Buccaneers HC Todd Bowles reacts to Dave Canales joining Panthers

Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Todd Bowles was recording a podcast with team insider Ira Kaufman of the JoeBucsFan website when the news broke that offensive coordinator Dave Canales will be the new head coach of the Carolina Panthers.

"I’m extremely proud of him and I’m happy for him," Bowles told Kaufman about Canales. "Dave is a great guy and a great coach. He’s a great presence all the way around and he did a lot of great things for this franchise."

The Buccaneers parted ways with then-offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich and a handful of assistants after the 2022 season, and Tampa Bay then hired Canales last winter before the club signed quarterback Baker Mayfield to a one-year "prove it" contract. 

Canales had a history of working with "shorter" signal-callers and ultimately helped Mayfield emerge as a candidate to earn Comeback Player of the Year honors and a playoff-caliber QB1 who could sign a lucrative contract in free agency. 

Concerns related to the fact that Panthers starter Bryce Young is (maybe) 5-foot-10 1/8 and 200 pounds have some wondering if he'll meet the expectations that hovered over him before Carolina made him the first overall pick of last year's draft. 

Young's size combined with Mayfield's play this season likely contributed to the Panthers choosing Canales.   

"I don’t even think he was here for a year and now he’s with a divisional rival," Bowles added about Canales. "It couldn’t happen to a better person. I know we’re going to have to face ourselves as rivals, but I’m very proud of him."

The Buccaneers may soon have to decide whether they'll use the franchise tag to retain Mayfield's rights for 2024, but they first will have to select Canales' replacement. Bowles didn't reveal when a new OC may be hired. 

"We have some internal candidates as well as some external candidates," Bowles told Kaufman about the staff's new opening. "Like last year, I’m going to take my time and go through the process. You kind of know it when you see it, so you don’t have to rush it. We went through a lot of guys last year and we’ll go through a lot of guys now." 

While former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been linked by some with the Buccaneers, there's no indication the club will move on from Bowles this winter.