Panthers’ Reported Coaching Hire Another Head-Scratcher

It doesn’t appear the Carolina Panthers have paid much attention to public perception in recent years, as they’re back making surprising decisions while trying to remold the franchise.

That’s the David Tepper experience, we guess.

The Panthers reportedly hired former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales as their head coach on Thursday, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Media. The move comes just a few days after Carolina hired Dan Morgan as its new general manager, bringing the duo back together after they spent eight seasons working with each other (2010-2017) with the Seattle Seahawks.

If you’re wondering why this is such a head-scratching move, let us remind you that Carolina’s other options included Mike Vrabel, Ben Johnson, Todd Monken and Mike Macdonald. It’s a legitimately surprising move given the backgrounds of the other candidates, which sets the Panthers up for more public backlash should it not work out.

Tepper, the Panthers’ owner since 2018, hasn’t exactly ingratiated himself to the fan base (or other fan bases). This is the third head coaching hire made since taking over, and Canales will become the seventh man overall to hold head coaching duties in Carolina under Tepper’s ownership, joining Ron Rivera, Perry Fewell (interim), Matt Rhule, Steve Wilks (interim), Frank Reich and Chris Tabor (interim).

Canales has quite the job ahead of him, as he’ll be tasked with helping quarterback Bryce Young move passed a poor rookie campaign. He’s coming off a season where he helped Baker Mayfield have a career renaissance, and we’re not claiming he can’t be successful, but it’s certainly not a perfect situation.