Carolina Panthers add Canales’ coaching mentor to replace longtime senior advisor
The Carolina Panthers’ mostly static coaching staff will undergo another change in 2026. Head coach Dave Canales acknowledged Monday that the squad has swapped out senior assistants this offseason.
Former Detroit Lions and Indianapolis Colts head coach Jim Caldwell will not return for a fourth season as the team’s senior assistant coach. He will be replaced by former Seahawks associate head coach Carl Smith, who worked alongside Canales for several years under Pete Carroll in Seattle.
Jim Caldwell’s run in Carolina
Caldwell’s departure comes after the team won the NFC South division championship at 8-9 last season.
Caldwell, 71, was originally hired during the ill-fated 2023 season, which was initially led by then-head coach Frank Reich. Following the 2-15 campaign and Reich’s mid-season exit, the team hired Canales, who retained Caldwell as an experienced voice.
Despite Caldwell’s departure, Canales said the longtime assistant coach was an important sounding board for him during his first two years at the top of coaching totem pole.
Caldwell “having been a head coach, having been around coaches who I really respect, and just remembering all the little things — building a training camp and the ebb and flow of the practices and duration and how to challenge guys mid-season in different spots,” Canales said. “And with just all the things that as a first-time head coach, while I had been with Pete (Carroll) for 14 years, it was just so good to be able to have somebody that I could call at any point — who was fully invested in what we were doing — to help me address the team, add things to our practices that might help different things that we needed improvement on. Just really practical wisdom. Different ways, and just somebody I really grew to trust and really just had an amazing time.”
Caldwell has worked within the coaching realm since 1977. He was the head coach at Wake Forest from 1993-2000 before entering the NFL as a quarterbacks coach with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2001.
Caldwell eventually replaced a retiring Tony Dungy as the head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 2009. He also led the Detroit Lions from 2014 to 2017.
Caldwell won a pair of Super Bowl as an assistant coach, including Super Bowl XLVII as the Baltimore Ravens’ offensive coordinator.
A family reunion of sorts
Smith, who Canales and his assistants “affectionately call ‘Tater,’” is the father of special teams coordinator Tracy Smith. The younger Smith has been with the team since Canales arrived in 2024.
The elder Smith, though, has had a lasting impact on Canales, and their reunion is something Canales is looking forward to, even if the 78-year-old assistant will be away from the facility most of the time.
“He’s one of my primary football mentors,” Canales said. “Somebody who brings years of experience — was a sounding board for Pete for a lot of those years while we were in Seattle. And a guy who I really trust, who really raised me in the coaching profession, in terms of game-clock management, training the quarterback, just offensive philosophy and just different things that we’ve talked about over the years.”
Unlike his son, Smith will mostly work away from the field. The longtime QBs coach will provide feedback from an outside perspective. And that’s something Canales values.
“It really is an opportunity to have somebody who’s not in the building every day, who is watching the same film we are, but also being able to evaluate our roster and talk about players that we may not be talking about in our meetings,” Canales said. “And then when we get into the season, it’ll be more regular correspondence, in terms of looking at the last game: different decisions we made and ways we can improve.”
Other ways the Panthers’ coaching staff has changed
Smith isn’t the only mentor Canales has hired entering his third year in Charlotte.
The head coach added associate head coach Darrell Bevell in February. Bevell served as the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator while Canales and Smith were assistant coaches in Seattle.
Following Bevell’s arrival, Canales announced his decision to hand over offensive play-calling to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.
Mike Bercovici, who was also hired by Reich in 2023, was also promoted to passing game coordinator ahead of the NFL Scouting Combine. The former Arizona State quarterback is the longest-turned offensive assistant on the staff.
Longtime defensive senior assistant Dom Capers — the first head coach in team history — left for a similar role with the Cleveland Browns earlier this offseason. His potential replacement hasn’t been announced.
The Panthers have yet to officially announce their completed staff this offseason.
