WATCH: Panthers HC Dave Canales gets emotional thanking wife Lizzy during introductory press conference

The Carolina Panthers made an interesting hire for their head coach job, with Dave Canales poached from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and now designated with the mission to save Bryce Young's career after a torrid rookie year.

During his introductory press conference, Canales took a moment to talk about the influence and the partnership of his wife, Lizzy, as he embarks into the first head coach job of his NFL career. And the coach's eyes teared up quickly:

It's really her fault. 20 years ago, I was the head coach at Carson High School fired up. I'm so excited, we are going to play Venice High School. She is sitting up in the stands with about 35 crazy parents. And we got smoked 34-13 that day. It was the greatest day of my life because I found my passion. And after two years of doing that, she came to me, and she knew all I wanted to do is to be the head coach at Carson High School. And she said "Hey, don't get me wrong. I love your dream. You're really good at this. It can go as far as you want. And I got your back. She worked three jobs at times, and she told me the hard truths. She's just been everything to me. This is our journey. This is our dream. And we've been so excited and prepared for this opportunity.

Is Dave Canales a good hire for the Panthers?

It's a fantastic hire, to be fair. Canales has done a masterful job engineering offenses for Baker Mayfield and Geno Smith in the previous two years, and he also was the Seattle Seahawks wide receiver coach for eight seasons, which means that he can also help with the development of Young's weapons, which struggled badly in 2023.

Even though he's a first-time head coach in the NFL, he has proved twice that he can design a good offense and that he can help quarterbacks who struggled previously. That's exactly the kind of coach you want to help Bryce Young: a guy with a proven record who will be excited with the idea of reviving his career.

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