Liam Coen Clears Air on Dave Canales Ahead of Season Opener & Confirms Panthers HC’s Impact on Career

Dave Canales and Liam Coen have built careers that feel like they’re running on parallel tracks. Both rose in the NFL with reputations as quarterback whisperers, system builders, and play-callers who could squeeze production out of uncertain situations. Both carried the sheen of next-up offensive minds. Now, in 2025, their paths finally cross in the season opener on September 7 that feels bigger than a coincidence. Coen, in his first season as the Jacksonville Jaguars’ head coach, Canales already settling into Year 2 with the Carolina Panthers.

The connection goes back to Tampa. Coen once stepped into the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator chair after Canales left for Carolina. At the time, it looked like nothing more than a timing overlap. But on September 2, the respect was clear. “Yeah, Dave is always, you know, I don’t know him like super well, but like when I got the Tampa job, he was, you know, very uh, you know, he was cool to just be able to reach out to, holler at. His wife was really kind to Ashley as well,” Coen said when reflecting on those first conversations.

That’s not a rivalry. It’s a professional bond born out of proximity. And Coen didn’t just swap pleasantries. When the two caught up at the NFL owners’ meetings, Coen picked Canales’ brain about the pitfalls and small victories of first-year coaching. “We got to talk… just kind of picking his brain on some things that he felt like he could improve upon as a head coach or things that he thought went well.”

That window into Canales’ early lessons became part of Coen’s foundation heading into Jacksonville. A reminder that even the most competitive jobs in football are still built on shared ideas and survival tips. And there’s another connective tissue. Shane Waldron!

He coached with Canales for years in Seattle, now works alongside Coen, and naturally serves as a bridge. It’s a reminder that the NFL isn’t some sprawling battlefield of strangers. It’s more like a tightly wound web where play-callers, assistants, and head coaches all swap notes. Sometimes directly, sometimes through shared colleagues.

Dave Canales left good things for Liam Coen

Liam Coen isn’t shy about giving credit where it’s due. And when his coaching journey circles back to Tampa Bay, a job he once held after Dave Canales, it’s clear just how much of an imprint the Panthers’ head coach left behind. “He helped so much with the bridge in Tampa. Like, you know, their offense, there was a lot of similarities. So, um, when I get the Tampa job, you’re not starting from ground zero. And, um, I’ve always appreciated the energy, uh, and confidence that he gives to his players.”

It’s no small thing. In 2023, Canales took a Buccaneers team many thought was destined for a rebuild and instead guided them to a 9–8 record, an NFC South title, and a playoff win over the Eagles. His offense wasn’t flashy, but it was steady. Baker Mayfield, on his fourth team in three years, looked reborn, throwing for over 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns. That season gave Tampa Bay an identity again, one rooted in toughness, timing, and belief.

By the time Coen slid into the coordinator’s chair in 2024, he was walking into a changed team. And the Buccaneers finished 10–7 in 2024. What Coen admires most, though, is the intangible part of coaching, the way Canales instills belief. “I’ve always appreciated the energy, uh, and confidence that he gives to his players,” Coen said. It wasn’t just the scheme that traveled from Canales to Coen, but the culture.

Now, as Coen charts his course as Jacksonville’s head coach and Canales settles into year 2 in Carolina, their careers continue to run parallel, tied together not just by circumstance but by influence. One man built the bridge, the other crossed it. And in the NFL, that kind of legacy sticks longer than a box score.