Dec 15, 2024; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales in the second quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Is Dave Canales the most-important element for the Carolina Panthers in 2025?

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Russell Baxter | Last updated Jun 8, 2025 5:10 PM ET

In 2009, Dave Canales was an assistant strength coach for USC head coach Pete Carroll. One year later, both were with the Seattle Seahawks.

Canales would serve various roles for Carroll in 13 seasons in the Pacific Northwest. From offensive quality control coach, to wide receivers coach, to quarterbacks coach, to passing game coordinator. In 2023, he was hired to be the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator. In 2024, he was named the head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

Lou Scataglia of NFL Spin Zone recently expressed his opinions on who was the X-Factor for each of the 32 NFL teams. When it came to the Panthers, the choice was the club’s head coach.

“Dave Canales has worked his magic with both Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield,” said Scataglia, “and did seem to squeeze something out of Bryce Young in 2024. Can he help push Young over the edge and turn him into a franchise QB in 2025?”

In his final season with the Seahawks in 2022, Canales was the club’s quarterbacks’ coach. Smith inherited the starter’s role with the trade of Russell Wilson to Denver. The 2013 second-round pick of the New York Jets enjoyed a career campaign. He started all 17 games, threw 30 TD passes and just 11 interceptions, was named to the Pro Bowl, and was the NFL Comeback Player of the Year. The Seahawks also reached the playoffs.

In his only season in Tampa in 2023, Mayfield also blossomed under his guidance after an up-and-down start to his career. He threw for 4,044 yards and 28 scores, career-best numbers at the time which were eclipsed in 2024.

Just two games into Canales’s tenure in Carolina, he benched the first pick in the 2023 NFL draft. Young would wind up returning and starting the final 10 games. He finished with 2,104 yards through the air, and totaled nearly twice as many touchdown tosses (15) as turnovers (8). Young also ran for 223 yards and five scores, and looked like a player that had regained his confidence.

So far, Carolina’s X-factor has done an extraordinary job in a very short time.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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