Longtime Panthers position coach will retire, league source confirms replacement
Carolina Panthers running backs coach Jim Skipper is retiring after a 32-year NFL career, the team announced on Wednesday morning.
A league source told the Observer on Wednesday afternoon that the replacement for Skipper’s position will be former Oakland and Alabama assistant Jake Peetz.
Peetz, 35, spent the 2018 season as an offensive analyst for Alabama and helped implement run-pass option concepts into the offense with quarterback Tua Tagovailoa. He also was the Raiders’ quarterbacks coach in 2017.
Skipper, 70, coached running backs in Carolina for 15 seasons, leading Panthers rushing greats Jonathan Stewart, DeAngelo Williams and Christian McCaffrey among others.
Skipper was also an important part of the pre-draft evaluation process of McCaffrey, who was selected No. 8 overall by Carolina in the 2017 NFL draft.
“He believed in me from the jump,” McCaffrey said according to the Panthers’ in-house media. “That meant more than anything. You develop a special bond with someone when you know they have your back. I’m going to miss the heck out of him. He had a huge influence on the start of my NFL career.”
Known as “Skip” to players and coaches alike, Skipper was extremely well-respected in NFL circles throughout his career. He coached for five different NFL teams as well as serving a brief stint as a head coach in the XFL. A Louisiana native, Skipper began his NFL coaching career in 1986 for the New Orleans Saints.
In Skipper’s time in Carolina, he was a member of both Super Bowl appearance staffs. The Panthers also had a 30-game streak of 100-yard rushing games under Skipper from 2014-16 – the longest streak in the NFL since the Steelers in the 1970s.
“Skip is special, he really is,” said head coach Ron Rivera. “This game is about people, and when you are fortunate enough to have a person like him working with you, I think it really helps your career. I know he has helped mine tremendously.
“He was a coach in the old XFL and has so much experience and knowledge coaching for as long as he did. He has helped me a great deal along the way, and I know a lot of players feel the same way.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2019 at 12:23 PM.
