Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik watches drills during rookie minicamp on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales announced on Tuesday that he will turn over play-calling duties in 2026 to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, then he took questions.
Among them:
Is Idzik ready?
The 44-year-old Canales, who’s entering his third season as a head coach, thought about it for a moment, then offered a story. He set the scene from a podium in the Indiana Convention Center in downtown Indianapolis: It was 2022, and Canales was interviewing for the Tampa Bay Bucs’ offensive coordinator job in front of coach Todd Bowles, his shoulders ashrug.
“When coach Bowles gave me the opportunity, he asked me: ‘What makes you think you’re ready?’” Canales said. “And I said, ‘I’m just as ready as I’m going to get without having actually done it.’ And that’s how I feel about Brad.
“I feel like his grasp of our system and our scheme, the mastery of it, those things and his camaraderie of knowing the players — knowing Bryce (Young), that’s a big piece of this thing. I had a conversation with Bryce, Bryce is aware of what’s happening, and wanted to make sure that he was a part of this process to see the vision of what I hope will come.”
Idzik, for what it’s worth, agreed. He’s as ready as he’s going to get.
“Absolutely,” Idzik said. “I think that goes right back to how Dave got hired in Tampa, and I’m right there, and he’s challenging me to think about my next role as well. I was excited to be a first-time position coach when I moved to Tampa. But he was like, ‘I need more out of you. I need you to think like I do so I can have a good sounding board.’”
He added: “I know I’m ready to go.”
Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik watches drills at rookie minicamp on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
What went into the play-calling decision
There are other factors that helped in the decision. The Panthers hired experienced play-caller Darrell Bevell as an offensive assistant coach this offseason. Bevell is someone with a lot of experience working with Canales, and another soundboard for Idzik as he continues to learn and grow as a play-caller and sequencer.
It’s also true that Canales, particularly down the stretch of the year, admitted publicly how difficult it was to be the offensive play-caller while also pouring into the rest of his team throughout the week. It also ate into his efforts as a game manager, occasionally. In Week 17 against Tampa Bay — in a win-and-you’re-in-the-playoffs scenario — Canales said at the time that it was difficult to consult with officials after a few questionable calls because he had to get the calls in through the mic.
But the thing Panthers representatives kept hitting on Tuesday was Idzik’s merits. And they’re not hard to find.
Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik and head coach Dave Canales stand on the sideline during a game against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 6, 2024 in Chicago. Michael Reaves Getty Images
Who is Brad Idzik, the Panthers’ new play-caller?
Idzik was born into football.
Or, as Idzik put it, he was a “bye-week baby.”
Idzik was born on Oct. 20, 1991, smack-dab in the middle of the college football season. His father, John Idzik Jr., was a graduate assistant at Duke at the time. As John recalled to The Charlotte Observer on Tuesday, there was an away game the Saturday before and an away game the Saturday after ... and a bye week in the middle.
“You mean to tell me someone wasn’t watching upstairs for that to happen?” John said with a smile.
John eventually ascended in the sport. He spent five more years as a coach before moving on to the operations side of the NFL, where he worked from 1996 to 2020. He was the general manager of the New York Jets in 2013-14.
Brad followed a similar route. He was a wide receiver at Lehigh for one year and at Wake Forest for three before getting his career started as a coach in the college ranks. He moved up to the NFL in 2019, hopping under Canales’s wing and flying with him everywhere — from Seattle (assistant wide receivers coach) to Tampa (wide receivers coach) to Charlotte.
Offensive coordinator Brad Idzik reacts in a game against the Arizona Cardinals at State Farm Stadium on Sept. 14, 2025 in Glendale. Chris Coduto Getty Images
Canales called Brad Idzik the lead play designer of the offense, someone who served as Canales’s main confidant all the way back to their time together with the Seattle Seahawks. Canales used Idzik as a sounding board as the now-head coach interviewed for jobs with Vanderbilt, the Ravens and the Bucs, Canales said.
‘I think he’s going to do a great job’
Dan Morgan, the Panthers general manager, agreed on Idzik’s merits. Morgan, executive vice president of football operations Brandt Tilis and Dave Tepper were pitched the idea from Canales and agreed on the rationale. There was no pressure to give up play-calling, Canales said, and the head coach didn’t seek any outside advice from outside because he didn’t want word to leak, he said.
“I have complete confidence in Coach’s decision,” Morgan said. “And I’m excited for Brad. I think he’s going to do a great job.”
Morgan has known Idzik a long time. Morgan was a scout for the Seattle Seahawks from 2010 to 2017, a bulk of which John Idzik was vice president of football administration there. He’s known Brad since he was in high school.
“He’s super smart, he loves the game, he has a lot of good ideas, a lot of things that I’m excited to see come about,” Morgan said. “That’s not to put pressure on him, I’m just excited to see what he can do. And I know he’ll take full advantage of the opportunity.”
Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Brad Idzik watches drills at rookie minicamp on Friday, May 9, 2025. JEFF SINER jsiner@charlotteobserver.com
How can Brad Idzik help Bryce Young?
Idzik talks like he’s been ready for this job for a long time.
When asked if he thought he’d have to leave Carolina to become an offensive play-caller, he hit on the loyalty he has with Canales — how the head coach believed in him when few other people did.
When asked about Canales’ trust in him for taking the job, Idzik said he doesn’t take lightly how much it means coming from Canales, who fervently loved calling plays and watching an offense come to life in real time.
When asked about how this shift could help Bryce Young, the fourth-year quarterback the Panthers’ 2026 hopes are still closely tied to, he had an answer at the ready as well.
“I think it’s just a constant thing of, ‘I’m there,’” Idzik said. “When you’re the head coach, you get pulled away (for media), you get pulled away for a bunch of different things you have to do as a head coach. But just being in tune, and in touch, with all of those small moments that happen throughout the day, I’m there for them.”
Tuesday wasn’t the beginning for the new play-caller, he’s called plays in preseason games.
But it felt like a new start, a milestone.
Canales had such a milestone not long ago. He has a story as well: back in Tampa Bay, not long after he convinced Bowles he was “as ready as he’s going to get,”, his first game calling plays for Tampa was against Minnesota.
“I had my game plan, I knew what my calls were, I felt like I was ready to go,” Canales said. He then laughed. “I think Todd could sense that I was pretty nervous.”
So Bowles walked over to Canales, shared something with his then newly minted play-calling offensive coordinator. It was something simple, something Idzik has probably heard a lot since being informed of the decision:
“Let it rip.”