Jun 26, 2024, 7:26 p.m. ET
The communication between Carolina’s new head coach and his players has been very different from the way it was done with previous head coaches.
CHARLOTTE — The U.S. high school coach Carolina Panthers, Jonathan Cooleywas drenched in sweat when he met the head coach Dave Canales in the locker room, moments before the first meeting, at 7 am
“Are you coming from the sauna?” Canales asked.
Cooley He laughed and told his new boss that he attends a hot yoga class that incorporates weights every morning around 5:45 a.m. before heading to the office. Bank of America Stadium.
Every detail, no matter how small, is intentional for Dave Canales, even down to where he stands within the Panthers complex. Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
Canales He saw it not only as an opportunity to return to yoga, but as a key element in turning around the Panthers through building relationships. So, he accompanied Cooley the next day, a routine he has followed almost every Thursday since then.
“It’s been great to develop that relationship,” he said. Cooleypart of a group of defensive coaches that was retained from last season for the 43-year-old first-year head coach with an offensive pedigree.
“Football hasn’t really changed for us on our side of the ball, but creating that connection and that closeness — someone you can believe in — from that standpoint allows you to go that extra mile when you don’t necessarily feel like it.”
Canales He goes that extra mile to build relationships and find moments of self-awareness for all of his coaches and players. That’s part of the core of the culture he’s trying to build in an attempt to revive an organization that has endured six straight losing seasons, including a league-worst record. NFLa 2-15, in 2023.
“It’s a big part of everything,” the backup quarterback admitted. Andy Dalton“At the end of the day, the relationship is what matters. When you know you can trust someone, and you have that personal relationship, you can connect on a whole different level.”
CANALES WAS standing at the entrance to the stadium on the first day of training camp in the offseason, waiting to greet each player… and hoping to call each one by name. He spent weeks studying their photographs so he could recognize them.
“I was between 85, 90 percent that day, just based on the facial images,” he said. Canales.
He continued doing this for over a month, intentionally trying to build that connection.
“Every day,” the tight end said. Tommy Tremble“I knew he did it some days. Then I realized it was every day. It’s been great. You can just feel the comfort with him, which is important for a team as a whole to go in the same direction, which is to win.”
The fact that Canales That he worked so hard to learn the names shows the work ethic he hopes to permeate throughout the organization.
“It gives us the confidence that if we have a question, we can go talk to him,” he added. Tremble.
Canales He also strategically positions himself at different points around the stadium every day, to create moments where he can chat with the players.
Or at least, fist bump.
“It’s just saying a name, shaking hands, or giving them a hug,” he said. Canales“Whatever that contact is, just creating that kind of environment here that this is a place where they feel safe, so they can come and just do their job.”
UNDERSTANDING THE SELF-AWARENESS of the players is an important part of the process to Canales.
“I want to hear a boy tell his story,” he said. Canales. “It says a lot about their self-awareness. It says a lot about how they can achieve their goals and how quickly they can achieve their goals by being able to — really in a systematic, organized way — talk about their life story, where they’ve been. , the challenges, when the light came on for them.”
For Canalessome of those moments occurred when he worked for the former head coach of the Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carrollwho challenged him to see “the whole field” when he was the receivers coach.
“It was a little bit like, ‘Wake up, you’re just looking at your receivers all the time, with your back to the rest of the team,'” he said. Canales“It was like, ‘If you want to be a coordinator someday, you’re going to have to see the protection, see the quarterback decision and look at this route and how it ends. Challenge yourself to see more.'”
So, Canales He began to observe and ask questions, looking for more than just one- or two-word responses from players when he mentioned self-awareness.
“It’s about the guys who can capture those specific moments in their lives when it’s like, ‘Oh, this is real,'” he said. Canales“That’s when you know.”
“Can they actually get their story out?”
CHANNELS TEST self-awareness every year in the NFL scouting combine when evaluating players ahead of the draft. He describes it as “the test Tyler Lockett“, from what he observed of the former wide receiver Kansas State between the time he ran the 40-yard dash and they moved on to the pass-bombing drill.
“Tyler He was the first one with his shoes on, the first one with his gloves on,” he recalled. Canales“He then grabbed one of the equipment guys and immediately asked him to start throwing passes to him.
“The other guys were on their phones, texting their agents or whatever they do. A Tyler He wasn’t worried about that. He was trying to prepare his hands for the exercise and the routes.
Every year since then, Canales is looking for “that boy.”
Dave Canales has emphasized building trust with his assistants and players in Carolina through close personal relationships. AP Photo/Nell Redmond
“It let me know that there is a boy who is aware of what is going to happen,” he shared. “I will take a guy like that, because he will continue to work on his weaknesses.”
The quarterback of Carolina, Bryce Youngrevealed his moment of self-awareness to Canales prior to Draft 2023when the Panthers They selected the star of Alabama global first.
It happened during a pre-draft conversation at the Combinedwhen Canalesthen offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneersevaluated quarterbacks with no real chance of finding Young available at No. 19.
It grew from a simple question about an observation he made Canales about something that Young “fixed” his performance toward the end of his final season in Alabama. Canales He didn’t even mention what the observation was.
“Y [Young] He started to shorten his base and get to the point where he could stay compact and upright, and able to throw the passes,” he recalled. Canales.
Canales He then showed his notes to Youngbasically pointing out the same thing. Young He was surprised.
“It was really great to see this kid aware of what his deficiencies are, where he needs to work,” he said. Canales.
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Young He vividly remembers the conversation.
“It stuck with me because it was the most thoughtful question I got in the whole process,” he explained. “It was very specific. It was a change I made over the course of the year.
“I had a meaning behind it, a purpose for why I changed it. We had a conversation about it. It was a pretty great moment. It just shows his attention to detail.”
Young in Canales They had no idea they would be working together a year later. But, the moment accelerated the bond they have created in Carolina and helped Young trust that Canales can help him turn things around after a miserable rookie campaign.
Canales He described the conversation with Young a “classic test for boys” and why it is so important to what you are trying to achieve.
“If they’re not aware of the things that are gaps, they’re not going to be aware of the things that they need to improve on… that doesn’t mean they’re never going to be,” he said. Canales“But, I’ve just noticed that the kids who do have that self-awareness, they go further, faster, because they constantly work on those things.”
A TRIP TO Charlotte Motor Speedway a week before the mandatory minicamp in June was not intended to see if the Panthers they had some future pilot NASCARIt was about team bonding and doing it in a fun way, about finding who the real competitors were, even if it was something outside of football.
“He’s very intentional with everything he does,” the wide receiver said. Adam Thielen of Canales“He’s very intentional with every conversation, with where he stands in the building at certain times of the day. He’s just very intentional.
“It’s great just to have that great communication from the top down.”
This was not always the case with the two previous head coaches, France y Matt Rhule. There wasn’t always harmony at the top, because not all the coaches were on the same page regarding the direction of the team. That spread to the locker room and made it difficult to create momentum in difficult times.
“It’s all about creating a personal relationship,” he stressed. Dalton. “[El coach Canales ha] “I’ve been trying to do it in a lot of different ways with a lot of different guys. Obviously, when you’re new and there’s a lot of new faces, it takes a lot. But, you can tell how important it is to him.”
It is so important that Canales is willing to get ready at 5:45 am for a high-temperature yoga with Cooley.
“One thing I love about the coach Canales “It’s that he has done an excellent job of not only preaching relationships, but being intentional about developing them with the coaches and players,” he said. Cooley“That has allowed us to have an environment where we can get along.”
2024-06-26 23:26:00
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