AC Carter begins his first season with Carolina as the outside linebackers coach, joining the Panthers after spending the last two seasons (2023-24) with the Los Angeles Rams as their assistant defensive line coach. Carter brings 10 years of coaching experience to the Panthers, including four in the NFL.
Working with a young defensive line in his second season (2024), Carter helped defensive end Kobie Turner build on his stellar rookie season as the first-year team captain recorded 8.0 sacks and 62 total tackles. His 10 tackles for loss career-high, while his four multi-sack games in his first two seasons tied him with Sean Gilbert for the most by a Ram. Carter also helped bring out the success of a notable rookie. Defensive end Braden Fiske finished with 8.5 sacks, the third-most by a rookie in franchise history, while his three multi-sack games were the most by a Rams' rookie. Fiske joined Shaquille Leonard as the only two players since 2000 to record at least 6.0 sacks, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries in their first 11 games.
In his first season in Los Angeles (2023), Carter helped the Rams defense rank in the top half of the league in opponent rushing yards allowed, rushing touchdowns allowed and defensive total rush EPA. He also played an essential role in the development of rookie defensive lineman Kobie Turner, who had a record-breaking first season and became a finalist for the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Turner finished the regular season with 9.0 sacks, tying Aaron Donald for the most sacks by a rookie in Rams history and becoming the only rookie in franchise history to lead the team in sacks. Among rookie defensive players in 2023, Turner finished first in sacks, third in quarterback hits, tied for fourth in tackles for loss, fifth in pressures and hurries, eighth in tackles and 10th in snaps played. In his final season, perennial All-Pro defensive lineman Aaron Donald passed Pat Swilling for 28th all-time in NFL history in sacks, and Julius Peppers for the third-most tackles for loss in NFL history. Donald finished the 2023 season ranked ninth in pressures and tied for fourth in hurries.
Carter joined the Rams after spending the 2022 season as the defensive quality control coach for the Denver Broncos. He coached for a top-10 defensive unit in Denver that finished the 2022 season sixth in yards per play (5.04), seventh in yards allowed per game (320.0), 10th in rush yards allowed per game (109.8), 11th in yards per rush (4.26) and 12th in pass yards allowed per game (21.2). The Broncos' defense also ranked second in opponent third down conversion rate (34.1%), seventh in opponent red zone efficiency (51.1%) and tied for 10th in interceptions (15).
Prior to joining the Broncos staff, Carter spent two seasons as a graduate assistant and defensive assistant at the University of Kansas. He was set to become the defensive line coach at the University of Tennessee Martin before deciding to join the Broncos' staff.
Before his time with the Jayhawks, Carter coached the defensive tackles at Hampton University for one season in 2019. He mentored two All-Big South Conference players, Andy Matthews and Desmond Sturdivant, and his unit contributed to a defense that ranked second in fewest rushing yards allowed (1,788), third in sacks (29), and tied for third in yards per rush (4.51).
Carter's start in college coaching came at his alma mater, Eastern Illinois, where he served as a graduate assistant and director of football operations (2017) before being promoted to defensive line coach (2018). During his tenure at EIU, he helped guide two players to All-Ohio Valley Conference honors.
Carter got his start coaching high school football in Louisiana, first as the assistant head coach/co-defensive coordinator at Sophie B. Wright (La.) Charter School (2015), and later as the offensive line and tight ends coach at Riverdale (La.) High School (2016).
Carter graduated from Nicholls State in 2015 with a bachelor's degree in human performance education. He also earned a master's degree in technology from Eastern Illinois in 2018.
