Let's fix the Panthers, part 2 — was Dave Canales the right hire?

Welcome to part two of fixing the Carolina Panthers. As I outlined in part one, this will be a multi-week series as we look at the Carolina Panthers’ recent moves and see if we can get them on the path to respectability more quickly than they otherwise would be.

This week I want to take a look at the Panthers’ coaching search. Initially I was a little skeptical of the Panthers’ final decision to hire Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator Dave Canales, but I think the move merits more than a knee-jerk reaction.

I think we need to start by establishing what the Panthers should be looking for in a new coach. I will admit to being biased a bit toward offense, but I think immediately narrowing the search toward offensive-minded coaches is a good choice for the Panthers for a couple of reasons.

First, I think putting together a competent offense is the quickest way for any team to achieve respectability. It’s no secret that the NFL is geared toward rewarding offenses, and building your team to play to that reality is a simple first step toward getting your team on its feet. Unless you’ve got a lot of built-in defensive talent already, going with a defense-oriented coach seems like making things a little bit harder than it has to be.

Second, going with an offense-minded coach sets the Panthers up to answer their most important question: what are they going to do at quarterback? The first year of the Bryce Young era wasn’t great, but the Panthers are committed to Young in the short term whether they like it or not. And why shouldn’t they be? They’re not yet two years removed from their massive trade to get him, so they might as well see this through. Hiring an offensive coach, much less a quarterback whisperer, should help them figure out what they have in Young. And if Young continues to falter, their coach should be able to build around him in such a way that the next guy has some kind of foundation for success — assuming the coach is around for that next phase.

So if that’s what we’re looking for, how did the Panthers do in their search?

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