We waited, and now it’s official.
The Carolina Panthers have now announced the hiring of Dave Canales as their new head coach. News of the decision first surfaced early Thursday afternoon, courtesy of NFL Network insider Ian Rapoport.
A second search in as many seasons for owner David Tepper and company didn’t have to span too far, as Canales comes over from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. In his first and only season as the division rival’s offensive coordinator, he helped push quarterback Baker Mayfield to a career campaign and the team to their third straight NFC South title.
Mayfield hasn’t been the only quarterback to thrive under Canales. He had a hand in the same for Russell Wilson and Geno Smith, both of whom were the starters when Canales was a part of the Seattle Seahawks coaching staff.
He spent a total of 13 seasons in Seattle—where he served as the wide receivers coach (2010 to 2017), quarterbacks coach (2018 to 2019, 2022) and passing game coordinator (2020 to 2021). Eight of those seasons were spent alongside former Seahawks executive and new Panthers president of football operations/general manager Dan Morgan.
Carolina is fresh off a franchise-worst 15-loss campaign—one that started with Frank Reich at the helm. Reich, last offseason’s hire, was dismissed after winning just one of the first 11 games in his short-lived tenure.
Canales is now the seventh full-time head coach in franchise history—joining Reich, Matt Rhule, Ron Rivera, John Fox, George Seifert and Dom Capers.
