The big news for Canales this week was in handing off play-calling to offensive coordinator Brad Idzik, which is a considerable move since he's only called plays two years, and Idzik hasn't at all. But he began his description by citing "the cultural growth that we've seen happen over these two years, all across the board, really on every level of our building."
And that looks a lot of different ways.
Over the years, the combine has changed. There are coaches who don't even come, and the scouting footprint has shrunk considerably. So Canales will spend his week here working productively, but not watching workouts or talking to players, but holed up in a hotel conference room with Idzik, new associate head coach Darrell Bevell, and run game coordinator Harold Goodwin, as they evolve the offense on the fly, blending new parts with what already shown some progress. There's familiarity, of course, but also blending what Bevell brings with him from Miami coaching under a different style of run game under Mike McDaniel.
"Part of all of us being here at the combine together just meeting during the day is to is to see, we know we have our core that will stay the same, but what are some of the things operationally, what are some of the wrinkles from a schematic standpoint that we might be able to add, to bring value to what we're doing?" Canales said. "And certainly looking at an offense that I've really respected over the years and a coaching family with Mike McDaniel, Kyle Shanahan, and the like that I really respect, and to see how do they get to such good football, explosive plays, all those things, wanting to make sure that we're continuing to bring things for our offense.
"The closer and closer we get to a real identity of what we're doing, and while those things kind of change with the personnel with the players that we have, that's the mastery that we're after, and the more he involves himself in what we're doing there, the more powerful it gets for us."