Making the Case for Dave Canales in Carolina

Why the Bucs offensive coordinator should be the next head coach in Carolina.

After bowing out at the hands (paws?) of the Detroit Lions, all eyes in Tampa Bay are now on offensive coordinator Dave Canales. Canales, 42, is a hot head coaching candidate that would be a great hire for any franchise. 

His coaching background is pretty limited. In 2006, Canales began coaching at El Camino College in California. During his time at the junior college level, Canales befriended at the time University of Southern California head coach Pete Carroll. Carroll hired Canales onto the Seahawks staff in 2010, and Canales worked in the Pacific Northwest as a quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator before making the move to Tampa Bay in 2023. 

For more background on Canales' read Sports Illustrated's Conor Orr's profile on the life of the coaching candidate. 

When it comes to on the field matters, Canales has been a part of the league's best reclamation projects of 2022 and 2023.

In 2022, Geno Smith was tabbed as the starting quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks with little to no expectations. Smith was brought in to be a veteran presence to fill the hole left by franchise legend Russell Wilson who was traded to Denver in the offseason. The intention was for Smith to shepherd the franchise through a season that was supposed to end with a high draft pick and a shiny new quarterback like Bryce Young or CJ Stroud. 

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Enter Canales.

Geno Smith set the league ablaze in 2022, setting career highs in every major passing statistic, winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year, and leading Seattle to the playoffs in a season when they were projected by Las Vegas to win 5.5 games. 

Canales formulated an offense alongside offensive coordinator Shane Waldron that accentuated the talents of elite wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett married to Smith's elite anticipation an accuracy that former coaches couldn't pull out of him. 

The 2022 Seahawks offensive success led to Canales being hired as the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay in 2023.

The coordinator job in Tampa Bay was looked at as damage goods last offseason. Tom Brady had just retired and potential coaches were looking at a season with unproven sophomore Kyle Trask or left-for-dead Baker Mayfield under center. Panthers' fans are all too familiar with Mayfield and his short-comings. Carolina gave up on Mayfield after half a season of starts in Process Blue and have only seen him thrive elsewhere. 

Canales stood on business and took a job that many of his colleagues passed on. 

What ensued was a magical season for Tampa Bay that saw Baker Mayfield be resurrected into a top-five quarterback in the NFC. Sure, Tampa still touted elite wide receivers in Mike Evans and Chris Godwin, but Canales' ability to create an offense with the Buccaneers' porous offensive line should turn heads in Carolina. 

His' last two seasons should prove his merit as a head coaching candidate. 

Think about the current situation in Carolina and how Canales could provide a lift to a franchise in turmoil. 

It starts at the quarterback position. Bryce Young hasn't played nearly enough football to be deemed a reclamation project like Smith or Mayfield, but his disappointing rookie season may bring pause to coaches interviewing for the job. There may not be a coaching candidate to trust more in this cycle to bring out the best in Bryce Young than Dave Canales. 

On top of his elite offensive acumen, Canales' time spent under Pete Carroll in Seattle gave him a front row seat to watch one of the greatest coaches of this generation do his job. Seattle has been a pillar of consistency in Carroll's time and if even a whiff of Carroll's leadership skills rubbed off on Canales, he'd be more that just a brilliant offensive mind. 

Think of an antonym of "pillar of consistency," and it will be an apt metaphor for what has happened on Mint Street in the last five years. Combine Canales' play-calling and offense-building skills with the leadership and mentoring skills of Pete Carroll, and Carolina may have their next head coach. 

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