Panthers lose assistant coaches Jake Peetz, DJ Mangas to LSU offensive staff."
