Analyst believes Panthers HC Dave Canales' seat is scorching hot

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales, as well as the team, appeared to have real momentum heading into 2025. They won two of three games to close 2024 and went 4-5 after a 1-7 stretch. Things were looking up after a solid draft class.

People wanted to see some growth for Canales before declaring him the first coach not to get fired midseason, but he looked mostly secure. After a dreadful outing, that's no longer the case. One insider believes Canales is firmly on the hot seat.

Brian Daboll. Kevin Stefanski. Mike McDaniel. These are coaches that no one would be surprised if they were out of a job in a couple of weeks. Add Canales to that list, Bleacher Report's Brad Gagnon said.

"A loser of 12 games in a bad division in his debut season, Canales was hammered by the Jaguars in Week 1 this year," he argued. "This looks like it'll be another long season for Carolina, and we're not sure impatient Panthers owner David Tepper will tolerate that."

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales looks on during the second quarter of an NFL football matchup at EverBank Stadium, Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 in Jacksonville, Fla. [Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union] | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Panthers have cycled through head coaches since Ron Rivera, with the leeway seemingly getting shorter and shorter all the time. However, Canales, after last year, looked like the right hire and someone the team could stick with and build under for years to come.

Maybe it's a bit reactionary to say that one game has changed that, but it kind of has. This is the second year in a row that the Panthers have come out of the gate and looked like a high school team. Canales doesn't seem to know how best to use the preseason.

Teams prefer to sit starters in preseason for health purposes, so it's understandable, but the Panthers sent their starters out for four series, and it was supposed to be five. But Canales felt they didn't earn another one, so he pulled them.

And then on Sunday, after getting just a handful of reps in game action, the entire offense was out of sync. The snaps were off, the communication was slow, Bryce Young was rusty, and the pass-catchers weren't on the same page with their quarterback.

These problems have plagued the Canales era, which begs the question of how long Carolina will continue to suffer them.

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