The Carolina Panthers are hoping Canales has the offensive mind to get the best of their quarterback investment.
The Carolina Panthers have hired Dave Canales to be their next head coach. There were murmurs that he was doing really well in interviews, and the Panthers brought him in for a second one a few days ago. He clearly impressed ownership and new general manager Dan Morgan enough that they offered him the job.
We profiled Dave Canales on this very same Cat Scratch Reader website exactly one week ago. You can read some finer details of his rise in there, but the long and short of it as that Canales served under Pete Carroll in a variety of roles both in his last season at USC and with the Seattle Seahawks. He left the Carroll nest in 2023 to be the Tampa Buccaneers offensive coordinator, where he had great success.
Canales’s track record with quarterback is probably the most appealing item on his resume for people on the outside. He took over the role of quarterbacks coach in Seattle for the 2018 season. In that season, Russell Wilson improved his completion percentage, yards per attempt, touchdown rate, and interception rate over his previous two seasons. He set a career best mark in passer rating that season. Wilson continued to play near MVP levels until he started to unravel late in his tenure.
With Wilson out of the picture, the Seahawks turned to long time journeyman backup Geno Smith to function as a bridge quarterback until they could find someone better. With Canales back at quarterbacks coach after two years with the passing game coordinator title, Smith had a career resurgence. Prior to the 2022 season, he had thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in his career. As a full time starter with Canales as his quarterbacks coach, he threw for 30 touchdowns against just 11 interceptions, made the Pro Bowl, and was top 10 in MVP voting. After Canales left for the Bucs job, Smith’s completion percentage, touchdown rate, yards per attempt, and QBR all regressed. He was still good, but there wasn’t the same pop that was there when Canales was present for the 2022 season.
Canales entered a situation in Tampa that was not dissimilar to his last season in Seattle. The Buccaneers signed Baker Mayfield as a perceived bridge quarterback going into a season with almost no expectations. Instead, the Bucs made the playoffs and won a game with Mayfield at the helm. Mayfield threw for over 4,000 yards with 28 touchdowns to just 10 interceptions. He took an offense that went from Tom Brady to Baker Mayfield and didn’t let it miss a beat. If anything, it improved a bit.
It was a huge turnaround for Mayfield, who had seemingly lost his way after a strong third season in Cleveland. He had thrown 27 touchdowns to 21 interceptions in his previous two seasons while barely completing 60% of his passes. Under Canales in Tampa, the touchdowns and efficiency increased while the interceptions decreased.
The next challenge for Canales will be to orchestrate that same kind of turnaround with Bryce Young and the Panthers offense. His track record suggests he can. If he can’t, it should at the very least provide some clarity on the quarterback situation long term. Regardless of what direction that goes, Canales should be able to make it work.