The Season with Peter Schrager: Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales

Peter opens the pod by weighing in on the Lakers hiring of JJ Redick, his own personal interactions with Redick in Brooklyn, and why he appreciated his edge in his opening press conference. Then, Panthers first-year Head Coach Dave Canales joins to take us through his incredible career path and journey from running a training facility to becoming one of the 32. Canales takes us through his lessons learned from Pete Carroll’s approach, working with Russell Wilson, Geno Smith, and Baker Mayfield, and to his approach and mindset as he embarks upon the challenge of taking over the worst team from the 2023 season. Canales has incredible stories and a wonderful approach and outlook at life. He doesn’t identify himself as a football coach. He sees himself as a father, husband, and leader of men. Can he lead Bryce Young back from what was a rough rookie season? Peter and Dave get into it, and what it’s been like working for owner David Tepper.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Schrager is a production of the
NFL in partnership with iHeartRadio. What's Up, Everybody, Welcome to
another episode of the Season with Peter Scheger. Beyond excited

(00:29):
for this week's guest. We're having Dave Canalis, who is
the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers. I've gotten
to know Dave a little bit over the last couple
of years, but I'd be lying if I said I
was tight with him back when he was a quality
control coach in Sea Adelie knew. I met AZUSA Pacific
kind of got on my radar the last few years
when he took a bigger role with the Seahawks. That

(00:50):
was in Tampa Bay now is in Carolina. I think
this is a very different interview than we've done in
that Dave really took the long road in the NFL
and wore a lot of hats and then has had
sudden success in the last couple of years. Once given
these opportunities, we're gonna bring Dave on in a bit.
He's taken over the worst team in football, and his

(01:11):
job is to instill confidence into those guys and to
somehow build back up a quarterback who was everybody'sa's unanimous
first overall pick, and Bryce Young and then c J.
Stroud had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever. Well,
Bryce had one of the worst rookie seasons ever. And
now it's Canalis's job to come in and say, hey,
almost a Robin Williams to the Matt Damon and Goodwill

(01:33):
hunting like it's not your fault, you know, like bringing
him in. You hear the laughter of Aaron wan Kaufman,
my producer, Aaron A couple of things I wanted to
hit on before we get to Dave one. Can I
talk about JJ Reddick for a second.

Speaker 2 (01:50):
Yes, yeah, Are you thinking you know your next step
is going to be a coach in an LA team?

Speaker 1 (01:55):
Now, I didn't. I didn't play basketball, so I don't
think it ever coached. I never played, I never coached
in my forties. I don't think being a head coach
of an NFL team is ever in my future. I
just talked to a lot of coaches, but I do
kind of like JJ's edge and JJ using the.

Speaker 2 (02:15):
F bomb of times multiple drops.

Speaker 1 (02:19):
Yeah, let me go back in time a little bit
here with JJ Reddick. Obviously, played at Duke, that you
loved him or you hated him. Most people hated him
because he was the kid from Duke. And he followed
in a long line of whether it be Christian Latner
or Wojahowski or Cherokee Parks or Eric Meek. And then

(02:42):
here's JJ Reddick, the sharpshooter from Virginia, plays for Duke,
and he has this great career at Duke and gets
drafted in the first round of the NBA, has a
pretty good year or two with the Orlando Magic, then
bounces around a bit and then like really establishes himself
as like a great NBA veteran player to have on
your team, but never the superstar. Right, fifteen years in
the league. About four years ago, I'm at the ferry

(03:08):
in Dumbo. If you're not from Brooklyn, here's the deal.
Brooklyn has all these different parts and Dumbo is down
under the Manhattan Bridge. Is what it's called overpass, I
guess that's what it is, Dumbo, right, And there's a
ferry pick up, and the ferry can take you to
anywhere from Wall Street to East thirty fourth Street, and

(03:30):
it could take you the other way to bait Ridge
or you can go to Williamsburg, North South whatever, and
it's basically a boat ride. It's two dollars and it's beautiful.
You're on the open sea in New York and you're
going place to place, and it's a lot of people
do that to go to different parts of New York City.
I have a four year old son at a time.

(03:52):
It's early, it's like a Saturday morning, and if you're
a father at home, you know, like the energy from
these kids is just, you know, unlimited. I go to
the ferry to just do something with my son Mail
and we're going to ride a boat today. And there's
one other dad there with his son who's the same age,
and it's JJ Reddick. And I go up to him

(04:15):
because here I am big time sports personality. Maybe he
knows who I am. He doesn't know who the hell
I am. That's fine. I introduced myself. He introduced himself.
We get on the ferry, we talk a little bit.
Our kids are you know, mixing it or whatever? And
I'm like, so, Brooklyn, like you play for the Sixers.
So he's like, I love Brooklyn. I love raising my
family here. I love the culture. I love the fact

(04:35):
that it's different people intersecting at any you know corner.
I love the fact that I can raise my kids
in an area like this, and you know, I'm like, Okay,
that's that's an interesting dude. Like that's a guy who
is choosing to live and raise kids in like New
York City, and he's talking about he just loves, you know,
the being anonymous here and being able to walk around.
But also they really dig living in Brooklyn. And I'm like,

(04:57):
that's cool. So do I put that in the backshelf,
don't think about it. Whatever. A few years later, my
son is playing in a like a rec basketball league
as a si year old, and I feel like my
son's at a pretty good level. And they're still doing,
you know, dribble the ball around cones and here's a
spoon and an egg and let's try to like do

(05:17):
a race. It wasn't let's break down the two three
zone or the one three one press, which is what
I'm looking for already in my life. And someone tells
me that, hey, JJ Reddick just started this thing called
the Brooklyn Basketball Academy, where his kids are obviously playing,
but it's taking kids from all over Tribeca Brooklyn and

(05:39):
all over New York City, and it's kids from all
backgrounds and he's put them in and he's giving them
real coaching at a young age. And one of the
interesting parts about it was a lot of these coaches
were Eastern European and I'm like, this is really interesting.
I'm like, what is that, and like, well, the way
they coach basketball in Eastern Europe and you're thinking about
Luca and Djoki, it's you don't just do a set

(06:02):
shot with two feet and look at the basket. You're
doing off balance or you're coming off screens. And they're
teaching these kids this at five, six, seven years old
and they do the ginobilie, the step and all this stuff.
And I'm like, Okay, this is innovative. This is innovative
because I've been to a lot of camps and all
this stuff, and it's the same stuff. We're gonna play
red Rover, we're gonna get in layup lines, we're gonna

(06:25):
teach you how to do a proper layup. And JJ's
hired all these Eastern European coaches who are like very good,
and it's him at the top, and it's all these
other guys and you come to practice and it's not
we're gonna play tag on a basketball court, or instead
it's we're gonna pass the ball and screen away and
then you're gonna come off a screen, or you're gonna

(06:45):
shoot the ball off one dribble go. It was real coaching.
Now you're rolling your eyes at home and saying, are
you seriously talking about your seven year old son. No,
I'm talking about taking a landscape youth basketball in his
neighborhood and saying this is missing, and why don't we
do it this and do it in a more innovative way.

(07:09):
My son Melon has been in this Brooklyn basketball academy
for two years. He's not going to play in the NBA,
but I will tell you he has just improved so
greatly over just two years. And it hasn't been from
JJ Reddick's coaching. He's not there. It's his coach is
that he's employed. JJ did coach one of the teams
one time against my son. My son had a big

(07:30):
shot and like kind of like rubbed it in his
face and I was like, Okay, see it's chill with that, Mel,
Like we don't need to do that. And JJ was
cool about it, but the doubters, the haters, the critics,
like just knowing him a little bit, I wasn't surprised
that he came out guns blazing, and I don't think
he's going to be this like podcaster coach that people think.

(07:50):
I think this is someone who wants to serve. This
is somebody who wants to do this. This is somebody
who said in his press conference yesterday that in the
last few years of the NBA career his greatest thrills
was just working with those young guys and getting the
best out of them and passing on his wisdom. I'm
excited for JJ Reddick as an NBA head coach, Lebron

(08:12):
or not. This is the first time I've been mentioning
Lebron's name, And is he a puppet? I don't think
a guy who's played fifteen years in the NBA who
immediately jumped into the podcast game and had a number
one podcast and then also, oh, by the way, climb
the ladder and became the number one analyst at ESPN
in like two years, I don't think that guy's going
somewhere to be like Lebron's running mate and drinking wine.

(08:34):
I have great great expectations and great hope, and I've
got some confidence just seeing how he goes about his
business that this guy can take on anything. And again,
not a friend, not someone I would consider like a pal,
but somebody from Afar that I've been able to watch
and a little closer than others, that I think is
going to be great success in whatever he does. And
I'm gonna bet on Reddick in this one. And the

(08:56):
fact that he hasn't coached in the NBA for twenty years,
He's played in the NBA for fifteen years, and he
has been around all the best players of this generation
and has played with them and been side by side
with them and has suffered losses, that suffered and enjoyed wins.
Like I don't know, maybe I'm overlooking something, but like
to hire another NBA retread, retread coach. Okay, they're taking

(09:19):
a swing of the bat. They're hiring a guy who,
from firsthand experience, I think, analyzes markets and says, here's
what's not being done and can pinpoint those inefficiencies and
get the most of them. Aaron, we interview coaches all
the time on this show. That's our primary deal. Like
for you to see that JJ Redick, you know, hit

(09:40):
our world a podcaster and broadcaster who has no coaching
experience in the NBA. Did that? Did that? How did
you respond? Because I'm curious because you live in both worlds,
in the coaching world and that we interview all these
coaches and then podcasting, which is the world he's leaving behind.

Speaker 2 (09:55):
I mean, if you say JJ Reddick is a podcaster,
you're you're throwing out his illustrious career as a player,
like a player who had so much public scrutiny directed
towards him, like you said, starting at Duke, like he
I don't think he's gonna he's He's going to get
a ton of attention. He's coaching the Lakers, He's got

(10:16):
Lebron potentially on the team. People will hate him and
they'll blame him, and I think that's okay. Like he's
dealt with all that before. So if you just call
it like he's he did one podcast a couple he's
done a bunch of podcasts, I guess basketball wise, but
like that is the smallest part of his experience with
the game. I think it's really interesting. I love when

(10:37):
teams hire sort of like off the wall choices because
like you said, there's so you know, every year there's
a coach who has made the rounds through everywhere in
the Eastern Conference and then the Western Conference is like, oh,
it's we're so excited we have you know, we're hiring Bud.
And it's like, yeah, that's not going to do anything
for you. I'm sorry. Like with the Lakers roster, you

(11:00):
gotta do something outside of the box. And I think
I don't know. I think JJ's excited. I like, I
don't think they're gonna win the finals next year, but
I don't know if they need to.

Speaker 1 (11:09):
I think that's yeah, and he wanted to do it,
Like yeah, who wanted to do it? And that's it,
and like they were willing to fulfill that dream. I
now what happens to the Brooklyn Basketball Academy. There's a
lot of text going on. People are very nervous. Does
the quality dip without JJ, or do we rise above
and say JJ, you can leave the nest? Or is

(11:31):
he still involved? I think someone should have been planted
from like the Brooklyn Eagle, the local Brooklyn newspaper that
I get at my doorsteps to ask a question about
the Brooklyn Basketball Academy yesterday, but good luck to him.
We'll see how it goes. I'm excited. Like you said,
it's something different. In the NFL, they hire college coaches
and people freak out, Like I cannot imagine if someone said, hey,

(11:54):
we're hiring you know, we're hiring a ex player does
a podcast to be an NFL head coach. But it's
also a different world NBA. I think we've seen guys
like Steve Nash get into coaching. I remember Magic Johnson
was hired like fresh off playing, Like it seems like
it's a lot more common. All right, real quick, before
we get to Canalis, who I can't wait to speak with.

(12:15):
Two things happened over the weekend NFL related that I
did want to hit on with you and say, have
we crossed the rupicon? Like are we now in an
era where this stuff doesn't even blow our hair back?
Joe Burrow and Justin Jefferson fully featured in Vogue's Harris
Fashion Show. Not ten years ago, there would have been

(12:36):
a lot of commentary and jokes like now it seems
like only Neanderthals have problems with this kind of stuff.
Your thoughts Burrow, Jefferson Vogue.

Speaker 2 (12:44):
Go amazing, Like, especially with those two, I think, you know,
Burrow has kind of an iconic look. I mean I
just think back to like the photo of him in
college in the locker room, like with the cigar.

Speaker 1 (13:00):
Yeah yeah.

Speaker 2 (13:00):
And Jefferson is like the I don't know, one of
the most decorated players in the league, just like such
a quintessential number one receiver. He's a newsworthy guy all
the time, and he's like he's doing dances, he's dressing
well for games of course, get him there. I love
it like this is this is a natural evolution of

(13:23):
what these players do as members of the NFL, who also,
like clearly have other interests.

Speaker 1 (13:30):
So I love it good me too. And then lastly,
the the moment that took the Internet by storm Sunday night,
Travis Kelcey in full get up on stage at the
Taylor Swift concert after three nights of being there with
her in London, and then he is now a part
of the show. We fully crossed it where like that
didn't even. It wasn't even I was like, oh, yeah,

(13:52):
how come that hasn't happened sooner? Like he's fully a
part of it now as one of the dancers your thoughts.

Speaker 2 (13:58):
You know, I'm not really a fan of nepotism, and
so to see a dancer get up on one of
the most celebrated he's got no dance experience, get him
off the stage.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
No, exactly, he should have a press conference. He liked it,
and I don't care.

Speaker 2 (14:14):
Yeah, No, it was cool, right, Yeah, it was very
fun to see him doing that. And I love you know,
I love him embracing his role with her in that
relationship and being like, yeah, my girlfriend is on this
amazing world tour here, I am just like supporting her,
like coming on stage real quick and then I'm heading out,

(14:36):
and like, I think that was great.

Speaker 1 (14:38):
I think the cool thing for me is that, like
he's not using it for clout, so it's like and
he's not, but he's also not shying away, like they're
not living in Like they went to the Chiltern Firehouse,
a children tabln children firehouse, whatever it was. I've been
there in London, humble brag. It's like a cool restaurant,
think a Soho house, ieal, It's like a cool restaurant
that goes into a club and like there was paparazzi

(15:01):
there and they posed for paparazzi photos and said hello,
And like, then what about there, Like they're not he's
not laying in the weeds here, like he's out there,
he's singing, he's doing all that, Like it's kind of
refreshing for one of these celebrity couples. And he's just like, yeah,
I'm Travis kelsey on, one of the biggest NFL superstars,
and she's Taylor Swiped, the biggest star in the world.
Like we're not going to hide. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (15:19):
And I also like, okay, I might have had something
some of an issue if like he came up on
stage and sang a couple songs or something like. That's
not That's not what people. He was a service role there, right,
he was there supporting her, you know. So I think
it's great.

Speaker 1 (15:38):
Let's close here with the monologue and get to our guest.

Speaker 3 (15:41):
Uh.

Speaker 1 (15:42):
I will say this next week is the Michael Ruben
White Party, and I still have not gotten my invitation.
I'm wearing a white T shirt for the occasion today
as we record this podcast with Canalis. So if that
invitation does come, I will decline it and say no
thank you, because I don't want to be a last
second add on. So Aaron, just let it be known.
If I do get the Air Force ones and the

(16:05):
bottle of Don Julia, whatever it is that comes with
the invitation, there will be a very polite RSVP, no
thank you, and we will go about our business and
I'll have a barbecue with my family and That'll be that.

Speaker 2 (16:16):
I think that's a that's a great You can get
shoes for your barbecue too. No fun, just this fun.

Speaker 1 (16:21):
No doubt, with no further ado, Let's bring in our guests.
Aaron Stave Canal as head coach of the Carolina Painters.
So excited for today's guest, the guy I've gott to
know the last couple of years. And I kicked myself
because I feel like we would have been fast friends
ten years ago, but we had never been introduced. And

(16:43):
now we know each other and he is going to
be a household name this season for sure, as the
head coach of the Carolina Panthers, joining us from beautiful
Washington State coach Dave Canal is, Dave, what's going on? Man?

Speaker 3 (16:57):
What's up? Peter? Thanks man, thanks for having me here.
You know, it's a I'm really excited. I'm here in
my happy place, just trying to gather my all my excitement,
the dreams and the vision that I have and just
trying to make sure that you know it fits this
group and what we're doing. But this has been unbelievable
roller coaster of a spring and I'm excited to just

(17:18):
catch up with you here.

Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, the ride is so cool. We always talk about
it's not the destination, it's the journey. But you're right.
Everyone thinks, oh, well, he came out of nowhere. He
was the offensive coordinator of the Bucks and now he's
after one year doing that, he's a coach. Dude, you
have had a journey. We can we start way at
the beginning and getting to know Dave Canalis like way

(17:40):
in the beginning, a ZUSA Pacific. Where are we starting?
Where do you want to start? Where do you find
yourself when you think of your football journey, like day
one and the big break of okay, I can actually
do this for a living.

Speaker 3 (17:55):
Yeah. Shoot, if I started APU, it's probably two years
of injuries back to back and like how can I help?
How can I serve? And we had a bunch of
Frishman and we had some transfers and I said, okay, well,
if I'm going to be out, I can at least contribute.
And that's kind of where my coaching started. And the
coaching staff trusted me a lot with the information. So

(18:17):
I'm running around just kind of helping out and I
really fell in love with it then, you know. And
then but fast forward quickly to you know, high school football.
I really was I really wanted to be a sports trainer.
I wanted to do the whole sports performance facility, that

(18:41):
whole thing, bring bring skilled players in, you know, football
players in and get them ready for their seasons. And
so that's kind of how it started. And five kids,
five kids, a bench press and a wooden squad wreck.
We went to Pasadena, California to a twenty four hour
fitness It's one hundred and fifty bucks in a U haul.

(19:02):
We had a friend that were giving away all their plates, bars,
dumb all racks for a tax rite off, you know,
so I said, okay, we'll take it. So we got
a U haul, loaded it up and and uh just
put it all in a in a back warehouse at
my dad's church. And it started off with about five kids.
Five became fifteen, became thirty and you're.

Speaker 1 (19:22):
Running these classes. You're you're the head guy.

Speaker 3 (19:25):
Yeah, and myself, my cousin, my cousin in law Kevin Nickerson,
who's the chaplain actually for the Rams. Okay, then and
then my brother Josh, who was the senior pastor at
my dad's church, he took over. So it's the three
of us with the dream. And we had like a two, five,
ten year plan and we started training kids. And then

(19:47):
one of the one of the kids we were training,
their parents were like, Hey, the JV head coaching jobs
open at the high school and they should check it out,
you know, And so the coach and I had a conversation.
He he lured me out there, and like I just
that was it, you know, I knew as soon as
I got out there any practices, loving on the guys.

(20:09):
It kind of just brought it all together. So and
then from there, my wife just said, Hey, they're really
good at this. They really the players respond to you,
the coaches love working with you. I can tell how
much you love this. She was like, just go for it.
Let's just see what happens. Let's give it five years
and let's see if we land a job. Somewhere, and
so I started to try to work my connections with

(20:29):
college and that's kind of how I ended up at
El Camino College and then Steve Sarkesian's connection there ended
up getting me to USC with PANA.

Speaker 1 (20:40):
I think that's so Pete Carroll hires you in O nine,
but you're not hired as a quarterbacks coach or a
wide receivers coach. You go back to your roots and
the training staff, right, is that where you came in
with the USC.

Speaker 3 (20:53):
Yeah, I was a weight room and then like slash
video assistant, so you know, the weight room thing that
my background there was kind of got me, helped me
get in the door. And I'm just setting up cones,
you know, wasn't running, you know, I wasn't running in
the programs. I was putting bags out there, setting up cones,
you know, summer workouts. And then and then the videos

(21:18):
systant thing was just like you know, the hours the
dark room, the hours and hours of film and here
as your reward, you get to sit in the quarterback meetings.
So it was really cool and it just was one
year before Pete you know, took off in the middle
of the night, you know, to go to Seattle.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
So so is it like that one year? Is that Sanchez?
Who's the quarterback? When you're when you're there is a booty?
Who are you working with?

Speaker 3 (21:43):
That was Barkley? That was Matt Barkley as a freshman. Yeah, amazing. Yeah,
still still the league.

Speaker 1 (21:52):
Still in the league, by the way, Matt Barkley.

Speaker 3 (21:54):
Yeah, I know. I get to run into him in
a different jersey every year. So just like, what's up? Marks?

Speaker 1 (22:02):
So good? All right, So Pete goes to the Seahawks,
he takes you with him or you stuck at USC.

Speaker 3 (22:08):
So I'm there, I'm there. I'm stuck at SC for
a couple of weeks. I don't really know what's going
to happen. And then it was a couple of weeks
later that I got the phone call and like the
kind of the the holy crap microcosm moment was I was.
I was sitting in the the war room, if you will,

(22:30):
like the recruiting room with Lane Kiffin at Ojeron.

Speaker 1 (22:36):
Yep.

Speaker 3 (22:37):
We're watching junior college film from a year and a
half ago. Okay, so that's and it's Al Camedo College
against College of the Canyons. We're watching a defensive linement
from College at the Canyons playoff game, and he had
like a two year highlight. So I'm sitting there with them,
We're watching an Al Camedo play College of the Canyons.

(22:59):
I can see me on the sideline. You can see.

Speaker 1 (23:02):
Yourself on the video at El Camino, Yes, with.

Speaker 3 (23:05):
The visor, you know, Khaki shorts in a polo and like, which,
by the way, they should bring back into coaching, like
the look, it's so comfortable and then anyway, so then
so I'm sitting there losing that and like literally two
days before I'd been offered to go to the Seattle

(23:25):
Seahawks's quality control. So really it's just like this amazing.

Speaker 1 (23:29):
You're watching yourself coaching community or not community, but junior
college at a level that no one would ever watch
on television. And then the official Seattle Seahawks phone line
calls and you're like, this has been two years or
what an amazing twenty four months?

Speaker 3 (23:45):
Yes, you said that a lot better than I did,
but just kind of all it's just a microcosm. And
I'm sitting there just like wow, like just really just
humbled and floored with like this is all just circumstantially,
you know. For me, of course, I'm a I'm a
man of faith, and I just was like, wow, look
what God did in this short order. And I had

(24:05):
like literally no thing to do with it, Like there
wasn't I was like the best you know, junior college
quarterbacks coach, or like I was killing it, you know,
setting up cones and bags and s see. You know,
it's just it was just being in the right place
the right time, and then just being responsible with the
moment and the opportunities to work hard, to treat people

(24:26):
well and to connect and is like just you know,
it's just crazy.

Speaker 1 (24:30):
So well, you're cutting your own attribute short a little
bit there. You're also everyone who's ever worked with you says,
just an amazing guy to have in the room, juice, energy,
and obviously Pete identified that in you because he could
have taken thirty people from his past and he chose
you as one of many. Now you get to Seattle
and people forget this. Those first I think that first

(24:52):
training camp in Seattle, you guys had like two hundred
people walk through the door. It was like a tryout.
I remember covering it from my you know, for Fox
sports dot Com. And it being like there's just bodies
after bodies, and like Pete Carroll is running this like
it's almost like a high school team, like who wants
to make this? They've got their veterans, but it was
an open door And I kind of love that approach

(25:13):
to rebuilding and starting a new era of an NFL team.

Speaker 3 (25:17):
Yeah, I love the I love the approach that Pete
brought of. Just like you know, you're you're either competing
or you're not, you know, And he showed up to
a roster that he was not fired up about and
it's just like, okay, well we know we have these guys.
And right after that it it, you know, the depth
chart falls off pretty quickly. We might as well just

(25:39):
see more people. We might as well bring more guys in,
you know. And and that I think it was like
two hundred and fifty transactions, like.

Speaker 1 (25:47):
That's what it was. I think it was eighty eight
bodies or something came through like like new bodies at
top of the ninety.

Speaker 3 (25:52):
Like it was nuts and it's cool. And I think
he was just challenging, challenging the roster to see like okay,
well we know these other guys. What about some of
you know, let's just keep getting our eyes on him.
So I remember that was crazy.

Speaker 1 (26:05):
Yeah, And the gig early on in Seattle was on
the strength side, or is this on the coaching side.
You've now become one of the quarterbacks coaches and you're
already in that role.

Speaker 3 (26:13):
It was quality control and I really still was not.
It was more of a production type of yeah, wearing
a lot of hats. Yeah, just playbook, video, calendar, schedules,
all that kind of stuff. You know, I really was.
I really was so overwhelmed with all those things. I
didn't really have a lot of time to be coaching

(26:33):
for about the first year. Yeah, you know. Yeah.

Speaker 1 (26:37):
Now as you embark on this first year as a
head coach with the Carolina Panthers team that finished with
the worst record in the NFL, do you try to
tap into those memories from fifteen years ago just getting
to Seattle and maybe how Pete established culture and said
here that the here are the ground rules, here's what
we're going to do because this is a new era
and we're going to build it this way. Yeah.

Speaker 3 (26:58):
Absolutely, I think the heart, the heart and the mindset
that I come in that I take from Pete and
from those early years is Number one is I didn't
get here because the roster was established. I didn't get
here because of excellence and all that typically are getting

(27:18):
your first job, because there were things that need attention
and need to be addressed. And so I think that
the openness to see who those players are going to be,
to see, you know, to really just be willing to
to try things, to find our niche as, find our
personality as a team, but also to find the players,
you know, like we need to be active, we need

(27:41):
to have our eyes and ears to the ground for
players that can help us. And and so you know,
I have an eagerness to kind of see I'm I'm
That's one of my excitements about coming back is like
I wonder who it's going to be, Like, who are
those guys? Yeah, that we that we have in our building.
If we can just put a good football product out
there on a platform for them to perform, the stars

(28:03):
will show up. But then who are those other guys?
Because I just live in the possibilities type of world.
My world is about possibilities. And I know there were
late round draft pick, free agent, rookie free agents, veteran
free agents, who were like, I'm now ready to do
this thing that made an impact further than anything anyone

(28:25):
could ever have imagined for their careers in Seattle. I
watched it happened in Tampa last year too, and so
I get excited about the untold stories going into this year.

Speaker 1 (28:35):
Give me a Seattle guy that you know you saw
walk through the door, maybe not as heralded, and took
to coaching and made a career for him, stuff that
maybe walking in the door not everyone anticipated.

Speaker 3 (28:46):
Yeah right off the bat, you know Doug Baldwin, Yeah,
Jermaine Curse, who really had he had a fantastic junior
year and then really had some struggles to senior year,
had some drops and people were down on him, and
and I just see, like the guy, the the competitor,

(29:07):
he was, the determination he had, and an environment and
I credit Pete for this, but an environment that that
said it didn't say, hey, just take a number and
get in line. It said I'm not in your way.
Who wants to play, who wants who wants to make
for this exactly? And so that's just kind of sometimes

(29:27):
it's just that permission that a player needs. I think
of David Moore, who we actually have yeah, in in
in Charlotte. He was a he was a seventh round pick,
you know, and we drafted a guy in the fourth round.
But because of our model of like, guys, just show
us who you are, we'll figure out who goes where

(29:47):
and who plays, there's a bunch of them. Man, Gary
Gilliam was a tight end we turned into a tackle
because it was.

Speaker 1 (29:55):
Very good, you know, George, Right, that was one.

Speaker 3 (30:00):
Where George George another you know Western basketball back round,
you know, ends up you still playing tackle, you know,
in the league and started last year some But yeah,
I can I can rattle up another probably thirty or
forty guys.

Speaker 1 (30:19):
So yeah, so you spend time as Yeah, then Russell
Wilson gets dropped in your laps as a third round pick.
Take us through that summer because I remember the late
Trevares Jackson was a great player and Matt Flynn was
the big free agent signing. And it's not not common
that a coach and a GM would say, hey, man,
the best man win at quarterback, especially after the GM penned,

(30:40):
you know, Matt Flynn to a one of the biggest
deals a free agent quarterback got that offseason.

Speaker 3 (30:45):
Yeah, record. Let's go record straight. First, John Schneider was
the one most fired about Russell. The rest of us
were like the rest of us. He grew on us
through throughout the process, the spring process, leading up to
the draft. But I gotta be honest, when we drafted
him in the third round, like there wasn't this explosion
of excitement in the building. It was like, oh, okay, yeah,

(31:08):
well remember him, I know him in college. Yeah, he's
pretty good. He's pretty good. And the guy's like he's
he competes his ass off, you know, like we knew,
like we knew he had all the makeup. But I
think I think John really had the vision for who
he was. And then Pete kind of warmed up. And
then because of who Pete is what he believed the
more he got to know the guy, he's like, Okay,

(31:29):
this is a special guy.

Speaker 1 (31:30):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (31:31):
And but like the rest of us were like, oh okay,
and a cool draft story. So I so my wife's
nine months no, no, no, not nine months. She was
she was she was twenty eight. She was twenty eight. Yeah,
I'm trying to think, no, no, thirty five. He's thirty five

(31:51):
weeks pregnant. Okay, she's he's right, then, yeah, she's but
she's pretty early anyway. So we have like an install
that morning. You know, it's the second day of the draft.
So she calls me from the gym. She's like, I
don't feel right. So I go home, take her to
the hospital and get her all checked in, settled in.
They're like, hey, it's gonna be a while. You're probably
not gonna have this this baby today, but you're gonna

(32:13):
have to be on bed rest. So I'm like, okay,
she's all settled in. I go back to the office.
Of course, rookie Dad, rookie dad. But so I go
back to the office. I'm sitting there and then the
rounds are going. We draft Russell Wilson. It's like, oh, okay, great,
we got a quarterback. You know, see what happens with
this whole story. And then and then I end up

(32:34):
going back to the hospital just hang out with her.
And as I get there, they're like, just kidding, your
babies showing up today. So it's so so two men
that will forever change my life. April twenty seventh, See
what year was that, That would have been twenty twenty twelve. Yeah,
April twenty seven, twenty twelve, Russell Wilson Benjamin Kanal has

(32:57):
two men who would like forever changed my life. Love
this who I love just like all on one day.
It's just unbelievable and it's so good, dude, I love that.
And you'll for Yeah, you'll forever be link You're in bed,
will forever.

Speaker 1 (33:09):
Be linked to Uh to Russell, I'm sure he's wearing
the jersey no matter what team he's on.

Speaker 3 (33:13):
Oh loves and didn't know it at the time, right like,
but so to that point in a nutshell, Russell comes
in and I won't I'll never forget this. So Pete
tells a Tavars like, the reps are going to go
to Matt Flynn and Russell. We've seen you, We've seen
you for a year, we've seen your career in Minnesota.

(33:37):
We know what you can do, and he's under contract
and all that's like preseason, you're not going to play
much training camp. You're going to get the third reps
because we got to see Matt and Russell kind of
see what they can do. And I'll and really the
thing that separated Russ from the beginning, which guys kind

(33:58):
of rolled their eyes at it first, but he knew
what he wanted to do, and then he would he
would talk to the guys like, you know, it wasn't
twenty two, you know, he was like twenty four or
twenty five something, and he'd be like, hey, this backside
of this route, Sydney Rice, you know, be ready for
this if they rotate away.

Speaker 1 (34:12):
And he's like, I'm a five year veteran, like bro,
Like he tell me.

Speaker 3 (34:15):
Yeah, and I'm like and there's some eye rolling and
like and then he go out there and rip it
and he meant it, and he would be he was
driving himself. He's so hard on himself. He's just out
working people. He had a mindset for where he was
going and he was telling us, I'm here and I'm
serious about this. I'm not going to just take a number.

(34:36):
I'm not going to just fall into where people think
I should. There's no should here. I got a plan.
I'm going this way he wants to come. And so
it was pretty clear the person, you know, that of
how he was driven. And then it all kind of
came together preseason going to the Uh going to the
Chiefs and Matt had like elbow tendonitis Okay, So we

(35:01):
started rust that day and the ball moved. We scored
points again. It was like the you know, it was
like the third third week in a row that that happened,
and he just kept every time he go in, the
ball would move. We put points up on the board
and it was like is this couldn't this be real?
So but it was really fun. It was a really
it was a real challenge. We dove full, We took

(35:23):
all the notes and the stats and it was a
really cool time.

Speaker 1 (35:27):
Yeah, in an amazing era with Russell Wilson, obviously, all
the Pro Bowls, the All Pros, the playoff appearances. You
guys win a Super Bowl, Yeah, compete in another, and
then Russell leaves and here's Geno Smith as a quarterback,
a guy who's been around the league, like you were
talking about Tavares Jackson. We kind of know what Geno
Smith is, and yet he joins the Seattle Seahawks and

(35:49):
has this incredible backup run and then amazing, amazing year
under you as a starter. What do you remember of
the Geno Smith? You know time where he gets the
torch and it's it's his time to take it.

Speaker 3 (36:02):
Yeah, it was cool. It was a It was a
celebration of a couple of years of conversations, work study.
Brian Schottenheimer really kind of starting that that deal with
Gino and like really cleaning Gino up fundamentally. We just
for fun before we left, we watched training camp, you know,

(36:25):
coming into training camp, and like there were some little
things that he cleaned up from a technical standpoint, but like,
I mean, the guy was like seventy eight percent completion
in his first camp with the Seahawks, you know, backup,
you know there there, like it's so so he yeah,
and he so he clearly was a veteran. He knew

(36:46):
where the ball was supposed to go. No one throws
a prettier ball than Gino Smith. Just it spins tight,
he's accurate, like he's got the right amount of zip,
but he's got touch, like he's so all those things
were there and it was just but we had Russ right,
So so you won't even you don't even take your
brain there immediately. But so then just just the celebration

(37:11):
of a couple of years of work, of conversations of
Geno saying I know I still got it once I
get a chance. This is how I'm gonna do it,
you know, like he he was like forward thinking with
his with his words. He was super He had a
lot of beliefs still in his own ability and his talent,
and so so as I come along, you know, really

(37:33):
it was just about like for me, I I was
there kind of through the whole process and then once
once I get you know, I'm just there to just
like maintain and reinforce you're you're a you're a badass.
You're a bad Yeah, you belong here, you know, like
keep your head up. Things bad things are going to happen.

(37:56):
But look, look you're leading everybody. They're looking to you. Now,
let's you know, just for me, it was just from
a personal personal standpoint, like big big picture life philosophy,
How does football fit into this? How do I fit
in as a leader, as a veteran guy, you know
a lot of those things, and then just polishing the
stuff that he was already working on those last two years.

(38:18):
So just given Shoddy a lot of credit for for
really helping Gino, helping me to just kind of get
a plan together, and then for us to just be
there to celebrate it together. It was really cool.

Speaker 1 (38:36):
I mean, how rare is it that anybody in this
coaching life can see their kids go to the same schools,
have the friends, and not have to uproot their lives
every other year. But you had that opportunity, and you
were there in Seattle and you were doing that, and
then Tampa calls and you left, obviously for an amazing opportunity.
Can you take us through that part of your life.

Speaker 3 (38:55):
Yeah? Absolutely, just you know they the coolest part about
the whole thing was it didn't come along by really
reaching out and striving for trying to like create a job.
You know, it was really just and thankfully for Pete

(39:15):
and for a bunch of great players, it was really
a natural process. You know. Just I bounced around. I
coached receivers, I coached quarterbacks. I was past game coordinator,
so I got to step out of the position room
and kind of look at watch the offensive coordinator do
his thing. And so I'm just collecting all these lessons
watching Pete, you know, like in those years where I

(39:36):
was past game coordinator. When you're not coaching a position directly,
you get to help a lot if you can take
that kind of mindset, just like help serve make extra
cutups so how can I help? How can I do
these things? But then I can also take a step
back and say, look at Pete and the decisions he makes.
Look out he schedules his day. Look how the coordinator
does these different rhythms. So like, I don't think there

(39:58):
could have been a guy more ready for his first
offensive coordinator job than me.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
And and last year you've been in and that was
almost not one of these guys that maybe you are saying, well,
why not me? Why have I not been? Were you
one of those? Did you start wondering after five, seven,
six or whatever it is? Yeah?

Speaker 3 (40:16):
I did, Actually I did, and I realized it didn't
get me anywhere, you know, And so I was either
gonna like, agent up, let's push this thing. Let's just
go get a job, you know, or I can say, man,
I've got this sweet opportunity here, let's raise our kids,
let's be here kind of see the NFL evolve over
the thirteen years from one spot, you know, with one lens,

(40:38):
with Pete Carroll when forever philosophy lens, you know, like,
so that was that was really special, you know, But
I just I try to go there, and I just
felt like it was really like contrived, and I was
trying to force something, and I was like, Okay, hold on,
let's just let's just be here, and like even just
to the even the summer before I got the Tampa job,
we're actually right up here where I'm at right now

(41:00):
in uh In uh White Salmon, Washington, and we're we're
we're sitting we actually hiked Mount Adams, the beautiful, beautiful
hike here, snow capped year round, and we're at the
top and my wife and I were sitting up there
and we're like, Okay, we're home. We're never going anywhere.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
This is a content feeling of like, hey, this is
the lot and guess what. We're blessed. It's amazing and
we're happy here. And then within twelve months the call
from Tampa comes. Who makes that call? Is it? Is
it Jason Light? Is it Todd Bowles? How's it all
go down?

Speaker 3 (41:32):
Yeah? It was, it was Todd. And then it started
off as a zoom and then it turned into an
in person interview and I spent probably four or five
hours with Todd just kind of going through all the
different things that you would need to organize and talk
about from an offensive standpoint, I was like his I

(41:56):
want to say I was his thirteenth or fourteenth offensive coordinator,
but the interview interview, for real, I was like interview
number thirteen or fourteen. So there's a good and a
bad to that, right. The good part is hopefully like
he's kind of like worn out. Maybe I can like bang, you.

Speaker 1 (42:13):
Know, just yeah, especially with your juice.

Speaker 3 (42:14):
Yeah, just trying to wake him up a little bit
here and then. And then the downside of it was
like I could tell he was like completely gassed with
the whole process and just like man like pick out,
how many more of these do we have? You know?
But what if thorough process to just like you know,
talk to everybody and just accumulate it. But so anyway,

(42:36):
it was we had a great time. The philosophies. I
think what I learned now, you know, just over the
last couple of years talking to a couple of different
coaches is just the person the personalities are different, what
they're after is the same.

Speaker 1 (42:53):
What a great phrase, the personality that what they're all
after is the same, Like we all want to win.

Speaker 3 (42:59):
They're after the same thing. It's like the principles of
take care of the ball minimize explosives on defense, play
hard toughness, like all the same principles, just how you
how you bring it about and what you know, what
environment you create to get those principles across. I guess
just a different but but I could tell coming out

(43:20):
of the interview that the principles aligned, and hopefully I
was able to show him like this may be my
first job that I'm interviewing for, but I've been I've
been waiting for this for a long time. And so
and then that's, you know, kind of how this whole
thing has gone pretty quickly.

Speaker 1 (43:38):
I think, yeah, and I got to say you got
You probably joined in January. I would imagine early February
that Tampa job. They they're in the post Brady mode
where it's like this, like wait and see what's Brady
gonna do. No one expected anything from the Buccaneers a
year ago, especially on the offensive side of the ball,
and you get another cool project. He talked about Geno Smith,

(43:59):
but here comes a Heisman Trophy winner who has taken
the league by storm. Was one of the featured guys
in the NFL one hundred camp and what many thought
was his last stop. Baker Mayfield walks in the door,
talk about that union and have the two of you
guys jailed.

Speaker 3 (44:16):
Yeah, I mean, so two years in a row. It's
a full on quarterback competition. So it was Jane and
Drew Locke and then it was Baker and Kyle Trask,
and I knew it was going to be so important
for Baker to earn that job, to win that job,

(44:37):
and I think immediately what I noticed about him coming
in was this like humility, and it was I didn't
know him from before, I had never met him, and
you know, I just saw some of the ups and
downs of his career in the NFL and college and
kind of saw this this personality, you know, and I

(44:59):
didn't really know what to expect, you know, And so
as we started talking, I just felt this like huge
hunger and this humility of like like I'll do whatever
I need to do, I'll learn whatever I need to
learn for this opportunity. And it was this really high
regard for the opportunity to be there. And so it

(45:23):
was really cool for he and I to just kind
of sit down early in the process and just go, yeah,
me too, Like we just kind of like, isn't this great?
Isn't this great what we get to do here? Like
we just shoot, man, let's just let's let's get let's
get the basics down to good football. Let's just have
a blast doing it. And that's really what happened.

Speaker 1 (45:41):
I love that. And you guys have this incredible run,
you win a playoff game. Head coaching opportunity? Was that
in your I mean even when you're with Pete and
you're watching him and even when you take this up
it's a coordinator job, and you're like, look if we
have a good seat Panthers. They also interviewed about fourteen
people for this head coaching job, and hey, what you

(46:03):
do with Zoom, with David Tepper and whoever else? And
what's your thoughts when you get that call?

Speaker 3 (46:10):
Yeah, I mean floored, you know, like but but also
like I wasn't surprised. I thought, look at the opportunity,
you know, with especially with Baker and especially with Gino.
Was it was like I could that wasn't my what
was driving me, but I could see how the contrast
of the expectation and then the performance. Yeah, I knew,

(46:33):
like nobody expected anything out of Gina. Well, when we
get him playing well, that's going to create some noise.
And then Baker Baker comes in here and everyone's like, ah, yeah, yeah,
you know it's Baker Mayfield whatever. We've seen it, and
it's like right. And then when when the when the
product exceeds expectation, I knew that's just gonna naturally grab attention.

(46:54):
Tampa Post, Tom Brady all that, like low expectation, three
to five wins, people are just like throwing stuff out
there like nobody expects anything from them. So I just knew,
like this is a set up up that when we
do have success, it's going to create it's going to
cost some some noise, it's going to create some attention.

(47:14):
Just be ready, you know, be ready and make sure
I have my ducks in a row and so that
if I do get those phone calls at some point,
I'm ready. I have my stuff organized and so like
super like not taken, not taken by surprise on the situation,
but also just like I wasn't just focusing on that

(47:34):
because it's not like you know, you're on a you're
on a championship team, and it's like people are after
you as a coordinator, is like nobody knows who I
am Yeah pretty.

Speaker 1 (47:43):
Much, you know sou.

Speaker 3 (47:46):
But that was and that was fun too, because just
here we go, just another challenge, you know. Here's so
it's like Gino's story, Baker story, Panther story. It's like,
here's just another great opportunity for a group of guys
and women to come together and say, why not us,
you know, let's just let's just play good football. Let's

(48:07):
just see what happens and see where it takes us.

Speaker 1 (48:10):
So now you're what is it. It's June right now, you're
about five months into this thing. Why not the Panthers
take us through the Panthers and what you've seen so
far and how the Dave canal is there has begun.

Speaker 3 (48:22):
Yeah, a great core group of veteran players with a
super high football character. I don't know them all really
closely on a personal level, but I say football character
because they're the types of guys that you want when
they're in the building. They treat each other with respect,

(48:43):
with love and respect, they treat they treat everyone in
the building well. They work their tails off in the
weight room, like they really go for it on the
football field. Like, so there's you know, it's Shaq Thompson.
You know, it's Derek Brown, who's still pretty young, but
he's got some years, Chuba Hubbard, Adam Felen, Andy Dalton, Taylor,
moten Our right tackle, Josie Jewel we got from Denver,

(49:08):
Jordan Fuller, Nick Scott, Xavier Woods.

Speaker 1 (49:13):
Like there's there when around the league.

Speaker 3 (49:16):
Yes, there's so many veteran players with high high football
character that that's the locker room culture is fantastic. Great,
it's that part is established. And then you combine that
with young talent, some veteran talent. You bring in guys
like Jadavion Clowney, Robert Hunt, Damian Lewis, Dane Jackson, you know,

(49:43):
some of the safeties that talked about. So and then
the draft, a couple of the early draft picks, you know,
Xavier Legete, Jonathan Brooks, Trevin Wallace, you know, jade Jatavian Sanders.
So I see a great combination of some experience, high
football character, some talent in spots. Now there's a reason,

(50:07):
there's a reason that we were two and fifteen and
we have to continue to like bring more talent into
our roster. So you fill out the depth of it,
you know, and the great teams that I've been on
in Seattle over the years, up and down, the great
ones you had depth, you know, and so I think
that's that's really where we are is can we establish

(50:29):
can we establish our starters? Can we develop depth? And
we got ways to go?

Speaker 1 (50:35):
You know, Yeah, what's your message to them? Because like
Sean Payton last year, whether you love him or not,
you know, I worked with him at Fox, so I
have a relationship with him. He came in there and
he dropped a couple bombs in the media to try
to inspire his guys, you know, talking about the previous
coaching staff that was a downtrodden group when he got there,
and he was trying to light a fire. What do

(50:56):
you do to a squad that was two and fifteens
looking at the locker room and saying are we?

Speaker 3 (51:02):
What are we?

Speaker 1 (51:03):
What do you do as a new coach? How do
you inspire them with words?

Speaker 3 (51:07):
Yeah? I think to put it simply, I just said,
we just need to get our football right. And the
comment there was what I was trying to do. What
I'm still trying to do with that is like, forget
about the side stories, guys, Like if we can just
play good football. The side stories, the headlines will right themselves,

(51:30):
but can we just get our football right? And that
really was just a reflection on like, it wasn't the
greatest brand of offensive football it was. There were things
up front, there were things schematically that we needed to
work on, and that wasn't to NFL standard and certainly

(51:51):
not to Carolina Panthers twenty twenty four standard. The defensive
side of the football was excellent, and there was still
things to improve on. There's still nuances to grow through
special teams with solid So it's just like, if we
can just get all three phases up to snuff and

(52:11):
get them get us all the same playing field, then
we will compete and we will be able to and
our talent will be able to be showcased better and
we can just have a foundation. And so and I
was like, can we do that? Can we take care
of the football?

Speaker 1 (52:25):
Yes?

Speaker 3 (52:25):
Can we try to take can we try to take
it away on defense? And can we just execute the
fun most fundamental part of our technique and our scheme.
If we can do that, guys, one game at a time,
then we give ourselves a chance.

Speaker 1 (52:40):
Are you excited? I mean, are you loving this.

Speaker 3 (52:42):
I'm so excited. And I'm excited because I can see
the challenge to your point of I can see the
challenge of going through the hard times and saying we're
going to be consistent on our messaging. Guys, We're going somewhere.
Let's trust it. Let's fix this, Let's fix these simple things.
I'll show it to you. I'm excited about just giving that,

(53:03):
giving them that consistency in messaging and and really pairing
that with the character the team that we have to go. Okay, everyone,
let's take a deep breath, let's exhale here, let's just
take the next step. So I'm really excited for that.

Speaker 1 (53:19):
And you've done all this work with these great quarterbacks
and I wouldn't say that reclamation projects because you were
saying yourself, do you know what's ready? And Baker had it.
What's the message with Bryce Young who had a very look.

Speaker 3 (53:35):
Yeah. I think you know. The biggest part with Bryce
is for me, at least, this is my first year
with Bryce Young. I get him after having sixteen games
under his belt. So I think that's the coolest part
for me is rarely do you ever get your young
quarterback with and a little experience, you know what I mean.

(53:58):
So so for me, I know he's not a rookie.
I know that he's a rookie to me, Like, we're
both here together for the first time. So we start
this whole system over, we put in this offense together
for the first time. And he's got he's he's had
some live reps, he's had a bunch of live experiences
that I can draw from, and like, I'm just excited

(54:22):
about the talent. It's it's everything that we saw from
you know, over a year ago when we're doing the
draft evaluation. It's all there. It's all still there. So
it's just like, wait, the guy's athletic, he can get
the ball out quickly, he's a leader, he communicates well,
it's like, oh, he's got everything we need. Okay, Bryce,
just do your part, do your one eleventh, Just do

(54:45):
your quarterback part. You're the point guard, okay, and then
we'll let everybody else do all theirs and we can
dissolve the pressure of like you got to leave, you
got to do this and all that. Totally you're the
one now. It's just not true. I just I just
I have not seen that model of football work and
win in Seattle. We didn't put it all in Russell's plate.

(55:06):
So so that's not the model that we're going to
try to create in Carolina. It's like, no, just do
your part. It takes a whole team.

Speaker 1 (55:12):
So my my, you know, armchair quarterback outside. Looking in
free agency, you guys built up that line. You got
great protection inside, which I thought was important. And then
the draft with with Legette and Brooks and Sanders who
you mentioned, it's got some more skill position player, Like
the offense should be significantly better just based on that.

Speaker 3 (55:33):
Alone, Yeah, I would agree, you know, and it all
starts with the run game, and so the having having
Robert and Damien in there because I love our backfield,
and then adding Jonathan Brooks just you know, an opportunity
came to us with a really talented guy. And and
then uh just again depth, you know, talent, just keep

(55:55):
adding adding key pieces, challenger roster. You know. So that
was this, that was what this, uh, this draft and
this offseason was all about. But I feel confident that
we'll be able to, you know, to have a successful
run game, which for me opens everything else up and
helps their down and it helps move the ball and
give you more opportunities.

Speaker 1 (56:14):
You know, it's dangerous asking about ownership with coaches because
of whatever. But like I have gotten to know David Tepper.
I know he's super excited about you. What's that dynamic
so far have been Like with David and Nicole, who
plays a big role as.

Speaker 3 (56:27):
Well, That's that's been fantastic. I see a couple who
is really passionate about their team, you know, and sometimes
Nicole more than David. She just like absolutely loves Panthers
football and the whole thing, the community. Like she's like
so fired up to like served and find like who

(56:48):
can we like, who can we bless? Who can we
go and like spread this? You know, And so that's
kind of like her deals. Like I just want to
come out to practice and and enjoy the energy of
what I'm seeing and hopefully that's what they've seen. And
with David, you know, just you know, to be able
to be with him and pick his brain and like
lean on on the successes that he's had. You know,

(57:09):
he's unbelievably successful in terms of like when we think
of leadership and you know, all those things, and I
just like I'm able to kind of sit with him
and watch him just like courageously bring us together. Okay,
let's evaluate free agency, Let's evaluate the draft process. How
did that go? Guys? How was it?

Speaker 1 (57:29):
Like?

Speaker 3 (57:29):
What went well? What didn't go well? Why not? And
just like there's no blame, there's none of that. It's
just like, can we speak the truth? Can we go
into things with our eyes open and courageously say, Okay,
this didn't work. Bang, let's fix it, let's move forward.
You know, his encouragement to us has been like when
you can really see, when you can really look at

(57:49):
the things that you don't do well and the things
that you do well and you can grow quickly, then
that's how we find success. And so it's been really
cool to just kind of learn that whole side of
it from him.

Speaker 1 (58:01):
Yeah, and you know, I've done a lot of research
and talk to him about you know, his Wall Street sesses,
and he's not this guy doesn't lose and he bets
on himself. And that's what people say, like what's going
on with the Panthers. I'm like, I wouldn't bet against
Tepper and I wouldn't bet against Canalis. These are two
guys who seem to be on the same page right now,

(58:22):
and I wouldn't bet against Bryce Young either.

Speaker 3 (58:27):
Yeah. I mean, I mean I think, uh, I guess
one of the things for me when when when he
hired me, was I go, here's a guy who makes
a living projecting and probably taking things and getting them
right before they're at their full value. And I just
kind of looked at that and I was like, Okay,

(58:49):
so he's got confidence in me that I have a
chance to do this. Now. I know, I'm his third
coach in a pretty short time, and there's been you know,
and especially the last the last staff that was a
quick decision, you know. But but I come into this
thing and I go, Okay, but he's he sees something

(59:09):
in me. He's really excited, and so I think that's
just an encouragement for me to go, all right, thank
you for recognizing, thank you for seeing me, thank you
for seeing this work and this the stuff that's happening here,
and for believing and giving me a chance to do it.
So I don't know if that makes sense, but I

(59:29):
just like it does.

Speaker 1 (59:31):
You're the housing crisis or your COVID, you know, all
the things that he been on before everyone else did.
You might be that and it works out for everybody. Okay,
quick questions, we're going to wrap. I know you're giving
me a lot of your time here. You openly talk
about your faith and your father and what you know

(59:52):
religion and church means to you. How has that helped
you along the way in moments where there might be
doubt or there might be questions about what the future
you know lays out for you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:03):
Yeah, super critical. And and this is where this is
where I'm able to come into difficult situations. And number one,
because my identity isn't football. My identity football is not
first and foremost of my life. And like, this is

(01:00:24):
where I make all my decisions about this is this
is what you know really makes me. So I'm able
to come into challenging situations with a little better understanding
of like, yeah, this is scary, but this is also
not like this, it's not going to make or break
me as a human in my identity in Christ and

(01:00:45):
my identity with the Lord is so so I'm able
to courageously just say, yeah, let's go for it. Okay,
another great opportunity. Yeah, let's go for it. The possibilities
are endless, you know, And just and then in those
in those situations, I think the part that that I've
had to lean on the most, especially over the last year.
You know, in Tampa we lost six out of seven

(01:01:06):
games right in the middle of the season. Yeah, so
we lost, we lost four straight, six out of seven.
And to be able to just show up and be
the same guy every day, because what's most important to
me as I come into this building is that I
love and respect the people I work with, that I'm honorable,
that I do my best work, that I that I

(01:01:26):
honor God Colossians three twenty three. Whatever you do, do
it as if I'm to the Lord. And so for me,
it's just I look at the situation and I go okay.
But I get to lead by example by just pouring
into my work regardless of the circumstance, regardless of what
headline was just written about us in low expectations, I
don't care, come in here, love people, work hard, and

(01:01:51):
then just leave the rest up to the Lord. And
that's that's been such a huge, such a huge thing
for me, especially when we were losing, and like I
wanted to make it about me. How do I fix this,
How do I control this? How do I help this part,
how do I do this, I do this, I do that,
and it's just like, it's not about me. It's not

(01:02:13):
about me, and I don't control all the outcomes. So
just work hard and treat people well and love people,
and the right outcome will happen. Yes, do on our
ability to teach it, our talent level of our players.
That will take care of all these things if I
just continue to just honor it, and so it keeps

(01:02:35):
it from making it really personal, you know, towards others
or towards myself, and just allows me to just stay
steady and consistent throughout it. I'm gonna need that for
sure this year, and you will.

Speaker 1 (01:02:47):
You will. My last question, let's go back to that
that kid coming out of college who's got the weights
and a few plates and it was a tax right
off for somebody else, and you're like, let's run a
little gym over here, let's do our own thing. Put
yourself in that guy's shoes and have him look at
the life that you've lived, in the career that you've had.

(01:03:08):
What would you say your one piece of advice to
that kid, now, knowing what you know, what would you
tell that kid back then? If he said to you, Hey,
someday I'd like to get involved in coaching, what would
be your guidance?

Speaker 3 (01:03:26):
I would say, you're doing great. So you're doing great,
because it just it started with loving people, and it
just started with going back to a community that needed something.
They needed what I learned in college, and they needed
that encouragement, and they needed some place to be that

(01:03:48):
wasn't out on the streets doing crazy stuff. And so
I think it was just I would just encourage that
guy to like to just keep loving people and just
meet needs and like that's that's kind of been the
roadmap to getting here, is just building boyds and meeting
needs along the way and not being afraid to step

(01:04:09):
into roles I might not have been completely equipped for,
but to say, I'll learn what I need to learn.
So just I think just the courageous I would just
encourage that guy just and then and then I would
probably smack him around and tell him to like, really
pay more attention to your wife too, by the way,
because she's she's amazing, and uh, I wouldn't want to
lose all those years. That's probably more of the stuff

(01:04:33):
that I would spend time.

Speaker 1 (01:04:35):
The personal life the being with the family and not
not not living in the office, that kind of stuff.

Speaker 3 (01:04:40):
Yeah, not living in the office, and just not making
stupid decisions like in my marriage and stuff, the stuff
that my wife and I went through that I my
decisions took us through that could have been avoided just
by taking myself out of certain situations. And so I
think I would probably just I would have I would
probably spend most of my time there talking to that guy.

Speaker 1 (01:05:05):
Yeah, I yeah. Tell you, we have a lot of
coaches on on you like there's so much toxicity in
our world, and I turn on you know, some of
the television channels, even we're talking about sports, it's this
guy sucks, this guy can't win the big one. Dave,
I talked to you. I feel like there's a light,
Like I feel lifted. I'm not trying to blow tires

(01:05:26):
into your your your your blow air into your tires here,
but like you have a very soothing and encouraging way
about you that I think is very contagious.

Speaker 3 (01:05:37):
I appreciate it. Peter. I feel the same way. You know,
whenever you send me a text or give me a
call or whatever it's, it always starts off with something
super uplifting, and it's like it's just a reminder like, Yeah,
life is really good, isn't it. Even when it's hard,
it's like still good, you know. And so I really
appreciate that about you too. It's really encouraging.

Speaker 1 (01:05:58):
Okay, So go enjoy Mount Adams. Did I get that right?
Mount Adams? Yep, yep, Go enjoy Mount Adams, the beautiful
Washington country. You're talking to a city slicker right here,
you talking about hikes and all these things. I'm like, I
don't know about all that, but you seem to be
able to unplug and get to the mountains and gosh,
you're up right now. And for the listeners who are
listening to this, it's seven point thirty Pacific, and Dave said, sure,

(01:06:21):
let's do it, and let's start the way that way.
And I so appreciate you for getting up early. Go
enjoy the rest of your week, Go enjoy the rest
of your off season, and then let's get after it.
I'm excited to watch the Panthers this year. Man.

Speaker 3 (01:06:33):
Awesome, man, I appreciate you. Thanks for the opportunity to
just share about what we're doing and some of the
things in my life too. Just it's really cool to
just remember where I came from. So bad and you
enjoy some time off too, Man, get all the microphone,
get your headphones off, and.

Speaker 1 (01:06:49):
I know, I know, all right, Dave Canalis. Awesome stuff
is always the season with Peter Schreger bringing you another
great one, coach, good luck this season.

Speaker 3 (01:06:58):
Man, Hey, thanks a lot talk.

Speaker 1 (01:07:00):
So I gotta say, uh, there's a certain calmness and
like confidence that he's got aaron that like I am,

(01:07:21):
I'm all in on Dave.

Speaker 2 (01:07:21):
Kaz That was Yeah. I mean, it's a good resume
to say. I came from working with the Seahawks with Gino,
who was nobody's top choice for quarterback and outperformed everyone's expectations.
And then I went to Tampa with Baker and saw
the fire and Baker like wanting to succeed, and I
saw how important it was for him to win the job.

(01:07:44):
And now he's going to Bryce and I liked, I
really loved his quote about like you focus on being
the quarterback, You're not doing everything. We're going to get
the offensive line to do their part, the receivers to
do their part, and that will let you succeed. And
that's a nice way of looking at this, So I
really enjoyed that.

Speaker 1 (01:08:01):
I also like the temper part at the end. I
was a little nervous that I was going to mention
the owner, and then you get like, you know, it's
like he was very open about it. He's a interesting
dynamic force in the NFL right now, and it's been
through three head coaches in three years or whatever it is.
But here's a guy who's had a ton of Wall
Street success, gambles and risks some things before everyone else

(01:08:22):
isn't on it, and has hit the jackpots several times,
and it's like, okay. And I remember Kevin Demoff came
on this podcast and talked about McVeigh and was like,
he's thirty years old, but if we don't hire him now,
someone else will next year and we'll be like, well,
we didn' hire him because he was thirty. That was
the wrong reason. With Canalis, obviously, Tepper sees something that
he sees as an emerging you know, blue chipper, and

(01:08:45):
it's like, let's get him in the building now. Whether
or not he's had a ton of offensive coordinator experience,
whether or not he's a household dame, whether or not
he's ever been a head coach before, and Canalis knows
that and views himself that way. That's very self aware
and I really thought that was cool.

Speaker 2 (01:08:58):
And like I think you said, it wasn't this is
the only guy who got the interview. There were yeah, fourteen,
over a dozen guys that they interviewed, and this is
who Tepera was like, yes, this is of these, like
you said, stocks, this is the one I'm picking is Canalis.
So that's promising.

Speaker 1 (01:09:15):
I really enjoy talking to him. They're gonna be better
this year. I don't know how good they're gonna be,
but that's not for here or for now. I just
want everyone to get to know Dave Canalis. Great great
juice to start the off season with the Carolina Panthers
and then training camps right around the corner. Aaron, thank you.
I want to thank our intern at. iHeart Tyler Grosso.
Am I saying it right? Grosso? Tyler, get on the mic.

(01:09:37):
What do you got here? Do we did? I? Grosso
junior at Penn State killing it right now at iHeart
in an internship with the podcast group, which I think
is so cool. I wish I could do done something
like that in College. Good luck to you, Tyler, You're
gonna kick butt. And then for all the listeners, thanks
for hanging in here and listening during the off season.
Some of my favorite episodes. We'll be back next week,

(01:10:00):
The Season with Peter Schrigan. The Season with Peter Schrager
is a production of the NFL and partnership with iHeartRadio.
For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts,
wherever you get your podcasts.