Pete Carroll gushes over process for Panthers coach Dave Canales

The newest Raiders head coach had nothing but praise for Dave Canales.

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll on radio row during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Perhaps there is no NFL coach who knows Dave Canales better (or anyone in the NFL) than Pete Carroll. The Carolina Panthers head coach got his start under Carroll with the Seattle Seahawks. In fact, Canales' first coaching gig was with Carroll at USC in 2009, and he followed the coach to the NFL.

Canales worked as an offensive assistant under Carroll for 13 seasons before he became the offensive coordinator in Tampa Bay and then the head coach in Carolina. The Panthers hired him on a skyrocketing trajectory, but the new Las Vegas Raiders coach believes Canales has a sound base for coaching.

Via Joe Person of The Athletic, Carroll said of their time together, "He never fought the process. He was always drawing from the process and became an articulate defender and presenter and proponent of what we were doing. It was obvious."

Feb 25, 2025; Indianapolis, IN, USA; Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales speaks during the NFL Scouting Combine at the Indiana Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The 73-year-old coach added that he "goes into that (Panthers) job with a structure and a philosophy and an outlook and a vision for what he wanted to create." Noted Carroll, "And he’s a good enough communicator, he can make sense of it." Canales enters year two as an NFL head coach after a 5-12 record in his first season.

The Panthers, however, believe they have their man. They've been turning over head coaches recently, hiring and firing Matt Rhule and Frank Reich (the latter after just 11 games) to try and find someone who could turn them around. Canales seems to have been given the reins and more importantly the time to do just that by owner David Tepper.

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