Regarding the NFL coaching carousel, you never know where it will stop or who will land where. Sometimes a move is forecasted well in advance, other times moves can fall into place out of nowhere. Such is the case for the Carolina Panthers and their new head coach, Dave Canales.
Canales was most recently with the Tampa Bay Buccanneers as their offensive coordinator. Fresh off of helping the Bucs with the NFC South and a Wild Card round win over the Philadelphia Eagles, Canales is now taking his talents to a different NFC South team to be their head guy.
NFL World Reacts to Panthers Hiring Dave Canales
Canales did an excellent job getting the most out of quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers’ offense this year. As a result, he now gets the chance to come to Carolina and potentially have the same type of impact for Bryce Young and the Panthers’ offense.
A surprise! The #Panthers are closing in on a hire: It’s #Bucs OC Dave Canales as their new head coach, sources say. A first-time coordinator, his work in Tampa this year — especially with Baker Mayfield — stood out.
On to Bryce Young. pic.twitter.com/NEIGnt36O3
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 25, 2024
The feeling is that Canales is one of the better young offensive minds in the NFL. With the organization fresh off of taking Young with the No. 1 overall pick in last year’s draft, the hope is Canales will be able to get the most out of the young QB.
Dave Canales is a SPECTACULAR hire by the @Panthers specifically for Bryce Young. Canales helped relaunch the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield in back to back years by building the offense around their strengths in his west coast scheme. Excited to see him work with Bryce pic.twitter.com/39pgtu21pb
— Robert Griffin III (@RGIII) January 25, 2024
While it was a bit of a surprise to see Canales get the job, those around the NFL are excited about the potential he brings to the Panthers organization. One of those pumped up about it is former first-round pick and current NFL analyst Robert Griffin III.
MORE: Robert Griffin III Has High Praise for Chargers and Jim Harbaugh
“Dave Canales is a SPECTACULAR hire by the @Panthers specifically for Bryce Young. Canales helped relaunch the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield in back to back years by building the offense around their strengths in his west coast scheme. Excited to see him work with Bryce.”
Dave Canales is a brilliant hire for the Panthers if he wins a lot of football games but a horrendous one otherwise
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) January 25, 2024
Some are quick to point out that there is a huge potential swing in the outcome here with the idea that if it goes well, it will be looked upon fondly. Meanwhile, if it doesn’t, it may be looked at peculiarly in retrospect.
Like the Dave Canales hire based on his work as an OC but we don't even know if he'll be calling plays and that's just one part of the job. I'm not optimistic about Young but Canales got a good year out of Baker so who knows.
— Steven Ruiz (@theStevenRuiz) January 25, 2024
With Canales only having one year as an offensive coordinator under his belt, the feeling around the league is one of cautious optimism.
He was able to do some good things as the quarterbacks coach in Seattle with Geno Smith and the Seahawks. He then followed that up as the OC in Tampa with Mayfield.
What Canales can do with Young in Year 2 is largely the reason for the hire, and if the trend continues positively, the Panthers may have just struck gold with their latest HC hire.
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