The Carolina Panthers' Sunday Night Football win against the Detroit Lions proved that Dave Canales needs to start preparing for life after offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.
Idzik, who is in his first season calling plays for Carolina, has turned Bryce Young from a bust to an efficient West Coast operator and, finally, leader of a vertical aerial assault. Young is not only 2-2 on the season, but he currently leads the NFL in passing yards. Idzik should be given a great deal of the credit for this turnaround.
If he keeps this up for the rest of the 2027 season, a league that is hell-bent on trying to find the next offensive genius who can give their teams a high floor on that side of the ball. Idzik impressing while being given the keys to the proverbial kingdom already is a major fetaher in his cap, and it could lead to him getting a deserved promotion.
Carolina Panthers OC Brad Idzik will likely be a head coach in 2026
Most NFL teams will focus on hiring a young, offensive-minded coach to lead their team. Not only are they on the cutting edge of what is working schematically, but they also bring with them their play-calling expertiese. This makes Idzik a relative unicorn in the NFL, as so many hotshot OC hires choose to retain play-calling duties.
Hiring from the Kyle Shanahan/Sean McVay trees is a easy button to press, but both of those heavyweights oversee all aspects of their offense. The Chiefs, Jaguars, and Cowboys all have high-powered offenses without a play-calling OC, making hiring their top assistants a harder sell for opposing teams. With less history of solid play-calling at their backs, are they that astute of an offensive mind?
Idzik's competition among the play-calling OCs isn't exactly a bunch of McVay and Ben Johnson variants. Detroit's Drew Petzing has been solid, but he was up-and-down in Arizona. Baltimore's Declan Doyle is also in his first year calling plays and is just 30 years old, and Seattle's Brian Fleury is another debutante button-pusher who was a tight ends coach for a good chunk of his career.
Brad Idzik has done a tremendous job with the Carolina Panthers
Consider that Idzik is working around a wide receiver room that lacks star power outside of Tetairoa McMillan, an offensive line that is paying far below what they are capable of, and a quarterback who has physical limitations that need to be taken into account.
Young playing well would be one thing, but Young averaging over 300 yards per game after the depths he sank to early in his career is nothing short of astonishing. Teams across the league will be trying to get some of that Idzik magic for themselves if he is even close to this level going forward.
Dave Canales developing a head coach candidate would start his coaching tree in earnest, which shows what a long way he has come since a sluggish start to his time in Carolina.
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