The Detroit Lions have lost a second assistant to the Carolina Panthers.
Todd Wash, who served the past two seasons as Lions defensive line coach, is joining the Panthers in the same role, the Panthers announced Thursday.
Wash, 54, worked alongside Panthers senior defensive assistant Dom Capers with both the Lions and the Jacksonville Jaguars, where he was defensive coordinator in 2016-20.
With the Lions, Wash oversaw a defensive line that made significant strides in the pass rush department this season despite playing several rookies in key roles.
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First-round pick Aidan Hutchinson led all NFL rookies with a team-high 9.5 sacks, sixth-round pick James Houston had eight sacks in seven games and second-rounder Josh Paschal had two sacks. The Lions had 39 sacks as a team and finished 19th in sack percentage (6.96%) after finishing 30th in the NFL with 30 sacks in 2021.
Duce Staley, the Lions’ assistant head coach and running backs coach the past two seasons, left for the same position with the Panthers earlier this winter.
Staley previously worked with new Panthers coach Frank Reich with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.