Who is Dave Canales? Carolina Panthers to hire head coach with Mexican-American heritage

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The Carolina Panthers are planning to hire Dave Canales as their next head coach, sources said on Thursday.

Canales will fill the role previously held by Frank Reich, who was fired in November after the Panthers started 1-10. Special teams coach Chris Tabor was named interim head coach and the team went on to finish 2-15, which was the worst record in the league.

Canales has a Super Bowl ring and experience working with Mayfield, Wilson and Geno Smith. He also will be the only Latin American or Hispanic head coach in the league.

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Dave Canales' coaching history

Dave Canales comes to the Panthers after one season as the offensive coordinator of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He coached quarterback Baker Mayfield and wide receiver Mike Evans, helping lead the team to its third straight NFC South title and a trip to the divisional round of the playoffs.

Prior to that, Canales was a member of the Seattle Seahawks' coaching staff for 13 seasons. He climbed the ranks from offensive quality control coach to quarterbacks coach and pass game coordinator where he worked with nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback Russell Wilson and developed Geno Smith, who got his first Pro Bowl nod and a nice new deal in Canales' last season with the Seahawks. He won Super Bowl 48 when Seattle blew out the Denver Broncos, 43-8.

Canales cut his chops in the college ranks, serving as an assistant coach at USC for one season and holding multiple positions at El Camino College in California. He developed a relationship with Pete Carroll, who he worked under at USC and then gave him his first NFL job, by working as a coach at Carroll's camps.

He got his first coaching job at his alma mater, Carson High School, where he was head freshman/sophomore coach and offensive coordinator.

Dave Canales college

Dave Canales attended Azusa Pacific University outside of Pasadena, California, where he played wide receiver and received a degree in business administration.

Dave Canales family life

Dave Canales hails from Carson, California. He is married to his wife, Lizzy, who he met in college. The couple has four children together: Ashby, Benjamin, Beatrice and Amaya.

According to Sports Illustrated, he grew up as a pastor's kid. His father was the pastor of Mission Ebenezer Family Church in the South Bay, which was founded by Canales' grandfather. He has two brothers who are also part of the church. His older brother, Josh, is now the senior pastor.

Canales' paternal grandparents came to the United States from Mexico, per the sports magazine. His grandfather founded the church because he was injured in battle during World War II and made a promise to God that he would do so. The establishment began as a Spanish-speaking church with 15 people and now offers services in Spanish and English with a membership of 3,000 people.

According to the publication, Canales' first job out of college was selling cowboy boots for a family friend, but his true passion was coaching.

"The emotions, camaraderie and physicality — all combined — had me hooked from the beginning," Canales told the Buccaneers team website. "I wanted to give back and train athletes, especially football players. I wanted to give them the training that I did not have at my disposal early on."

Dave Canales' Mexican-American heritage

Dave Canales is Mexican-American and is now the only Latino or Hispanic head coach currently in the league after Ron Rivera was fired by the Washington Commanders earlier this month.

Last season, Canales was the only offensive coordinator of Hispanic or Latin American heritage.

"As I look, I take a lot of pride in this as a Mexican-American," he said during the season.

There have been four other head coaches of Latin American descent in NFL history: Rivera, Brian Flores, and Hall of Famers Tom Fears and Tom Flores.

— Contributing: Nate Davis, Lorenzo Reyes