4 critical observations from Carolina Panthers 2024 minicamp Day 2
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers' culture shift
Dave Canales is a positive guy. He wasn't going to shirk this significant challenge despite the Carolina Panthers head coaching job becoming a poisoned chalice under team owner David Tepper. He's also incredibly driven with a vision of how to turn this once-proud organization around.
Canales is re-establishing the culture and giving the set-up a sense of identity that's been sorely lacking. The head coach took another step toward achieving this objective throughout the team's mandatory minicamp. Now, he can assess the current state of affairs and provide advice to general manager Dan Morgan on what more is needed.
The former Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator lauded the approach of his players and the environment being created in a short space of time based on comments via the team's website. Something that fits into Canales' ethos and gave the coach a helping hand during a pivotal transition.
"What I came into was a group that already knows how to work, a group that knows how to create a great locker room environment. You hear them, they're in there talking, the music's going, there's just a great energy in there when they get into the weight room. How seriously they take that, and the guys utilizing the athletic training room to their benefit. So a lot of these things that you want and expect from a pro team, these guys have that, and they have that standard already set. And I'm just like, great, let's keep doing this, and really pointing the newer guys that just showed up to us to look at what these other guys are doing. If you don't have a plan, guys, just copy one of theirs. They have a great idea about what they want to do."
- Dave Canales via Panthers.com
Everyone pulling in the same direction is not something associated with the Panthers in recent years. The Hunger Games-type culture adopted by Tepper is long gone. Hopefully, this newfound sense of optimism and purpose can become the catalyst behind better fortunes.
Nobody is expecting miracles from Canales right away. But from a fan perspective, they just want a competitive team to be proud of. That's the minimum objective during his first campaign in the role.