After firing their head coach in each of the last two seasons, the Carolina Panthers are certainly hoping that their next hire will last longer. The team announced that Buccaneers OC Dave Canales was named their head coach on Thursday.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport first reported the deal was close to done. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Canales would get a six-year contract.
Canales, 42, spent the 2023 season as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator, marking the first time he served as a coordinator beyond the high school level.
With Canales calling the plays, quarterback Baker Mayfield had a resurgent season, throwing for 4,044 yards, 28 touchdowns and 10 interceptions for the NFC South champion Bucs.
The Buccaneers also upset the reigning NFC champion Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Wild Card Round of the playoffs, and the offense was a big reason why, with Mayfield throwing for 337 yards, three touchdowns and no picks.
Canales will be taking over a Carolina team that finished with the worst record in the NFL this past season at 2-15. The Panthers would’ve had the No. 1 pick in the 2024 draft, but they traded it to the Chicago Bears last year to move up and select 2023 No. 1 pick Bryce Young.
Young struggled during his rookie season behind a shaky offensive line. In 16 games, he was sacked a whopping 62 times, which ranked second in the NFL. He completed 59.8 percent of his passes for 2,877 yards, 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. To make matters worse, he was thoroughly outplayed by multiple quarterbacks in the 2023 draft class, such as Houston Texans star C.J. Stroud.
Amid the team’s struggles this past season, Panthers owner David Tepper fired head coach Frank Reich following a 1-10 start. The move came barely a year after Tepper had fired former head coach Matt Rhule.
Now, the onus will be on Canales to turn things around in Carolina. The team hasn’t made the playoffs or finished with a winning record since 2017, so it won’t be an easy task.
David Tepper’s dysfunction is Dave Canales’s windfall.
Per multiple reports, the new Panthers coach will get a six-year contract. That’s happened in recent years after a team has gotten trigger happy with coaching changes and needs to create a sense of stability.
In 2017, the 49ers did it after a pair of one-and-done coaches (Jim Tomsula and Chip Kelly), signing Kyle Shanahan to a six-year contract. Last year, the Texans gave DeMeco Ryans a six-year commitment after firing David Culley after one year, and Lovie Smith after one year.
In theory, the buyout obligation will keep an owner from doing something impulsive. But the Panthers owner will do whatever he wants to do, regardless of what it costs him to do it. This is more about enhancing the financial commitment to make the job more attractive to a coach who accepts the job knowing that it could be a short-term assignment. The greater the buyout, the more palatable an early exit becomes.
Tepper has a habit of firing coaches quickly, both with his football team and his soccer team. If Canales doesn’t win within the first couple of years, he’ll be the next.
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