It’s not exactly a secret that the Carolina Panthers have one of the most trigger-happy owners in all of sports in David Tepper, who of late has given a short leash to just about everyone associated with the franchise. Following a disastrously bad last two seasons, Carolina has essentially gone through four coaches in just that short span. Now with the hiring of the young offensive coordinator for Tampa Bay in Dave Canales, Tepper must learn to exercise patience with both his young quarterback and new head coach.
Canales was one of the top young offensive minds available going into this coaching cycle and thought it was a bit of a surprise hire, it was certainly the right one. When looking to establish an identity, one which Carolina lacks, snagging a young and motivated guy like Canales makes perfect sense. With a track record that includes a Russell Wilson dream season and rebirths for both quarterbacks Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield, Canales has proven to be able to come in and provide quarterbacks with an opportunity to succeed within this Shanahan style offense. The number one urgency of this franchise is surrounding quarterback Bryce Young with talent on the offensive line and with more weapons than what is currently rostered, on top of getting Young to discontinue his up and down play that we saw last season.
This is not going to be an overnight fix by any means, this team is severely lacking in depth on both sides of the ball and do not possess a first round pick until 2025 after trading this years away for their current quarterback. Canales and new general manager Dan Morgan are going to need to follow a tight path in order to strengthen the depth along the offensive line and defense as well as address the woeful group of weapons surrounding Young.
Barring a miracle by Canales his is going to be at minimum a two year project before we really start to see the fruits of the upcoming labor that will define this new duo. Tepper will be wells served to go hands off, resisting his past behaviors of forcing players onto the roster and cutting loose coaches at the drop of the hat. The less interference by an owner has been historically successful, and allowing these two talented and seasoned men in Canales and Morgen build to the best of their ability is going to be key in snapping the nightmare that has been the Tepper regime so far.
