Panthers hire Bucs OC Canales as new coach

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers have hired Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as head coach, the team announced Thursday.

Terms of the deal were not announced, but a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that the contract is for six years.

The Panthers hope Canales, 42, can do for Bryce Young what he did for quarterbacks Russell Wilson, Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield.

“Dave’s background is rooted in success,” Panthers owner David Tepper said in a statement. “He has an innovative mindset and positive energy that connects well with players and staff. We are impressed with his ability to bring out the best in players.”

Canales took to social media shortly after his hiring was announced Thursday.

Excited for what’s to come but right now just thankful for my time with the @Buccaneers ! Amazing fans and organization. Thanks to Coach Bowles, the staff and the amazing players that I was honored to work with! I’ll be rootin for ya 15 weeks out of the year! Thank You!!!

— Dave Canales (@TheCoachCanales) January 26, 2024

“Excited for what’s to come but right now just thankful for my time with the Buccaneers,” he wrote. “Amazing fans and organization. Thanks to Coach [Todd] Bowles, the staff and the amazing players that I was honored to work with! I’ll be rootin for ya 15 weeks out of the year! Thank You!!!”

Canales had his second interview with the Panthers on Wednesday in Charlotte, where he met with Tepper, new general manager Dan Morgan and others on the search committee. Canales and Morgan will report directly to Tepper, the team said.

“I’m excited to work alongside Dave again,” Morgan said. “His background coaching multiple position groups has given him a great understanding of what it takes to build a successful team. His infectious personality resonates with players and everyone who comes in contact with him. I’m confident that will translate to the field.”

Morgan spent eight years with Canales on the Seattle Seahawks‘ staff from 2010 to ’17 when Canales was the wide receivers coach. Familiarity with Morgan and being a disciple of former Seattle head coach Pete Carroll was a factor.

Canales started with Carroll as USC’s strength and conditioning coach in 2009 and followed him to Seattle. Carroll said at the 2023 NFL combine in Indianapolis that losing Canales to Tampa Bay was big for his organization. He isn’t surprised by Canales’ rise through the coaching ranks.

“Dave is a guy who, for me, I have always gone to him to communicate with him, because he has great vision and great insights and he works really, really well with people,” Carroll said. “And, so, he’s been an integral part of our process along the way.

“So to me he’s going to be highly successful.”

Canales was the passing game coordinator for the Seahawks in 2020 when Wilson set career highs with 40 touchdowns and a 68.8 completion percentage and also passed for 4,212 yards.

He was the quarterbacks coach for Seattle in 2022 when Smith passed for a career-high 4,282 yards and 30 touchdowns with a 69.8 completion percentage.

He was the offensive coordinator at Tampa Bay this season when Mayfield, who spent the previous season with the Panthers, had a career-high 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 64.3 completion percentage.

Canales will inherit Young, the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, who had statistically one of the worst seasons in NFL history for a quarterback taken with the top pick.

The Panthers went 2-14 in Young’s 16 starts (he missed one game because of an ankle injury). He passed for 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions with a 59.8 completion percentage. His QBR (33.3) ranked 29th of 30 qualified quarterbacks, better only than Zach Wilson of the New York Jets at 30.5.

Canales heads to a Carolina team that had an NFL-worst 2-15 record in 2023 and has had six straight losing seasons since Tepper purchased it in 2018.

The Panthers entered the search with Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson as their top target, per a league source. But multiple sources said Johnson favored at least one other team, the Washington Commanders, over Carolina even though he is a native of the Carolinas.

Johnson would not have been available for an in-person interview until after Sunday’s NFC Championship Game against the San Francisco 49ers.

Canales replaces Frank Reich, who was fired just 11 games into his first season as the team’s head coach after he received a four-year contract.

Week 1 in 2024 will mark the Panthers’ third coach in as many years (Matt Rhule in 2022, Reich in 2023). Including interim coaches — Steve Wilks in 2022, Chris Tabor in 2023 — Canales will be the fifth coach for the Panthers since 2022.

ESPN’s Jenna Laine contributed to this report.