With the NFL scouting combine kicking off the offseason, the Carolina Panthers have already made a surprise move.
Panthers head coach Dave Canales, for the first time in his tenure as the Panthers’ head coach, is giving up playcalling duties. Canales announced the move Tuesday at the scouting combine.
Canales has long insisted that he would not give up his playcalling responsibilities, but now he has reversed course.
Change of Direction
Dave Canales has appointed Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik as the team’s offensive play caller for the 2026 season.
At the combine on Tuesday, Canales explained his decision and what his reasoning was for giving Idzik the play sheet. David Newton of ESPN shared a video of Canales’ response on Twitter.
“Going into this season, Brad Idzik will be calling plays for the Panthers,” Canales said. And this is something all of us in the organization have talked about collectively. It was my idea to come up with this, and, kind of just looking back and reflecting on it, thinking about how we’ve grown this offense and really wanting to advance our football on the offensive side primarily, by letting Brad, who’s completely engulfed, entrenched in what we do offensively speaking. His continuity with the system, his continuity with the players, being able to do that will be the best thing for us going forward.”
Canales feels the best path forward for the Panthers is for him to be freed up to make game-management decisions more easily and to have in-game discussions with players. The biggest hurdle for Canales to get over in this change was his own ego.
Putting Ego to the Side
Sometimes the most significant trait for a head coach to possess is self-awareness, and that is what Dave Canales had when he decided to allow Brad Idzik to call plays for the Panthers moving forward. Idzik, 34, has been with Canales on both the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers before heading to Carolina to serve as the offensive coordinator.
ESPN’s David Newton, in his February 24 article, wrote that Canales feels this move will put him in a better position to challenge plays and make in-game adjustments with players.
“There were quite a few moments,” Canales said when asked if there was a specific time when he felt playcalling got in the way of him challenging a penalty. “To have conversations that way, making game management decisions … You can imagine it’s a challenge to call plays and do those things. I was accepting of that challenge.”
Canales also admits he had to put his ego aside to give up being the play caller on offense.
“It was a big part of it,” Canales said. “And just thinking about wanting to make sure I’m doing the right thing for the team, first and foremost. It certainly was something that I looked at. It gives me such a huge level of respect for the guys that have been successful doing this — this model of being the playcaller on offense or defense and also being the head coach and interacting with the different things that come across your desk on a daily basis.”
Canales is hopeful that by making this move, Idzik can help Bryce Young and the Panthers elevate the offense and prove last year’s NFC South title wasn’t a fluke, but the start of something special.
Panthers HC Dave Canales to Give Up Play-Calling Duties