David Canales (born May 7, 1981) is an American professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

coach who is the

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

for the

Carolina Panthers The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The t ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

at Azusa Pacific and served as a longtime assistant coach with the

Seattle Seahawks The Seattle Seahawks are a professional American football team based in Seattle. The Seahawks compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West division. The club entered the NFL a ...

under

Pete Carroll Peter Clay Carroll (born September 15, 1951) is an American professional American football, football coach who is the head coach for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He previously served as head coach for the NCAA's ...

. Canales also was an assistant strength coach with the

USC Trojans The USC Trojans (also Southern California Trojans) are the College athletics in the United States, intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles. While the men's teams are nicknamed the ...

and offensive coordinator of the

Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Tampa Bay Buccaneers (colloquially known as the Bucs) are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC S ...

Early life

Canales was born on May 7, 1981, in

Harbor City, California Harbor City is a highly diverse neighborhood in the South Bay and Harbor region of Los Angeles, California, with a population upward of 36,000 people. Originally part of the Rancho San Pedro Spanish land grant, the Harbor City was brought int ...

. He attended Carson High School in

Carson, California Carson is a city in the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South Bay and the Los Angeles Harbor Region, Harbor regions of Los Angeles County, California, located south of downtown Los Angeles and approximately away from Los Angeles International ...

, where he played

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

and

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

. He played

Azusa Pacific University Azusa Pacific University (APU) is a private evangelical research university in Azusa, California, United States. The university was founded in 1899 in Whittier, California, with classes first held on March 3, 1900, and degrees offered in 193 ...

, then a NAIA program in

Azusa, California Azusa ( Tongva: ''Azuksa'', meaning "skunk") is a city in the San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, at the foot of the San Gabriel Mountains and located east of downtown Los Angeles. Its population wa ...

. In his college career, Canales recorded 27 receptions for 293 yards and one touchdown. He graduated in 2003 from Azusa Pacific with a degree in

business administration Business administration is the administration of a commercial enterprise. It includes all aspects of overseeing and supervising the business operations of an organization. Overview The administration of a business includes the performance o ...

Coaching career

Carson HS

Canales began his coaching career serving as the head coach and offensive coordinator of the freshman/sophomore team at his alma mater, Carson High School, from 2004 to 2005.

El Camino College

Canales made the jump to college coaching in 2006 by joining El Camino (Calif.) College. He served as tight ends coach and special teams coordinator in his first year, before transitioning to quarterbacks coach in his final season with the team (2007–08). During his tenure, the school won the California Community College State Championship in 2006 and also secured two Mission Conference titles.

USC

During his time at El Camino College, Canales formed a relationship with

, the head coach of the

. In 2009, Canales joined Carroll at USC, where he served as an assistant strength coach for one season.

Seattle Seahawks

In 2010, Canales followed Carroll after the latter's acceptance of the

' head coaching position. He won his first Super Bowl title when the Seahawks defeated the Denver Broncos in

Super Bowl XLVIII Super Bowl XLVIII was an American football game between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion 2013 Denver Broncos season, Denver Broncos and National Football Conference (NFC) champion 2013 Seattle Seahawks season, Seattle Seahawks to ...

. Canales spent 13 years with the Seahawks, serving in a variety of capacities on the offensive side of the staff. From 2010 through 2017, Canales served as wide receivers coach, he coached prominent players such as

Golden Tate Golden Herman Tate III (born August 2, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish footb ...

Sidney Rice Sidney Raynard Rice (born September 1, 1986) is an American former professional American football, football player who was a wide receiver for seven seasons in the National Football League (NFL). Rice played college football for the South Carol ...

Doug Baldwin Douglas Dewayne Baldwin Jr. (born September 21, 1988) is an American former professional American football, football player who spent his entire eight-season career as a wide receiver with the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (N ...

Jermaine Kearse Jermaine Levan Kearse (born February 6, 1990) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for eight seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Washington Huskies. Kearse was ...

and

Tyler Lockett Tyler Deron Lockett (born September 28, 1992) is an American professional football wide receiver for the Tennessee Titans of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Kansas State Wildcats. He played 10 seasons in t ...

. He then took on the roles of quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator from 2018 through 2022. Canales was credited with assisting in the resurgence of

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

Geno Smith Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III (born October 10, 1990) is an American professional football quarterback for the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, leading them ...

's career. In the 2022 season, Smith was highly effective as the team's starting quarterback and was named

NFL Comeback Player of the Year A number of NFL Comeback Player of the Year awards are given to National Football League (NFL) players who have demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led them to miss p ...

, while also earning his first

Pro Bowl The National Football League All-Star Game (1939–1942), Pro Bowl (1951–2022), or Pro Bowl Games (since 2023) is an annual event held by the National Football League (NFL) featuring the league's All-star, star players. The format has changed ...

appearance.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

On February 16, 2023, Canales was hired by the

as their offensive coordinator under head coach

Todd Bowles Todd Robert Bowles (born November 18, 1963) is an American professional American football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He was previously the head coach ...

, replacing

Byron Leftwich Byron Antron Leftwich (born January 14, 1980) is an American former professional football quarterback and coach who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 10 seasons. He is currently an assistant coach at Colorado. He played college fo ...

Carolina Panthers

On January 25, 2024, Canales signed a six-year contract to become the head coach of the

. Canales got his first win as the Panthers' coach on September 22, 2024, in Week 3 at the

Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas Valley, Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC West ...

36-22.

Head coaching record

Personal life

Canales is married to Lizzy Canales, who he met while attending

. They have four children. He is of Mexican descent.

References

External links

Carolina Panthers profile

Azusa Pacific profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Canales, Dave 1981 births American football defensive backs American football wide receivers American sportspeople of Mexican descent Azusa Pacific Cougars football players Carolina Panthers head coaches Carson High School (Carson, California) alumni Coaches of American football from California El Camino Warriors football coaches High school football coaches in California Living people People from Carson, California Players of American football from Los Angeles Seattle Seahawks coaches Sports coaches from Los Angeles Tampa Bay Buccaneers coaches USC Trojans football coaches Hispanic and Latino American players of American football