Not only have the Panthers requested to interview Bucs assistant general manager Mike Greenberg for their vacant general manager job on Monday, but they have also requested permission to speak with Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales for their open head coaching position.
Is the Panthers’ plan to sabotage their NFC South rival by prying away their top football minds?
This is an interesting development, as Canales and the Bucs are preparing this week for their Monday Night Football playoff game against the Eagles. This may not be the only opportunity for the first-year play-caller to speak with other teams about head coaching vacancies, and this is yet another progression upward for the longtime Pete Carroll understudy.
Bucs OC Dave Canales Could Be A Hot HC Target
Offensive coordinator Dave Canales is the latest of the league’s young offensive minds to receive consideration for a head coaching gig. While the Panthers are surely just casting a wide net for their head coach and general manager positions, it is worth noting that this request is not necessarily surprising. The 33rd team recently put Canales on their list of the top NFL head coaching candidates.
The 42-year-old Canales is in his first year in Tampa Bay, but based on his work in Seattle and with one season with the Bucs, teams may covet him for his personality and successful work with veteran quarterbacks.
In 2022, he helped to resurrect Geno Smith’s career when many wrote him off, and his latest project of turning Baker Mayfield around has gone well as Mayfield has set career highs in passing yards (4,044) and touchdowns (28) while guiding the Bucs to a 9-8 record.
Not only does he have the pedigree of getting the most out of quarterbacks, but Dave Canales is known for being energetic and positive. When you listen to his weekly press conferences, you can get the sense that he carries himself like someone who could one day lead a football team. While the results on offense for the Bucs this season have not always been linear, Canales has continued to grow and lean on the veteran assistants as he learns on the fly.
There were rough patches, but the offense came to life late in the season, most notably putting up 34 and 30 points in respective wins over the Packers and Jaguars. He more than has the potential to be a head coach, but is he ready, and would the Panthers be willing to offer him the job and take a chance on him?
Would Dave Canales Leave The Bucs For Panthers’ HC Gig?
When looking at the direction of the Panthers, it does not look too promising. After the team gave up a massive haul for quarterback Bryce Young in last year’s draft, he failed to impress as a rookie, albeit with little talent around him. Young finished the season with just 2,877 passing yards and 11 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
On the offensive side of the ball, the unit lacks a big playmaker, especially after trading away wide receiver D.J. Moore in the package to get Young. Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders form an adequate – if unspectacular – 1-2 punch at running back, while Adam Thielen is 33 years old and the rest of the receiving corps lacks a lot of firepower.
Would Dave Canales leave all of the relationships he has built in Tampa Bay to be put in this situation? It looks unlikely, but as is the argument with Greenberg, there are only so many of these positions available to go around.
Canales has gone on record this season for saying just how much he has learned from head coach Todd Bowles and the chance Bowles took on hiring him as offensive coordinator.
This, and the fact that he loves to talk about and work with Baker Mayfield, Mike Evans, and many of the other Bucs’ offensive players.
After just one year, it’s hard to see him leaving it all behind. But again, anything can happen, which is why PewterReport.com will have you covered for everything that comes out in what is lining up to be an action-packed 2024 offseason. Stay tuned for the latest updates.
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