While it remains an open question as to who will be the next Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, Dave Canales will be the person responsible for leading him and the Bucks offense.
The Buccaneers have hired Seattle Seahawks quarterback coach Canales as their new offensive coordinator, NFL Network’s Mike Garafolo said Wednesday.
Canales spent 13 seasons as Pete Carroll’s assistant and will now join Todd Bowles’ Tampa Bay team, replacing Byron Leftwich, who was fired after the 2022 campaign.
Canales, 41, emerged from a long list of candidates the Bucs have spoken to and will make a major career change. Not only is Canales changing coasts, he’s also set to step out from under Carroll’s coaching umbrella for the first time in his NFL career. Canales joined Carroll in 2009 at the University of Southern California and has been head coach in Seattle since 2010, serving in a variety of roles from offensive quality control coach to wide receivers coach to quarterbacks coach.
Canales played a vital role in resurrecting quarterback Jeno Smith’s career in 2022 and will now be tasked with resurrecting the Buccaneers’ quarterback seat after Tom Brady.
With Leftwich fired in January and Brady (second) retiring in early February, the Buccaneers’ offense is due for a complete overhaul, with Canales to be foreman. He moves from the Seahawks, who boasted the 9th-highest offensive scoring in the NFL, to the Bucks, who finished 25th in scoring. Working alongside Bowles, he will once again be paired with a defensively-minded head coach, as he has worked with Carroll for more than a decade.
The next biggest challenge for the Bucks will be determining their starting quarterback for 2023. Currently, Tampa Bay’s only quarterback on their 2023 roster is Kyle Trask, a 2021 draft pick who has only played one game in two seasons.
It was decided that Tampa Bay would have a new look in 2023, and Bowles found a coach to show it off.
Source: www.nfl.com
