Former Carolina Panthers special teams coordinator and interim head coach Chris Tabor may be headed back to the NFL.
According to ESPN senior insider Adam Schefter, Tabor has interviewed with the San Francisco 49ers for their special teams coordinator position. The 53-year-old was not part of an NFL staff during the 2024 season.
Before the year away, Tabor spent two seasons with the Panthers—beginning as the special teams coordinator in 2022. He would then be named the team’s interim head coach 12 weeks into the 2023 season, after the firing of first-year head coach Frank Reich.
The Panthers went 1-5 under Tabor during his interim stint.
Carolina’s special teams, per Rick Gosselin’s annual rankings, finished as the NFL’s fourth-best unit in 2022 and the ninth-worst in 2023.
Tabor was not brought back following the 2023 campaign after interviewing for the Panthers’ head-coaching vacancy.
He has also served as a special teams coordinator for the Chicago Bears (2018 to 2021) and the Cleveland Browns (2011 to 2017).
