Where Panthers' Hire of Dave Canales Ranks Among NFL Hires Since 2021

ESPN released its ranking of coaching hires made since 2021. As ESPN’s Bill Barnwell mentions, the list ranks hires based on their impact on the franchise, how winning has been affected, how the coaches have performed in free agency and the NFL Draft, among other criteria. Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales was, of course, hired by Carolina since 2021.

These rankings arrive at an appropriate time, as the two head coaches heading towards Super Bowl 60 are both hires made after 2021.

Both Mike Vrabel and Mike McDonald are hires that have happened since 2024 and are now heading to their first Super Bowls as head coaches, in year two for McDonald, and in year one for Vrabel, showing that the right hire can change a franchise quicker than it may seem.

Dave Canales is still one of the more recent hires in the NFL, hired in the Summer of 2024. Canales just completed his second season as head coach after leading the Panthers to the playoffs for the first time since 2017, but how high is he ranked on this list?

Dave Canales Ranks Behind Coaches Who Arent Head Coaches Anymore

Canales slots in at No. 18 on the rankings, which feels a bit low since he’s gotten the Panthers to the playoffs this past season, but the most puzzling part isn't that he led them there.

The most puzzling aspect of this ranking is that four coaches ranked ahead of Canales have been fired from the jobs for which they are ranked.

Doug Pederson’s tenure with the Jaguars is currently ranked ahead of Dave Canales at Carolina. Peterson is a year removed from coaching in the NFL and was fired after the Jaguars went 4-13 in 2024.

If there were to be an argument for Doug Pederson, it’d be that he has a playoff win with Jacksonville, and Dave Canales doesn’t have one with Carolina. Be that as it may, they beat the Chargers led by Justin Herbert, who has never won a playoff game.

One could argue that being 60 seconds away from defeating an LA Rams team that has won a Super Bowl with the same coach and QB combo is just as remarkable as beating a team that tends to collapse at the end of each season, as the Chargers have.

Pederson’s end to his tenure felt like the downward spiral of this Jaguars core. QB Trevor Lawrence’s stock couldn’t have been lower once Pederson was fired, and this resurgence has come with new head coach Liam Coen at the helm, not Doug Pederson.

Canales at No. 18 feels a tiny bit low, but not egregious; the other coaches ranked ahead of him just have more experience and successes, or, in Mike Vrabel's case, brought success to a franchise right away and ahead of schedule.

The key point is that Carolina is clearly trending in the right direction, and Canales has begun to build a foundation for further growth.

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