Can Dave Canales help turn around the Panthers? | Zero Blitz
Yahoo Sports' Jason Fitz and Charles McDonald discuss Carolina's choice for its new head coach - and if the longtime offensive assistant, who's helped turn around the careers of Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield - will get the chance to do the same for the Panthers. Hear the full conversation on the “Zero Blitz” podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
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JASON FITZ: Dave Canales, by the way, the Bucs offensive coordinator, speaking of quarterbacks, really has made his money reviving careers, right? His work with Baker Mayfield this year particularly has been incredible. He signs a deal to become the new Panthers head coach. It's only interesting to me because it shouldn't have come out of left field, but it sort of felt like it came out of left field. Because Canales wasn't getting the same level of hype some other guys were getting. And do you like this fit, especially for Bryce Young?
CHARLES MCDONALD: Yeah, I like the fit. I mean, you've got to be realistic, too, if you're the Panthers. Based on how the past few years have been run for you and how bashful David Tepper has been at times, it might not be easy for you to go out and get the top guy on the market. To be quite frank, your offense is horrendous. You don't have a first-round pick. You have free agents that you need to settle with. You're not flowing-- overflowing with cap space this year.
And you have to sell people on this being a credible operation, which it really doesn't look right now. You could have done worse than Dave Canales. I think that this is probably a fast rise for him, but it's probably the right spot for him at the same time when you think about the fact that Carolina is probably going to take a swing at a little bit of an unknown factor. But, hey, he was there in Seattle for the Geno Smith resurrection. He helped Baker Mayfield get his career back on track to the point that the Buccaneers are openly talking about trying to get a contract with him done this offseason.
Seems like a good spot to me. Does he have a promise from David Tepper that he won't get fired after one year? Because they're so far away. Think about how bad the NFC South was this year. When you go 2 and 15 in a division where the division winner was 9 and 8, and you almost had an 8 and 9 team go to the playoffs, it's going to take a couple of years to get the thing moving back.
JASON FITZ: One thing I like about this hire is that it doesn't come in with immediate expectations. So even as a fanbase, you're like, yep, all right, we're on the long haul. The question is, can we get more out of Bryce Young while we develop this thing? This is slow and low. This is barbecue over here. There's nothing-- no pressure cooker.
CHARLES MCDONALD: I was about to say, it shouldn't come with immediate expectations. It shouldn't.
JASON FITZ: Oh, that's fair.
CHARLES MCDONALD: But we're dealing with someone who, over a multitude of arenas in-- my parents are in Charlotte. I'm from Charlotte. Not originally, but I would say that I'm from there just based on the amount of time spent there growing up. He's not-- David Tepper is not a well-liked person in that vicinity.
Dave, I know you're listening to this podcast. I know you're a big fan. This is like a three-year deal, bro. So you got to give Canales and Dan Morgan some time. But that's not a guarantee based on what we've seen over the past couple of years with him.