Winners from Canales and Morgan's Press Conference
Every time a front office gets overhauled, change comes up and down the organization. That change can be directly related to the organizational overhaul, and some of it may be tangential.
Players will come and go, partnerships will change, and in a year from now, everything about the Carolina Panthers may look different. Unless, things don't change, and we're back here again singing the praises of a new coach and/or general manager who just wrapped up the third introductory press conference on Mint Street in as many years.
Here are some winners from the new regime's introductory press conferences.
Animal shelters in the greater Charlotte area
Nothing from the introductory press conference got more run across social media platforms than Dan Morgan's comment about bringing some dogs to Charlotte. Morgan's comments were akin to former Costal Carolina football coach David Bennett's rant about the Chanticleers needing more dogs. If you haven't seen this video, or if it's been a minute, go ahead and watch. The rest of these winners will be here when you get back.
Morgan was a little more calm than Bennett, but ideally his bite will match his bark when it comes to the roster construction he dreams of.
"Just wanted to talk about the type of players that we want to bring in here, just DNA-wise. First of all, we need to find those leaders, those competitors. As J-Stew (Jonathan Stewart) would say, those dogs. We need some dogs."
At this point, the oddsmakers (a.k.a, me) are setting the odds at -250 that the Panthers will work with a local animal shelter this offseason. It's a no-brainer, right? A "Panthers and Pups" day. "Keep Pounding." The ideas write themselves. If Carolina fails to do something that involves sheltered dogs this offseason, it's a huge swing and a miss.
Bryce Young
Young failed to produce at the level that was expected of him during his rookie season, but Canales' history of reviving downtrodden quarterbacks must breed hope in Young's camp. When Canales was asked about what was enticing about the head coaching job in Carolina, Young was at the top of the list.
"Yeah, so first and foremost, in Seattle, we never were anywhere close to touching the first overall pick, and the more that I got ready for this interview and started watching Bryce, looking at my notes from his eval, that's just a year ago. We're evaluating him as a player, as a person, with all the information that we could. I just got more and more fired up about the opportunity to have this amazing talent, and he's the guy. He's the right guy that we all talk about when we have that quarterback, that face-of-the-franchise type of player, and that got me excited."
Young's job as the starting quarterback was never in danger going into this offseason. However, if 2024 looks more like 2023 for Bryce Young than it does his stellar career at Alabama, the second-year signal caller's seat could begin to warm. Thankfully, Canales is amped to start working with Bryce and he should be able to elevate the young quarterback to heights he failed to reach in 2023.
Former players
Can you imagine how hard it must be to retire from the NFL? Or any professional sport, really. Morgan says it well when asked about getting into scouting.
I think once I got done playing, you're always -- as a former player, I know a lot of guys here, you try to figure out what is the next step, who am I because you reach your goal at such a young age and then you're left retired, and you're like 30-some years old, and you're like, well, what am I going to do with the rest of my life. It's not like you can go in the corporate world or just go somewhere and get a job. For me, it was about getting back into what I knew best, which was football.
These guys work their tail off from the time they score their first touchdown at 13-years-old to get the chance to step onto an NFL field. Countless hours in the gym, on the practice field, in the film room, doing everything you can, 60+ hours a week to perfect your craft and spar with the greats.
And then, all of a sudden, it's over.
I'd liken it to that first Sunday without football. Us football fanatics spent months perfecting recipes, finding that perfect spot on the couch, taking our dogs on walks from 12:30 P.M. EST to 12:55 P.M. EST, all to make sure that we are uninterrupted from kickoff of the early games until Mike Tirico tucks us into bed following Sunday Night Football. We get 21 weeks to perfect our craft.
And then, all of a sudden, Derrick Brown is playing tug-of-war in Orlando, and we realize, it's all over.
Thankfully for former Panthers' players, Morgan is preaching an open door policy for them.
You guys are the best. Doors are always open. You guys are family and we're going to make it a family environment. That's the kind of environment that me and Dave want to create around here, so you guys are family.
Carolina has always done a great job keeping their legends involved in the franchise, and it's nice to know that isn't going to change with this regime. Hopefully the Keep Pounding drum has been fixed so returning players have something to bang on to fire up the crowd. Whether it's on the coaching staff (hello, Greg Olsen), in the front office alongside Morgan, or just as a positive voice around practice, former players will always have a home with the Panthers.
