In the first staffing change of the Seahawks offseason, longtime offensive assistant Dave Canales has accepted an offer to become the Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive coordinator, multiple outlets reported Wednesday.
Canales, 41, has been an assistant on the Seahawks staff since Pete Carroll arrived in 2010. Before that, he was an administrative assistant on Carroll’s staff at USC.
This past season, Canales was the Seahawks’ quarterbacks coach, helping veteran backup Geno Smith win the NFL’s Comeback Player of the Year honors during a record-breaking run in his first season as Russell Wilson’s successor.
Canales also had a close relationship with Wilson during Wilson’s decade with the Seahawks.
Canales had served as quality control assistant early in his Seattle tenure, earning promotions as assistant QB coach (2013-14), wide-receivers coach (2015-17), QB coach (2018-19, ’22) and offensive passing-game coordinator (2020-21).
Canales had also reportedly interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens for their OC opening.
Tampa Bay reportedly interviewed 10 candidates for their OC post, vacated when Byron Leftwich was fired last month. NFL Network was the first to report Canales’ move to the Bucs.
In Tampa Bay, Canales will join a team in transition after Tom Brady announced his retirement earlier this month.
The Bucs have one young QB on their roster, Kyle Trask, a second-round pick in 2021. The Bucs could also take a look at Drew Lock, the Seahawks’ backup behind Smith in 2022. Lock is now a free agent, and he’s expected to explore opportunities for a starting gig next season.
Smith, also a free agent, has expressed optimism that he will be back with the Seahawks on a new deal this offseason.