WRALSportsFan
Meet the new coach and GM tasked with turning around the Carolina Panthers
After a 2-15 season, the Carolina Panthers hired a new general manager and head coach. Tap tap watch those men, Dan Morgan and Dave Canales, meet the media to outline their plans for the team.
Carolina Panthers. And before we get started, there are a few people I'd like to recognize. We'd like to extend a special welcome to our current players to our Panther legends who are here. All of our honored guests, members of the media and those of you who are tuning in and watching. We are here today to share how the Carolina Panthers are moving forward. And with that, I'd like to welcome the owner of the Carolina Panthers. Mr David Tepper. Hey, good morning, everybody. Uh Exciting day today. Um I'm excited to introduce to you, our new head coach Dave Canalis. Drink a stand up and our new new president of football Operations General manager, Dan Morgan. I'm also thrilled to welcome Brandt Tillis who served us who who will serve as our executive vice president of football operations brand is with us today. Stand up, Brandt, his wife Elizabeth is with him. Um Let me tell you a little bit about uh Dan and Dave. They are tremendous people, well respected and they are both connectors. Dan has 14 years of front office experience all throughout the league when Dan was a player, he kept the defense connected and on the same page and I've seen those traits with him translate throughout this building with everyone, including scouts, players and coaches. He keeps everybody moving in the right direction. As a player, he had a relentless pursuit of excellence which we will bring to this organization. Dave Canalis brings that same quality of players and coaches. And on the field every day, he has a track record of bringing the best out of players. He is a connector. He takes the time to work with players to create an environment that will earn their trust and maximize their ability. Each of them brings experience from winning programs. They share, they share the same vision for our organization or and are aligned on how they would get there. Um I'd like to ask Dan and Dave to join me on stage, but I also like to recognize Dan's wife, Ashley and his family and Dave's wife Lizzie and his family. So guys come on upstairs. Yeah, there we go. There we go. Inner city. No, for everyone. All right, everyone. As we get started, we'll start with an opening statement, Dan, would you like to kick us off? Yeah, sure. Uh First, I want to thank everybody for being here today. Um It's a great honor to be named the General manager of the Carolina Panthers. Uh along with Dave Canalis as the head coach, um super excited to, to work with Dave me and Dave me and Dave have known each other for many years now. And yeah, and this is a dream come true for both of us. Um The way Dave carries himself is a lot of the way that I carry myself, which is with honor, integrity and we're gonna work our butts off. So, um, first I, you know, I just want to start off by thanking David and Nicole Tepper. Uh It's been great working with you guys. Uh It's gonna get better and better. We're gonna, it's gonna, there's gonna be a process. There's gonna be a lineman in our building and we're gonna do things the right the right way to build a championship team here. And obviously, it's a great honor to be named the GM of the Carolina Panthers after playing here seven years with greats like Mike Brucker, one of my best friends is here, Vinny Churchill, he's here, Mike Tolbert's here, Thomas Davis, Jonathan Stewart, all these guys here, Muhsin Muhammad, like you guys are the best man like and doors are doors are always open. Um You guys are family and we're gonna make it a family environment and that's the kind of environment that me and Dave want to create around here. So you guys are family. We're gonna do everything in our power to build this team the right way, not only on the field but off the field, the type of character guys that we bring in are gonna be guys that love football, play with passion and play with the relentless pursuit of greatness. There's several people that I'd like to say, thank you to, um, Trent Kirchner who's out in Seattle right now. He called me 14 years ago, he called me and he said, I think you'd be a really good scout, Dan. And I, uh, I didn't know if I wanted to do this, this or not, but 14 years later here I am as a, as a GM. So I guess he has a pretty good eye for who's who's good talent evaluator. So I thank him um John Schneider and Pete Carroll. They were so much fun to work with, I learned so much um as a young scout out there, I was the just a pro scout, driving guys to the airport, you know, putting the work in and John and Pete were just so so great to work under and you know, to be able to, for me and Dave to be able to, to learn under them is just, I mean, you can't get that experience anywhere. So I wanna thank them uh Brandon Bean, Joe Shane and Sean mcdermott, who I worked with in Buffalo. Um Again, learning from great mentors, people that know football, people that know how to put an org organization together. Um Again, I can't thank them enough for everything they've done and they've continued to help me to this day. Uh Terry and Kim Paola uh with the Buffalo Bills. Um Can't thank them enough for welcoming me in and my family in. Um They, they're the best, uh just great people just like Mr and Mrs Tepper. Um There's some great ownership in this league, Scott Fitter. I want to thank him for bringing me back to Carolina and giving me this opportunity. Um Scott's one of my great friends and, and I thank him for everything that he's done for me, all of the Seahawks and Bills players. Um I wanna thank them um because let's tell it how it is, you know, all the sacrifices those players have had and the hard work and the, and the dedication we wouldn't be where we were if it wasn't for the players. I mean, the players are what make this game and I just want to thank everyone involved, player wise for, for being great and, you know, just kind of developing the relationships with them. Um I'd obviously like to thank my family, my wife, Ashley, uh my daughter, Lexi, my son, Brady and my youngest Callie. Um I love you guys so much and I wouldn't be able to do this without you guys. Uh all the hard work, all the dedication, um all the sacrifice, you know, dad being at work and maybe missing some games. Um But I, I thank you guys and I love you guys so much um to my parents. Uh I wanna thank them for instilling the values in me, um honor, integrity, um hard work, dedication, all those things that I carry with me to this day and I would just want to thank them for always being there for me. I want to pass it off to Dave. Thanks Dan morning. Um Just what a moment of gratitude, what a moment of uh just thankfulness, you know, I can, uh you know, in the room this big and of course, for everyone who's watching, you know, I think we can all kind of think about the people who believed in us first, um gave us our first opportunity to uh show who we are to express ourselves. And so first, I wanna thank uh David and Nicole for, for giving me this opportunity. This is a dream of a lifetime that Lizzie and I have had um that goes back 20 years. Um And really, you know, the last 10 years, really honing this opportunity to get in front of an ownership and to sell a vision of who we can become. Um It's in my DNA, it's a part of who I am and uh for allowing me to be me and recognizing that. So I wanna thank you um Christy as well, just uh throughout the process, you know, it was um I learned so much just in those couple of days um just how to interact and how to um to try to just keep the focus on the things that are important and, and feeling what your, um, vision is for this team and fill that alignment that's happening with Dan and I, uh, to fit right into that. I'm just really appreciate it there. Um, I gotta thank the Bucks organization for believing in me giving me a shot. I was in Seattle for 13 years. Um, but I get my first offensive coordinator opportunity way on the other side of the country. Um, and so my family, you know, uh, Lizzie and the kids moved out last April. I didn't quite make it to my one year anniversary there, uh, which would have been February 18th. Um, so this part has happened really fast, but this is something that I've been working on. I really wanna thank the Glazer family, um, and, uh, Joel and Darcy Jason Light Todd Bowles, um, for giving me that chance for, uh, just letting me let it rip, give me the confidence to be able to do that. I'm really appreciative there, um, which takes me back to my time in Seattle and to formulate an identity to formulate a football DNA that wins 10 out of 13 years to the playoffs. I just coached in my 20th and 21st playoff games, uh, this these last past couple of weeks. Um And so I'm just really appreciative of Pete Carroll who pushed me to think about the next thing. Just quit looking just at the quarterback, quit just staring at the wide receivers route, open your eyes, what's happening with these combos? You see what the defense is doing? Did you notice we're playing a lot more of this coverage? This can open your eyes, think bigger, be prepared. I can't thank Pete enough. Um And, uh I'm gonna miss a bunch of other names, but at that point right there, I just wanna also just thank the players, um, the guys who, who really just did a fantastic job in it. And most recently, you know, Russell Wilson Geno Smith Baker Mayfield, these guys that I got to just spend so much life with um to learn to watch them grow as men, to watch them grow as football players. Um It's their fault that I'm here and that's the bottom line is, is, it's uh it's about the players. Um my family um just growing up in a family who's uh just a, a family of dreamers and self starters in Carson, California, the Canals family and then my extended family, the Hendersons, my wife's family who we moved to in Seattle were with them for 13 years. How they walk the, the hard, the hard days, the frustrating days in the profession, the frustrating and hard days in our marriage and our family walking alongside of us um and just their undying support, prayers, all of my family members and friends that have um been supportive over the years. Um my kids, Ashby Ben B my, my Amaya, um who lend their dad to this profession for six months at a time. Um But we fight for each other. We fight for Windows. We fight to connect, um to listen to each other and to grow together. Um And finally my wife Lizzie, it's really her fault 20 years ago. I'm the head JV coach at Carson High School. Fired up. I'm so excited. We go to play Venice High School. It's my first game coaching. She's sitting, sitting up in the stands with about 35 crazy parents. Um, and, uh, we got smoked 34 to 13 that day. It was the greatest day of my life because I had found it. I found my passion and after two years of doing that, she comes to me and she knew all I wanted to do was be the head coach at Carson High School. That's what I wanted to do. Take it, get us back on top, um, try to win championships and do all that. And she said, hey, don't get me wrong. I love your dream. You're really good at this. I think you can go as far as you want and I got your back and I'll make it happen, whatever we need to do. And, and she did and she worked three jobs at times. Um, and she told me the hard truths, um, and when I had problems with players or coaches said, you know, what you need to do, you need to sit down and have those conversations and she's just been everything to me. This is our journey, this is our dream. Um And we've been so excited and, and prepared for this opportunity. Um So thank you and I love you, babe. Um So that's just kind of the journey um how I got here started off with the dream in, in high school and uh that turned into a junior college and uh at El Camino College, I learned the spread pass game from a man named John Featherstone. Rest in peace. Um And that's where I met Pete Carroll and Pete gave me an opportunity to come along with him. I spent 14, formative amazing years. I don't know if you've heard the saying, see a little, see a lot. Well, if you can sit at that same porch, you'll watch the world, go by, watch, watch the NFL world come through the trends, the changes, the players, the generations of players, how to communicate all happened in one place in one city for me. Um, just was a recipe for forming a really solid identity and a belief in a way to win. Um And I was able to um fortunately take that to Tampa last year and to show what can happen, not what can we do, but what can we do? Who are our guys and how do we build an offense around these people? And I'm excited to be able to do that here. With the whole team to find our strengths, make them second nature to find our weaknesses and work them into strengths. And I'm so excited to do it with Dan, with brand with Mr and Mrs Tepper and all of us in the building really that every time those players walk into this building, they're gonna feel that intentionality, they're gonna feel that this is about them, this is about building a place for them to thrive. And so, um I'm excited to be here and uh to do this with you then likewise, you know, just kind of wanted to talk about like the type of players that we want to bring in here and just DNA wise. Um First of all, we, we, we need to find those leaders, those competitors as Jay Stew would say those dogs, like we need some dogs, like we gotta get some guys that are passionate about football that love football. They want to come out every day and compete on the practice field in the weight room. We need competitors. We gotta bring that back here. We gotta bring that back here to Bank of America Stadium to where people get excited about coming to see our team. Um We're super passionate about bringing a team that the fans can be proud of. Um that are, you know, players can be proud of like when, when they, when we, when teams drive up to the stadium, we want them to fear that logo, the logo has to be feared again because right now it's not feared. So we gotta get that back. But I think it starts with getting the right type of players and it's guys like you like Thomas Davis, Jonathan Stewart Hussin Mohammed, we gotta get those type of guys. Um We want players with grit, you know, we want players like Steve Smith, you know, play with a chip on your shoulder, no holds bar, he's not taking any prisoners. Uh We need those type of guys instincts and tenacity of Thomas Davis and Luke Kuechly guys like that, that can make plays. Uh We need playmakers out there. We need competitors of like Jake Dallo. Um guys that they're gonna compete in everything they do and they're gonna be pissed off and they're not gonna, they're not gonna stop until they win. Those are the type of guys we need, you know, I, I remember in 2003 we had our playoff game here and I remember those towels out there, the, the white towels waving around. That's my dream for this organization talking to, I was talking to David about that today and we need to, we need to get that back, that excitement back here and that's our goal is to roll up our sleeves work hard and find those type of players that are going to help us get back to home playoff games and winning. That's, that's what we wanna be about here. And for me like just the, the marriage and the connection of it with Dan. And I is just to create an environment, an environment that's set up um that our players have every resource at their disposal that they come in here. And they got a plan for their body, they got a plan for their mind, they got a plan for their whole person as they walk in and that this building stops everything when our players come in and say, how can I help you? How can I serve you? That's the type of place that we have to be. Um It, it definitely speaks to the coaching staff being developmentally minded. I don't care about what we can't do. What can we do? Who are these players that we have? And how are we gonna maximize those strengths on a daily basis? We're looking for championship moments, championship days and that's got to be a full on commitment every single time we walk in here. Um So for me, it's about building that culture, building our language, making sure that we're using specific language. There's gonna be a bunch of buzzwords being thrown around. I don't like synonyms. We all speak the same language and we're heading in the same direction with that alignment that we talk about. Um And I'm, I'm so excited to create that culture, culture is what you celebrate. Culture is also what you condemn and you say this is a horrible looking play. Look what happened right here, guys boo this man please somebody and then like at the same time finding great opportunities from practice, from games to celebrate it. That's how you create culture. And I'm really excited to be able to do that. Um The next piece of it is we gotta get our football right. Let's just make it about the football. There's no story lines, there's no agendas, It's about good football. We gotta play good football on both sides of the ball. Be willing to look at it truthfully and improve and take the next step and improve and, and, and cap capitalize on these moments to just see that growth and watch what it takes us if we go after it every single day for a really long time. And for my players, I always say guys just get better the next day, do that for about 10 years and look back and see where you went, see where you got. Um And for me, if it was this simple, how do we do that? It's our football philosophy here. It's all about the ball. We gotta be crazy about getting the ball on defense. We gotta be raking at the quarterback's elbow when we come, when we're, when we're sacking the quarterback, every tackle has got to be an opportunity to get this ball back offensively. Everything we do from the protection calls all the way to how we carry it to our receivers, transitioning in the quarterback. The decisions all is about taking care of the ball plus one equals 82% win. That's a historical number. If we can just be one turnover better than our opponent, look what we can do, we'll set ourselves up for success. And that's if I can make it that simple. What if I told you in the wild card round that the quarterbacks and teams that didn't turn it over won the game. It was as simple as that. We even talk Xs and Os and what the style and philosophy of our offense or defense is. If we make it about the ball, we can go as far as we want to and put ourselves in a position to be a championship team. Um, with that, I think, uh we're gonna open it up to questions for the media. Yeah, we'll open it for questions. So if you would please raise your hand and we have microphones that we pass around and as we call on you or we'll pass to you, so please raise your hand. We'll get you the mics, introduce yourself with your name, your affiliation and we'll go from there. So our first, uh, question will come from Steve Reed, followed by Carla Gear. Hey, guys, uh, Steve Reed from the associated press. Uh, Dave, certainly, uh, welcome to Charlotte and, uh Dan, congratulations on your promotion. I think you guys answered all our questions and your preamble there. But, um, li listen, I think, I think fans want to know, you know, it, it, it's been six years since this team, uh, you know, been to the playoffs. It's been eight since they've, they've won a playoff game. What do you feel like is the, the blueprint to get there? And secondly, most, maybe, most importantly, how long do you think it'll take, I think it's, I think it's about alignment and process. Uh We gotta have processes in place and we gotta be aligned in our building and we're all moving towards the same direction and that's towards a championship. So, you know, to put it simply, I think that we just have to, we gotta roll our sleeves up and we gotta get to work and we gotta find the type of players that we want, that we want to infuse into our locker room into our building, get, get winners in this building, my timelines today. How can we win today? Let's have a great uh interaction here. Let's start talking about what football you can expect out of us. Um And so today, this looks like a win for me and that's just the way I think just approaching every single day. It's 1st and 10, I got a new set of downs my whole call sheets at my disposal, um and got a bunch of fantastic people to go to work with today. Uh It looks like putting a great staff together for me right now. Um It looks like getting with Dan looking at this roster and really coming up with a, with an airtight plan for who we want to become. Carla Gebhard of Fox Charlotte. My questions for Dave, you mentioned your experience with quarterbacks. I wanna know how that experience might help continue to develop Bryce Young in his second year. Uh f attention to the details, first and foremost. um It all starts off with relationship. Uh Bryce and I just getting to know each other. Um 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 um in the NFL. And um that's really the approach I want to take with him. Some of the, uh some of the other things that kind of come to mind thinking about the quarterbacks that I've worked with, um over the last couple of years is we are gonna become what Bryce is great at in the past game. We're going to grow to the capacity that he can handle. Um There's got to be a commitment and a discipline about that. There was a growth curve there with Baker, here's where we're at today, based on the information we have. Let's get into these situations to 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 got something. Let's find more of those. Let's put it in three different personnels and a couple of formations and motions. Yeah, David Newton espn.com. I wanted to ask you, welcome first. Uh I wanted to ask you what made this job attractive and secondly, what were your thoughts coming to an organization that had fired three head coaches in five years? Yeah. So first and foremost in Seattle, like we never were anywhere close to touching the first overall pick and the more that I got ready for this interview and start watching Bryce looking at my notes from his eval, I mean, that's just a year ago, you know, we're, we're evaluating him as a player, as a person and 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 you all that we all talk about when we have that quarterback that, that franchise face of the franchise type of player. Um And that got me really excited and then just on top of that, you know, the I played against the Panthers twice and, and the job that EJ ever did with the defense was really hard, 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 I got to, you know, 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. Um And then of course, as I've gotten to meet the tepper too, to feel their com their competitive nature, their passion for what they want here, what they wanna 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, I just felt more and more like this was gonna be a great home and, and I was really hoping, you know, as, as they were sorting through the names that I would, I would come out on as one of the top candidates about coming to an organization that has fired three coaches in five years. Oh, I don't think that way I'm talking about today. I wanna win today. And so for me, um, coming into the situation, you know, same like Tampa is like, I wanna look at what we have, what can we do? Not, what can't we do? And that's just my mentality. Hey guys, Scott Fowler Charlotte Observer. I've got one for Dan and one for Dave. Uh, Dan for yourself. I just wondered if you can talk about, you said you need, you know, more dogs, more good players. Uh, what that looks like specifically, like where you think this team is lacking and where you want to build it. And then Dave, I just wonder if you could talk specifically about as a play caller, what you try to do because you sound very passionate about that and, you know, deep balls, all that stuff. Yeah, I think, I think when you talk about building the roster, Scott, um you know, I think it's about, it starts with competitors, guys that are passionate about football. Uh We wanna, we wanna draft guys and sign guys in free agency that are passionate about football that love football. Um We have a lot of guys in the locker room right now that love football and are passionate, but we need to get more and you know, the dog part of it, we need guys that are hungry to go out there and inflict pain on their opponents. Uh We need, we need guys toughness, we need physicality, we need those type of things. I mean, just to put it plainly. Um we haven't had enough of that and that's gonna be our DNA to where when people drive up to Bank of America Stadium, they know they're in for a dogfight. So that's what we want to create here. Uh Play calling, just thought process there like, you know, we ended up becoming us. That's one of the things I was really proud of is just kind of looking at like what run game fits us best. What's the best thing for Cuba? Um, what's the best pass game for Bryce, you know, with, with the different pieces that we have, um, on the offensive side, you know, um, we were able to find an identity and how to do that and win down the stretch, um, to put ourselves in position to play good football and beat a really good team in the wild card round and give the Lions a run for their money there. Um That's a really good team, a great environment and challenge for us there. Um And uh there are a couple of games that got pretty hot there, you know, and this is my first time around. So I'm really excited to see the growth there too. Um Some people in the building that we have, who have done it at a high level for a long time, you know, Jim Caldwell being one of those, um who's just got an eye for offense and eye for this whole organizational piece. And I'm, I'm excited to for my growth in the second year um as Colin plays and the mentality is what are they giving us today? Um And just being, having that variety, having the marriage of the run and pass, um things that start off the same, but end up being different, you know, to have those, those nuances and plays and um and utilize my staff so I can have good information on game day, Dave. Are there particular things you recall about Dan as a young scout in Seattle, his first, you know, entry into that part of the profession? And how do you guys plan to create kind of that John Pete dynamic here? Well, we were about, was it one or two doors apart, two doors apart in the hallway down there? And it was kind of a little bit of a, a crazy loud hallway for, for us. And, um, but you know what I remember about Dan in those times, just his conviction, his belief, I'm sure you have a hard time, you know, thinking that he had an opinion about stuff. Um, but right off the bat, you know, just as a former player, he comes in and like he could just see it, he could just tell what a good football player was. And, um, I wasn't by no means was I an expert at that time, but I just, you know, I have a high value of my ability to evaluate and Dan always had his opinions and, um, and it was very clear thoughts that, that he felt strongly about. So that impressed me, um, early on and then as we grew to get to know each other, it was just kind of like he was such a natural um, in this world of evaluating players. Hey, guys, Joe Person back here in the fourth row, I've got one for each of you. So I'll start with Dan hearing a lot of talk about alignment, how much of that and how you guys wanted to restructure the front office and build Dave's staff has to do with last season when there were lots of reports of factions among the staff and even going all the way up to ownership. I think it has to do everything with just moving forward and, you know, we're not looking back, we're looking ahead. Um, we all want to be aligned the business side, the football side, the locker room, the weight room, everybody on the same page, same mission, same vision. That's, that's what, that's what I'm talking about. When I talk about alignment, the whole building has to be on the same page. If we want to win. We all have to be on the same page and we gotta be communicating every day. We got to know the building inside out and we gotta, we just, we all have to be aligned, plain and simple, Dave. Um You mentioned Ajo, what's your, what's your confidence level is, is the defensive staff gonna be back intact? Oh, my gosh. I mean, just the respect factor that I have going against them. I know I know this 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. I just know it was really difficult on me for years. Uh Whether it was in Seattle going against the Rams in that family, um or this year just going against EJ twice. So, and this is, this is really important for me, um E especially as a, 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 um with the players with, with EJ, you know, just being able to have the mentality that I saw that was really challenging to play against. Yes, I mean, this, this is, you know, for me, like what a huge piece um of what we're doing, Dan You, uh right here in third row, uh you mentioned um other people telling you that you were a good talent evaluator. When did you realize that was where maybe your, your plan was after playing? Um You know, I think once I got done playing, um you know, you're always, you know, as a former player, I know a lot of guys here, like, you know, you, you try to figure out what is the next step, uh you know, who am I? Because you reach your goal at such a young age and then you're left retired and you're like 30 some years old and you're like, well, what am I gonna do with the rest of my life? It's not like you can go in the corporate world and, or just go somewhere and get a job So for me, it was about getting in, back into what I knew best, which was football, um to start out in Seattle and learn out there from, from some of the best, one of the best G MS in the, in the NFL. And then to continue that on to Buffalo and learn under Brandon bean, like it's been invaluable. Um They, they've taught me a lot and, and they've really made me who I am today in terms of, of an evaluator. Dave Dan Jorge Andres with WB TV. First, uh Dave, welcome to Charlotte. Uh Quick question for each of you. I'll start with you, Dave. Uh You mentioned a little bit of analytics uh When you went into talking about the plus 1 82% for a win, we obviously know the turnaround that Ross Gino and Baker have done. How do you plan to implement that those resources and those analytics when analyzing Bryce's Bryce's uh trajectory and the potential that he could be, you know, I haven't really gotten fully into the details on that. Um I, I watched a, 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, you know, and, and the, the critical and pivotal moments in those games. So, um you know, speaking about a specific plan there, you know, there's a, there's a bunch of critical variables, you know, I don't wanna get too much into the football philosophy at this point. But, um, just know, like it starts with the ball for me. Um, there's a way to win foot, 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 past games getting that ball out in 27 or less, that's a critical deal for me. It's been a, it's been a really important number for us in Seattle and being able to just track that for decision making for route, timing, the protection and all that. It all kind of fits into this uh really good brand of football that um that is complimentary. Um as we see as we go through the uh season and this one is uh for you uh bringing Dave and having the conversations to bring Dave, he's currently uh the only head coach of Mexican descent. Uh It's no secret that the Carolinas in the Charlotte area has the largest Mexican demographic uh in, in this part. Um Talk me through that thought process of that representation for a large fan base that is quickly growing year by year as well. I think first of all, you know, diversity is a, is a big part of what we do here with the Carolina Panthers. Um You know, Dave just happened to be, you know, Mexican, you know, American and, you know, also a really good coach and a really qualified coach. Um, so I'm, I'm really happy that he's here with us. And, uh, you know, we're really blessed to have him guys, Brett Jensen with W BT radio over there you go. There you go. Uh, Dave, this is for you. Um, in terms of you've worked with short quarterbacks in the past, successful with Russell Wilson, successful with Breaker Mayfield and you also had a very tall quarterback with Geno Smith. Is there a special way to coach shorter quarterbacks quarterbacks under 6 ft as opposed to a taller quarterback? I think there are certain challenges. Um I'm not gonna go and tell the whole, uh NFC South what those uh, advantages are, I think that's kind of a pro proprietary deal that we're gonna own here. Um, but I will say that there are just certain things you can do to help. Um There are, there are ways to find what that quarterback is comfortable seeing. Um, you got a guy like Drew Brees who's about my height, which is, which is still short in terms of a 6 ft seven tackle, you know, so whether you're 511 or whether you're 61, you can't really see over any of the linemen. So, um, there's an approach to it, um, and at the end of the day, you know, it's about decision making, um, and just kind of making sure that we can have as many of our five eligibles available available for the quarterback, uh from a visual standpoint guys, Kyle Bailey Wfnz back, right? Uh Dan for you first. Uh, congratulations to you both. By the way you mentioned Brandt Tillis, uh seems rather significant to be bringing over a guy who's been a part of multiple Super Bowls and, uh, six straight conference championship trips. What, what impact do you envision him having in your working relationship? What does that look like? And then for you, Dave, um, you know, a lot of guys in your position after just a year of calling plays successfully, albeit, might decide, hey, one more season, you know, two more seasons before I'm ready to run my own operation. How did you know personally that now was the time for you to become a head coach or was it as simple as this was your only offer? You know, I think, uh having brand here, you know, it's really a blessing for us to, to have somebody with the knowledge that he has, uh how smart he is, how good of a person he is. Um, to be able to work with him every day and collaborate and talk about the roster and kind of fit all the pieces of the, of the puzzle together. Um, and to have brand, you know, kind of work side to side with him. That's invaluable. So I'm super excited that he's here and, uh, I can't wait until he takes all these coaches contracts. Off my plate too because I've been having to do that before he got here. So I'm ready to hand that off to you now, Brent, he's been crushing it too, by the way. Uh, so for me, this is a dream come true. Um I think the part that I kind of feel a little bit, uh, 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 and Pete Carroll. Um So I got to sit there and just really just like formulate my plan and just wait for that opportunity to come along. And I just was like, uh my wife and I just kind of thinking like we're ready for this, you know, lead self, lead, others, lead organizations. And that's been an approach and a mentality that I've had for a while. So when this opportunity came up and then I started seeing the pieces coming. Um I just got so fired up about it and uh I'm really ready to serve this team, Molly Cotton 730 the game ESPN Charlotte. Um You talked about that alignment, I guess in terms of the alignment, even the power structure. What does that look like between ownership, front office and coaching staff? Yeah, I think it, I think it's gonna be a strong bond. Um It's gonna be a daily communication between the front office, between ownership, between the head coach and it's just alignment on the roster. It's alignment on just everyday thinking like, what are we about? What's the vision? Are we, what are we doing? The, the best things to, to reach that vision and, and that mission every single day? So it's just constant communication and it's just being aligned in everything we do down to the detail guys on your right. Mike Solarte Spectrum News one, Dave. Welcome to the Carolinas Dan. Congratulations. It's been a jersey journey. Um You guys talked about alignment and everything else, but you're both on a similar, I guess timeline in your careers. Are you guys feeling any amount of pressure to try to bring this team back to where you wanted to go, Danny? I mean, you were part of a Super Bowl team and Dave, I know you wanna follow in those footsteps, no pressure. Um But a lot of hunger, like a lot of hunger to be great. A lot of hunger to get this organization back to where it needs to be, which is back in the playoffs, which is competing for championships year after year. So there's a urgency with that. Um That, that we're striving towards every single day. Can I say I'm nervous? Is that all right? I mean, you know, let's be honest, you know, just getting this opportunity and I've got a ton of excitement about it. Um I got a lot of things that I'm, I'm ready to, to put to the test and that's been a lot of theory, you know, um from a leadership standpoint. But yeah, this is a big task. This is serious for me. This is a, this is a great opportunity. Um And so I don't take that lightly, but at the same time, you know, like Dan just hit, like I'm fired up about it. And uh I love a great challenge and I didn't shy away from the Tampa job and there was a lot of people that kind of looked at that and thought like, what are you thinking? You got a great situation with Gino in Seattle and I just was like, I'm gonna bet on us and uh I'm gonna 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 over achieved. And I just hate that term. I love the thought of maximizing just getting every last drop out of everyone involved um All together in a worthy cause. So, um I'm excited for it and I'm nervous too and I realize how weighty this is. All right. We have time for two more questions. We'll go in the back and then wrap up with Alex Elo from the post. Michael said, uh Fox Charlotte Dan. At the moment, you guys do not have a first round draft pick. How high uh is it on the to do list to get one? It's, it's not really high. I mean, we have the 33rd pick, which, you know, is essentially a late first round pick. Um, we're just gonna draft good players and, you know, hopefully at 33 I think there'll be a good player there. You know, if we choose to move back, if we choose to move up, you know, that's to be seen. Um But we're gonna plan, we're gonna have a plan and uh we're gonna execute on that plan. Hello, uh to your right. Uh Alex Etler with the Charlotte Observer. Dave. Welcome Dan again. Thank you so much for taking the time. Um Dave, you have shown that you are uh enthusiastic online and are willing to engage with the fan base on social media. Uh When did that start? Is that going to continue? And why do you think that's important? Uh Just I think it's what's important to me is that we all grow to have a relationship. Um And 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 gonna try to become from a philosophical standpoint. Of course, the, the whys and the hows that's gonna be depending on what our players are. My hope is that if I, if I put this out there and I say this is who we're gonna be, that we're able to have this relationship where like you keep me accountable on this. You, you said we're gonna do, we're gonna 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, that's a great point. That's not the kind of football we wanna play. So my hope, um, is that we can kind of grow in that relationship as we, as we have that expectation for who we're gonna become. I don't know if I answered everything. Is there another part of your question there? Mhm. Ok. All right. Thank you, everyone for being here today. Really appreciate you being here. Uh Now we would ask if the TV S, if you would make your way down the hall, we have an opportunity for one on ones with our head coach and president and general manager and for our working writing press. If you would make your way to our media workroom, we'll have some player availability coming up very shortly. Thank you very much. Yeah. Right.