One of the first offseason dominos has fallen for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Tom Brady’s retirement left a massive hole on the Bucs roster at quarterback, but the franchise was looking at a chicken-and-egg situation in terms of how to move forward. In addition to losing Brady, the Buccaneers fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich, who ultimately became the scapegoat for the disappointing season the team turned in.
Tampa Bay has been linked to quarterbacks on the market, but without an offensive coordinator, it was unclear how the team would proceed. It was also unclear who would want to come to the Bucs without there being a plan in place.
Part of that has changed.
A search for who will be the quarterback in 2023 is still underway, but an offensive coordinator has been found.
According to NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo, the Bucs will be hiring Dave Canales to be the team’s next offensive coordinator.
“The Buccaneers are hiring Seahawks quarterback coach Dave Canales as their new offensive coordinator, sources say,” Garafolo reported on Wednesday. “After 13 seasons as an assistant on Pete Carroll’s coaching staff, Canales heads to Tampa to run the offense for Todd Bowles.”
Who is Dave Canales, the Buccaneers new offensive coordinator?
Garafolo wasn’t kidding when he said Canales has been with Carroll for a long time. The two began their coaching relationship back in 2009 when Carroll was still the head coach at USC, hiring Canales to be the Trojans assistant strength coach.
Canales followed Carroll to Seattle the following year when the latter was hired to become the Seahawks head coach. From there, Canales worked his way through the coaching staff from Wide receivers coach to quarterbacks coach over the course of the next 12 years on Carroll’s staff.
Here’s a quick rundown of Canales’ ascension to Buccaneers offensive coordinator:
- Assistant strength coach – USC Trojans (2009)
- Wide receivers coach – Seattle Seahawks (2010-2017)
- Quarterbacks coach – Seattle Seahawks (2018-2019)
- Passing game coordinator – Seattle Seahawks (2020-2021)
- Quarterbacks coach – Seattle Seahawks (2022)
- Offensive coordinator – Tampa Bay Buccaneers (2023)
Among the notable players Canales has been instrumental in helping succeed within the Seahawks offense are Marshawn Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett, and Russell Wilson. Most recently he helped Geno Smith win Comeback Player of the Year as his quarterback coach in 2022, something that put him on the radar of teams around the NFL.
Joining the Bucs will mark the first time in his career that Canales has taken on a coordinator position, a challenge that has been duly earned over the years.