The Carolina Panthers have lost three in a row after losing to the Denver Broncos 26-21. With the trade deadline recently passed and the team at 3-5, some would say they should have sold, but in the NFC South, every team has three wins and is in the race for the division title.
Another reason the team can turn things around and secure their second straight NFC South title is the belief that their offense is on the rise, led by a rising name in the coaching ranks: offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.
Idzik, 35, is calling plays for the first time in his NFL coaching career. So far, Idzik has led the team to a fourth-ranked passing offense and a ninth-ranked total-yardage offense. Even with the team’s overall struggles, Idzik is viewed as a coach with a bright future ahead.
Ascending in the Ranks
Panthers head coach Dave Canales showed his confidence in Brad Idzik this offseason by naming him the playcaller this season, despite it being his first time. Idzik is leading a top-10 offense.
Jamison Hensley, in his November 5 article for ESPN, profiled different “Millennial Minds” among offensive coordinators around the NFL, and one of them was Idzik.
Hensley highlighted how Idzik has worked with Panthers quarterback Bryce Young for three years now as offensive coordinator, and that developing their connection over the years has contributed to Young’s improvements this season.
“Taking those experiences and then relying on the connection with the players,” Idzik said. “Anytime you’re a little bit closer in age with some of the guys, there is a cultural connection piece that you feel like you can talk, not eye-to-eye with guys, but making sure that you’re receptive to how they’re communicating with you and their forms of communication, which has definitely changed over the years.”
Idzik and the growing connection he has formed with the players through increased responsibilities have also allowed Canales to be more connected and present with his players on game day, without playcalling duties to attend to.
Impact On Canales
This season, without playcalling duties on game day, Panthers head coach Dave Canales has focused his efforts on other areas where he can positively impact the team.
One of those areas is motivation and focusing on lifting his players mentally. One example was in the Panthers’ Sunday Night Football game against the Detroit Lions, when Canales had to help motivate outside linebacker Princely Umanmielen after a few in-game blunders. Darin Gantt of Panthers.com wrote about Canales recounting the story in his October 6 article.
“There was another moment for Princely,” Canales began. “He had a couple of uncharacteristic mental errors early in the game, and I could tell he was really excited about playing Sunday Night Football against the Lions, and a really good left tackle and all this stuff. And it felt like the moment got him out of his game a little bit.”
Canales then expanded on the importance of connecting with his players during a game.
“And I was able to connect with him and be like, hey, just settle in, just do your job, your time is going to come, your moment’s going to come. Then he had that huge sack at the end, because he just kept playing hard. He kept taking the coaching and, you know, connecting with AC (Carter, the outside linebackers coach) on the sideline, but those things matter.”
Canales and Brad Idzik have their work cut out for them at 3-5, but in the NFC South, the Panthers have as good a chance to take the division as anyone else. The first step is getting divisional wins, and they can do that this Sunday against the New Orleans Saints.
Panthers OC Named Among Millennial Coaches On the Rise