Dave Canales accepted the first offensive coordinator job of his career this offseason, but Buccaneers fans will love his reason for why he chose Tampa Bay.
It was a long and tough search for an offensive coordinator this offseason, but the Tampa Bay Buccaneers think they found the right guy. Dave Canales accepting what amounts to a promotion with the Bucs, going from the Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach to offensive coordinator of a team three years removed from winning the Super Bowl.
Tampa Bay loved what he had to offer, but the feeling is apparently mutual.
Canales recently made his first appearance on WDAE and revealed that the ‘blueprint and recipe’ the Bucs have in place is what made him want the job. Chris Godwin and Mike Evans, who were mentioned in Canales’ first press conference, will be particularly happy but so will the defensive unit. It’s no secret that the defense carried a lot of the weight in Tampa Bay, especially in the Super Bowl back in 2020, and hearing the new guy in town to fix what likely held the defense back last season shout the unit out will probably go a long way.
It was more than just pleasantries, though, which are to be expected from a guy trying to build relationships and form connections. Canales cites the Bucs as a unit for the reason he wanted to be in Tampa Bay, which is surely going to excite fans.
Buccaneers news: Dave Canales gives amazing answer to why he chose Tampa Bay
Specifically he compared what he sees in Tampa Bay to the type of successful structure he was a part of in Seattle.
“I really just, you know, coveted an opportunity to come into a place that had some real key pieces, from the offensive line to the receivers, to the running back and the tight end group being versatile. You talk about the ability to be balanced in what we do; that really excited me,” Canales said. “Pair that with just a fantastic defense and the guys that they have on that side. You put all that together and that’s just been the blueprint and recipe that I’ve seen work and take us to the playoffs most of the years .”
It’s easy to assume that the real reason Canales took the job was that he was offered upward movement in his career. Tampa Bay wasn’t exactly at the top of anyone’s list this offseason, just ask Kellen Moore and Pep Hamilton — the former taking a job elsewhere and the latter outright rejecting an interview request with the team.
Canales has been a part of a successful franchise in Seattle, going to two Super Bowls and winning one during his time there. He’s been under Pete Carroll’s wing going all the way back to their days at USC in the last 2000s, and he’s not going to waste his best chance at career advancement just to get a job.
In comparing the Bucs today with what he’s seen in sustained successful teams in Seattle should go a long way, and is a positive sign that the ship is already starting to turn around after a miserable season last year.