Panthers News: Exclusive Interview with Dave Canales Reviews That…
The Panthers concluded a busy Thursday with a third virtual interview for the head coach position, the team announced.
They completed an interview with Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales.
Canales was with the Seahawks from 2010-22, working as wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator during his time there. He helped revitalize the career of Geno Smith in 2022.
During this season with the Bucs, his first as a coordinator, Canales has coached Baker Mayfield to his best season in the NFL.
The Panthers also have completed interviews with Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith and Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor.
They have requested to interview Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
Teams will be allowed to begin in-person interviews Monday.
When the MVP votes are announced in two weeks, Dak Prescott almost assuredly will finish in the top five. He could be as high as No. 2 behind Lamar Jackson.
But the MVP award is a regular-season award.
Prescott is at his best in the regular season, with a 73-41 record and a 99.0 passer rating, but the postseason is a different story. He is 2-5 with a 91.8 passer rating when it matters most.
Prescott has gotten the Cowboys to the postseason five times. He has never gotten them even to the NFC Championship Game.
He didn’t have an answer for the “why” immediately after the 48-32 butt kicking by the Packers, but Prescott acknowledged what all quarterbacks are judged on, especially in Dallas.
“It’s about winning and winning the playoffs and getting to the last game and winning that as well,” he said postgame.
Cowboys fans want everyone gone after last Sunday’s disaster, but the team announced Wednesday that Mike McCarthy will return as head coach. Prescott, who has a $59.4 million cap hit, will return as well.
McCarthy called Prescott, who made second-team All-Pro, “part of the solution.”
“I have unbelievable belief in Dak,” McCarthy said, via Jon Machota of TheAthletic.com. “I think he clearly has another step. I think this offense has suited him well. It’s a system built around making the quarterback successful. The growth opportunity that we both see for the future is something that we are excited about. A big part of the conversation [the two had this week] was the disappointment. We talked about the particulars of the game and things that went wrong and how we can improve it.
“I believe in Dak Prescott. I think he’s clearly the answer. He’s part of the solution moving forward. I think as difficult as this time is right now, we can work through this emotional period that we’re in. We’ll continue to build off of what he brings to the table.”
The Cowboys will have to do something to lower Prescott’s cap number for 2024, whether that’s adding more voidable years or making him among the league’s highest-paid quarterbacks with an extension. Do they want to commit to him beyond 2024 at the price they are going to have to pay?
Prescott has the leverage, but the Cowboys did trade a fourth-round pick for Trey Lance.
It’s hard to believe they have seen enough of Lance in limited practice reps to know whether he’s the heir apparent or not.
The Cowboys repeatedly have said they see Prescott as their quarterback of the future, but how many more years do they give him to accomplish what he hasn’t in eight years? Baker Mayfield has as many playoff wins as Prescott, and this week, Brock Purdy can get his third in two seasons.
Cowboys quarterbacks are judged by Super Bowl victories: Roger Staubach and Troy Aikman have them; no one else does.
Prescott will get at least one more chance to join them.
Eagles offensive coordinator Brian Johnson, already identified as a candidate for head coaching openings with the Titans and Panthers, interviewed Thursday for the Falcons’ opening, the team announced on its social media accounts.
Johnson, 36, spent this past year as the Eagles’ offensive coordinator after two years as Nick Sirianni’s quarterbacks coach. He’s been widely credited for Jalen Hurts’ development from a raw 22-year-old 2nd-round pick who replaced Carson Wentz late in 2020 to a Pro Bowler and record-setting Super Bowl star last year.
But both Johnson and Hurts had down years in 2023, culminating in the Eagles’ 32-9 wild-card loss to the Buccaneers on Monday.
Johnson is an odd position. He’s still working for the Eagles but there’s a good chance that even if Sirianni returns to the Eagles in 2024 Johnson won’t. But he’s still an in-demand head coaching candidate even though he may soon be unemployed.
Johnson was in a difficult spot this year, calling plays for an offense that wasn’t his. But despite the Eagles losing five of their last six regular-season games and a wild-card game, the offense finished the regular season ranked seventh in the NFL in scoring, eighth in yards, fourth in first downs, third in 3rd-down conversions and ninth in the red zone.
Johnson has known Hurts since he was a toddler. Hurts’ father, Averion, coached Johnson at Robert E. Lee High School in Baytown, Texas.
Johnson played quarterback at Utah – he backed up Alex Smith in 2004 – and had an outstanding senior year, with 27 touchdowns and nine interceptions and an upset over Alabama in the Sugar Bowl in the Superdome.
He began his coaching career as offensive coordinator at Utah in 2012 and then had stints at Mississippi State and Houston before joining Dan Mullen’s Florida Gator staff in 2018. He spent 2020 as Florida’s offensive coordinator – the Gators averaged 40 points per game – and that earned him the quarterbacks coaching job with the Eagles when Sirianni took over.
The Falcons have already held two interviews with Bill Belichick, and according to various reports, they’ve also interviewed Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan, Michigan head coach John Harbaugh, Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Ravens defensive coordinator Mike MacDonald, Ravens assistant head coach and defensive line coach Anthony Weaver and 49ers defensive coordinator Steve Wilks.
The Falcons fired head coach Arthur Smith on Jan. 8 after three consecutive 7-10 seasons. The Falcons have had six straight losing seasons.
The Panthers have completed a virtual interview with Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, the team announced Thursday afternoon.
Slowik, a part of the Kyle Shanahan coaching tree, arrived in Houston with DeMeco Ryans in the 2023 offseason. In his first season as a play caller, Slowik helped turn C.J. Stroud into the offensive rookie of the year favorite.
Slowik switched from defense to offense while with the 49ers.
Four other teams are interested in interviewing him.
“I’m entirely locked in on the Ravens,” Slowik said Wednesday. “I know here pretty soon, that process is going to start pretty quick, but I’m going to cross that bridge when I get to it. Right now, I’m just Baltimore.”
Slowik is the ninth coach the Panthers have interviewed.
The Panthers also have completed interviews with Bengals offensive coordinator Brian Callahan. Panthers defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero, Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald, Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, Dolphins offensive coordinator Frank Smith and Panthers interim head coach Chris Tabor.
They have requested to interview Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales and Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson.
The Browns are kicking off their search for a new offensive coordinator with a former member of the team’s coaching staff.
Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports that the Browns will interview Seahawks offensive line coach Andy Dickerson for the opening. The Browns fired Alex Van Pelt earlier this week.
Dickerson joined the Seahawks in 2021 as their run game coordinator and then moved to his current position in 2022. He spent nine years with the Rams before moving to Seattle and coached for the Jets after starting his time in the NFL as an assistant with the Browns in 2009 and 2010.
The Browns also have openings for running backs and tight ends coaches after this week’s moves.