Panthers coach Dave Canales: ‘I don’t think people are going to want to play us’
There was undeniably some buzz missing from the Carolina Panthers’ first full training camp practice Wednesday morning.
Why? No fans. No face-painted kids trying to get an autograph from Bryce Young or Chuba Hubbard. No roars of delight when a 40-yard pass is caught.
Because of ongoing construction at the Panthers’ practice fields, the team won’t host fans on-site at training camp in summer 2025 or summer 2026. So there’s a little more mystery as to what’s going on inside those walls on a daily basis. But after watching Wednesday’s workout, I’ll tell you this: The Panthers seem determined to create their own buzz, even sans fans.
Consider this statement from coach Dave Canales in his opening news conference: “I think that the sky’s the limit for this group. I think this is going to be a very competitive team. I don’t think people are going to want to play us, by the style of football that we play. I’m expecting that.”
If any or all of that occurs, it would be quite a turnaround.
The Panthers might as well have been the high school homecoming game for the other 31 NFL teams for most of the past seven years. Since 2018, when owner David Tepper bought the team, the Panthers have gone 0 for 7 trying to make the playoffs, 0 for 7 trying to post a winning record and 0 for 7 in translating rosy training-camp predictions into actual Ws come September. They are a combined 36-80 over those past seven years and have flipped through head coaches like they were flipping houses on HGTV.
Canales was considered to have had a decent season in his own personal Year One, even though Carolina only went 5-12 in 2024 and gave up more points than any NFL team ever had in a regular season. That’s because the year before the team had suffered through the embarrassment of a 2-15 year in 2023.
But this year, they insist, will be better. And there are a few signs of that. A defense that was “on the wrong side of history,” as cornerback Jaycee Horn aptly put it, has a lot of new pieces (and I’m not as worried about linebacker Josey Jewell’s concussion-related departure as a lot of people appear to be). The offensive line returns basically intact. Hubbard is a stud. The early schedule is winnable. If the young wide receivers can take about two steps forward, this team should at least be in the mix.
Can you really tell anything from football practices without pads? Well, not a lot.
But you can tell something from the players’ demeanor. In his third season, Young seems more comfortable in his skin. “I’m super confident,” he proclaimed, and he’s willing to give and take with his teammates more often than he used to be. Horn, Hubbard, Young and cornerback Mike Jackson have had some running verbal battles — minor-league stuff compared to what Cam Newton and Thomas Davis used to get into, but still promising. Horn and Jackson purposely did their warmup drills catching the ball near Young on Wednesday.
“So he can get used to throwing it to us,” Horn smiled.
It was a remarkably stable offseason by Panthers standards, with no change at head coach, general manager or quarterback (the first time since 2019 that’s happened). Not only that, but Tepper has pretty much made news only when he’s doing something like luring the MLS All-Star game here in his other role as Charlotte FC owner. Tepper’s step behind the scenes has clearly been purposeful — he’s involved, of course, with both teams, but we’ve seen no public Tepper tantrums.
This general lack of chaos has allowed a little more air into the room. This feels like a team that has the potential to do something — if the defense gets better and if Young shows progression and not regression.
Horn, who made the Pro Bowl in 2024, was asked Wednesday about Canales’ statement that no one would want to play the Panthers this season.
“I’m right on board with him,” Horn said. “That’s just mentality — how this team is going to be branded. … You go in there and see the Panthers, it’s gonna be a physical football game. You’re gonna be hurting afterward.”
So that’s what training camp sounds like for the Panthers right now, in case you’re missing it. Some whistles. Some bravado. Some athleticism.
All in all, it could be a lot worse.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 2:36 PM.
