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Panthers set to hire Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as new head coach
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- Panthers set to hire Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as new head coach
The Carolina Panthers are filling their coaching vacancy.
The team is set to hire Dave Canales – a move obviously designed to help the worst team in 2023, while having the parallel effect of damaging Carolina's rival, the NFC South champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers . Canales was the Bucs' offensive coordinator in 2023.
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The Panthers announced the move on Thursday night.
A relatively obscure assistant just a year ago, Canales is suddenly experiencing a meteoric rise. He joined Pete Carroll's staff with the Seattle Seahawks in 2010 and won a Super Bowl ring with the franchise while serving in a variety of capacities, including passing game coordinator and as Russell Wilson 's quarterback coach.
Dave Canales looks on during Tampa Bay Buccaneers training camp on July 30, 2023.
The Bucs hired Canales last year to reimagine – and balance their offense – in the aftermath of the pass-heavy approach used with Tom Brady prior to his retirement after the 2022 season. Tampa Bay didn't set the league on fire under Canales, finishing 20th in scoring (20.5 points per game) and 23rd in total offense (313.0 yards per game), but the attack was far less predictable and more complementary of the defense. Quarterback Baker Mayfield 's first campaign with the Buccaneers was one of his best, marked by efficient and largely turnover-free play.
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Canales' primary objective in Charlotte will be getting quarterback Bryce Young , the No. 1 pick of the 2023 draft, on track after a fairly disastrous rookie season. Young's renowned poise rarely cracked, and he was almost unwaveringly positive despite his team's league-worst 2-15 record. Yet his 73.7 passer rating ranked last among qualified quarterbacks. His 59.8% completion rate was second to last, while his 2,877 passing yards and 11 TD throws are near the bottom of the NFL's statistical barrel.
Young was also sacked 62 times, significant for a slender player who seems generously listed at 5-10 and 204 pounds. He missed one start with a sprained ankle. And it obviously didn't help to toggle from former head coach Frank Reich as his play caller to offensive coordinator Thomas Brown, then back to Reich, who reclaimed the role after handing it off for a few games … and then Brown again.
Canales and newly hired general manager Dan Morgan inherit a team that doesn't own the No. 1 pick of the 2024 draft after trading it to the Chicago Bears last year in the deal that allowed the Panthers to obtain Young.
Canales, who is Hispanic, also represents welcome diversity in a prominent NFL leadership position. The league has been roundly criticized, despite its Rooney Rule – which forces teams to interview minority candidates for open head coaching, coordinator and senior executive spots – for failing to hire more minorities into the league's most prominent off-field jobs.
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"As I look, I take a lot of pride in this as a Mexican-American," Caneles said last year, when he was the league's only Hispanic offensive coordinator.
He becomes the fifth head coach in NFL history with Latin American heritage, joining Tom Fears, Tom Flores, Ron Rivera, and Brian Flores.
Contributing: USA TODAY Sports' Lorenzo Reyes
Follow USA TODAY Sports' Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter @ByNateDavis .
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Panthers set to hire Dave Canales, from Buccaneers, as head coach
