Everything Dave Canales Said at His Introductory Press Conference

Timeline to winning football

"My timeline is today. How can we win today? Let's have a great interaction here. Let's start talking about what football you can expect out of us. Today this looks like a win for me, and that's just the way I think. Just approaching every single day, it's first and 10, I've got a new set of downs, my whole call sheet is at my disposal and got a bunch of fantastic people to go to work with today. It looks like putting a great staff together for me right now. It looks like getting with Dan, looking at this roster and really coming up with an airtight plan for who we want to become."

Developing a quarterback

"Attention to the details, first and foremost. It all starts off with relationship, Bryce and I just getting to know each other. I want him to know that I have his best interest at heart. I want him to be the best possible version of himself. That's the same approach that I've taken since I've been coaching positions in the NFL. That's really the approach I want to take with him.

"Some of the other things that kind of come to mind thinking about the quarterbacks that I've worked with over the last couple of years is we are going to become what Bryce is great at in the pass game. We're going to grow to the capacity that he can handle. There's got to be a commitment and a discipline about that. There was a growth curve there with Baker (Mayfield). Here's where we're at today based on the information we have. Let's get into these situations and see where he looks most confident. When I see that back foot planted in the ground and that ball rips out of there without any hesitation, I know we've got something. Let's find more of those. Let's put it in three different personnels and a couple different formations and motions."

What made the Carolina job attractive

"First and foremost, in Seattle, we never were anywhere close to touching the first overall pick, and the more that I got ready for this interview and started watching Bryce, looking at my notes from his eval, that's just a year ago. We're evaluating him as a player, as a person, with all the information that we could.

"I just got more and more fired up about the opportunity to have this amazing talent, and he's the guy. He's the right guy that we all talk about when we have that quarterback, that face-of-the-franchise type of player, and that got me excited.

"Just on top of that, I played against the Panthers twice, and the job that EJ Evero did with the defense was really hard to deal with. Great sound football, playing hard, some great players in some spots, and just the whole thing coming together, and then as it got to -- Dan and I have some history, so then I thought, shoot, if you look at some of the successful organizations, there's a dynamic relationship between the head coach and the GM. And then of course as I've gotten to meet the Teppers, too, to feel their competitive nature, their passion for what they want here, what they want to see when they come out to the practice field and just kind of knowing I can be that without faking anything, without having to make something up. I just felt like more and more this was going to be a great home and I was really hoping as they were sorting through the names that I would come out as one of the top candidates."

Taking a job at a place that has fire three coaches in five years

"I don't think that way. I'm talking about today. I want to win today. For me, coming into this situation -- same like Tampa. I want to look at what we have, what can we do, not what can't we do. That's just my mentality."

Process as a play-caller

"Play calling, just thought process there, like we end up becoming us. That's one of the things I was really proud of is just looking at what run game fits us right, what's the best thing for Chuba (Hubbard), what's the best pass game for Bryce with the different pieces that we have on the offensive side.

"We were able to find an identity and how to do that and win down the stretch, to put ourselves in position to play good football and beat a really good team in the wildcard round and give the Lions a run for their money there, that's a really good team, a great environment and challenge for us there. There were a couple games that got pretty hot there.

"This is my first time around, so I'm really excited to see the growth there, too. Some people in the building that we have who have done it at a high level for a long time, Jim Caldwell being one of those, whose just got an eye for offense, an eye for this whole organizational piece, and I'm excited for my growth in the second year calling plays. The mentality is what are they giving us today, and just having that variety, having the marriage of the run and pass. Things that start off the same but end up being different, to have those nuances in plays, and utilize my staff so I can have good information on game day."

What he remembers about Dan Morgan, the scout

"Two doors apart in the hallway down there, and it was kind of a crazy loud hallway for us. But what I remember about Dan in those times is just his conviction, his belief. Right off the bat, just as a former player, he comes in and is like, he can just see it. He could just tell what a good football player was.

"By no means was I an expert at that time, but I just have a high value of my ability to evaluate, and Dan always had his opinions, and it was very clear thoughts that he felt strongly about, so that impressed me early on. Then as we grew to get to know each other, he was just such a natural in this world of evaluating players."

Confidence in retaining defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero

"Oh my gosh, just the respect factor that I have going against them. I know the scheme going against it. I'm really excited to learn more about the ins and outs as far as how the calls come in, the adjustments and all that of that. I just know it was really difficult on me for years, whether it was in Seattle going against the Rams in that family or this year just going against EJ twice. This is really important for me, especially as a first-time head coach who's like, I'm here to make sure we get our football right, especially on the offensive side, that we have that continuity with the players, with EJ, just being able to have the mentality that I saw that was really challenging to play against. Yes, this is for me like a huge piece of what we're doing."

How he plans to take what he's learned to develop Bryce Young

"I haven't really gotten fully into the details on that. I watched a good amount of Bryce going into the interview process, but right now I'm going back through the games. Kind of looking at the story of the season and the critical and pivotal moments in those games.

"Speaking about a specific plan there, there's a bunch of critical variables. I don't want to get too much into the football philosophy at this point. But just know, it starts with the ball for me. There's a way to win games in the NFL. It's defense. It's run game. It's an explosive pass game that comes off of that run game, and then in the pass game getting that ball out in 2.7 (seconds) or less. That's a critical deal for me. It's been a really important number for us in Seattle. Being able to just track that for decision making, for route timing, the protection and all that. It all kind of fits into this really good brand of football that is complementary as we go through the season."

Coaching smaller quarterbacks

"I think there are certain challenges. I'm not going to go and tell the whole NFC South what those advantages are. I think that's kind of a proprietary deal that we're going to own here.

"But I will say that there are just certain things you can do to help. There are ways to find what that quarterback's comfortable seeing. You've got a guy like Drew Brees who's about my height, which is still short in terms of a 6'7" tackle.

"Whether you're 5'11" or whether you're 6'1", you can't really see over any of the linemen. There's an approach to it, and at the end of the day, it's about decision making and just kind of making sure that we can have as many of our five eligibles available for the quarterback from a visual standpoint."

How he knew he was ready to be a head coach

"For me, this is a dream come true. I think the part that I kind of feel a little bit compelled to say is I'm 42 years old. My wife and I have been together for 20 years. I spent 14 amazing years with an incredible -- one of the greatest football coaches of all time in Pete Carroll. So I got to sit there and just really formulate my plan and just wait for that opportunity to come along. My wife and I just kind of thinking like we're ready for this. Lead self, lead others, lead organizations. That's been an approach and mentality that I've had for a while.

"When this opportunity came up and then I started seeing the pieces coming, I just got so fired up about it, and I'm really ready to serve this team."

If there's any pressure to getting the organization back to winning football

"Can I say I'm nervous? Is that all right? Let's be honest just getting this opportunity. I've got a ton of excitement about it. I've got a lot of things that I'm ready to put to the test and that's been a lot of theory from a leadership standpoint.

"But yeah, this is a big test. This is serious for me. This is a great opportunity.

"I don't take that lightly, but at the same time, like Dan just hit, I'm fired up about it. I love a great challenge. I didn't shy away from the Tampa job. There was a lot of people that kind of looked at that and thought, what are you thinking, you've got a great situation with Geno in Seattle, and I was like, I'm going to bet on us and I'm going to look at what we do have and see if I can make the most -- it's about maximizing.

"Somebody ran into me and was like you guys really overachieved, and I just hate that term. I love the thought of maximizing, just getting every last drop out of everyone involved, all together in a worthy cause. I'm excited for it, and I'm nervous, too. I realize how weighty this is."

Engaging with fans on social media

"What's important to me is that we all grow to have a relationship. As we have a chance to get into more detail about what we're looking for from a football standpoint, my hope is that I can show you what to look for and what we're going to try to become. From a philosophical standpoint, of course the whys and the hows, that's going to be depending on what our players are.

"My hope is that if I put this out there and I say this is who we're going to be, that we're able to have this relationship where you keep me accountable on this. You said we're going to play this brand of football, you guys are crazy about the ball. We had three turnovers last week, we were minus two or we were minus three, and I'll be able to say, that's a great point, that's not the kind of football we want to play.

"My hope is that we can kind of grow in that relationship as we have that expectation for who we're going to become."

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