For Dave Canales, it’s all about the money . . . sorta.
The new Carolina Panthers head coach met with reporters at the Annual League Meeting on Tuesday morning in Orlando, Fla. Canales, of course, spoke about his quarterback Bryce Young—whom he has gotten to know quite a bit thus far.
“We just try to connect on a personal level, and then what I’m trying to do is I’m trying to just build that emotional currency because I’m going to need to start drawing from that as we start to face challenges to get into the offseason,” Canales said, via Panthers.com. “You know, we start to talk about footwork and talk about protections and critiquing this and that. I think the more that we can create a relationship, it really softens the message versus when it’s just like player-coach, it’s kind of clunky, and it’s a little bit abrasive when it’s just like you’re constantly just correcting these football things, but you don’t have the basis of a relationship to lean on.”
Part of that relationship-building process, per Canales, has included some long talks—with topics ranging from their SoCal backgrounds to Young’s rough rookie campaign. 2023 saw its No. 1 overall pick average just 179.8 passing yards per game with 11 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
But Canales, who has a proven track record of getting the most out of his quarterbacks, has already begun his quest to get Young on track.
“I think that’s one of the things that I’ve learned about him,” he added. “He’s like, I’m glad I went through this past year. I’m glad I had the challenges of this because this is very different than anything that I’ve experienced up to this point, you know, and to feel him and to hear his hopefulness for where we’re headed, it’s exactly what you would hope to hear from your quarterback and, and from a guy that, that sees the best for himself going forward.”
