Why Dave Canales wants his Panthers coaching staff to share a common language
Dave Canales thinks sharing a language is important when it comes to building his first coaching staff.
And to get that communication as in sync as possible, he’s hired familiar faces to aide him in turning around the Carolina Panthers’ fortunes.
“If these guys speak my language already, we’re going to be able to get this offense going quicker than people realize,” Canales told The Charlotte Observer on Thursday. “Because all these guys know what we’re doing. And we’re only really teaching a few, and I feel like you can manage to teach a few, but you can’t have most of the people learning something new. So that was really important.”
Canales was a keynote speaker on Thursday at the NCAA/NFL Coaches Academy, which hosted more than 40 high school and college coaches in Charlotte this week. He offered his own coaching journey and various bits of advice with fellow coaches at the summit. Among the topics he discussed: how to be yourself in an interview, how to form relationships with coaches, how to “keep finding yourself around great people and growing, learning.”
Canales’ hires for his offensive staff certainly reflect the latter point.
Canales filled out most of his staff with coaches he’s worked with before. Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, run game coordinator Harold Goodwin and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert were with him in Tampa Bay. And special teams coordinator Tracy Smith, passing game coordinator Nathan Carroll and tight ends coach Pat McPherson all worked with him in Seattle.
That’s not to say he has previous experiences working with everyone on his staff. Among those who he hasn’t overlapped with include receivers coach Rob Moore and Bernie Parmalee — as well as defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero and his defensive staff, who Canales publicly praised even before he earned the job last month.
The other things Canales looks for in building a coaching staff: a consistent track record and what he calls “a character fit.”
“We have to have people who are developmentally minded,” Canales said. “And you can’t find that out unless you do your work and kinda talk to people who know them, and let them tell you and paint a picture for what this style of coaching is like.
“And then from there: Can this person tell a good story? Because if they can tell a good story, they can teach. They can connect with the players. And they’ll bring the football to light, and on the hard, dark days of camp, they’ll still be able to engage a group with how they’ll communicate. That’s huge.”
He added: “And then of course, the football part is obvious. Do their players play well, consistently, over time? So you have this track record of their players performing really well. And then you match that with the character and the ability to communicate, and then I think you got what you wanted.”
Canales spoke on the final day of a three-day academy that featured college football coaches of all divisions, from all kinds of schools with various challenges. When asked why it was important for him to be here, he said that he could see himself in the crowd.
“I remember being there,” Canales said. “I remember being on the outside, sending texts, sending emails, making phone calls. Most never got returned. So I try to return all the texts and calls and emails that I’ve gotten in this past month throughout this process because I remember what it was like. ... And I’m passionate about people who want to be in coaching. I love guys who want to be coaches. Because they’re all about the players. They’re all about their people, hungry to learn.”
