Diontae Johnson Had Dinner with Dave Canales, Had No Idea He Coached the Panthers

Mike McDaniel | Apr 25, 2024

New Carolina Panthers wide receiver Diontae Johnson met with the media on Thursday for the first time since being traded to the franchise in March.

Johnson will be suiting up this fall for new coach Dave Canales, but Johnson had no idea who his new coach was, even after going to dinner with him for the first time.

Johnson explained the debacle in hilarious fashion.

"Dave? He's cool," Johnson began. "To be honest, at first I didn't know he was the head coach. I went out to dinner with him and he was just talking and there's this energy he brings. And after the dinner...somebody told me he was the head coach and I was like 'Oh!' I was so surprised. But other than that, I love his energy, and I'm excited to play for him."

Diontae Johnson didn’t know Dave Canales was the #Panthers head coach until after their first dinner together concluded 😅 pic.twitter.com/McyxBIjp81

— Michael Rimmer (@avl_mike) April 23, 2024

Johnson will be a key part of Carolina's offense next season under Canales, and will be looking to improve a Panthers offense that was woeful last season.

In 77 career regular season games across five seasons, he has caught 391 passes for 4,363 yards and 25 touchdowns.