New Bucs offensive coordinator Dave Canales was a hire from left field. Head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Jason Licht interviewed nearly a dozen candidates before hiring Seattle’s quarterbacks coach.

Some of the candidates that the Bucs really liked, such as Georgia offensive coordinator Todd Monken and Bengals quarterbacks coach Dan Pitcher, turned the team down, perhaps due to the notion that Bowles could be on the hot seat in 2023. While the Bucs won the division last year the team finished 8-9 and lost its home playoff game to Dallas, 31-14.

Canales took the Bucs job, but also interviewed with the Baltimore Ravens for their vacant offensive coordinator position before becoming a candidate in Tampa Bay. Canales told the story of his interview process this offseason on the Two B’s In A Pod podcast this summer.

Dave Canales Was An OC Candidate With The Ravens Before The Bucs

“It started off with the Ravens, and Coach [John] Harbaugh was awesome enough to bring me out there for an interview,” Dave Canales said on Two B’s In A Pod podcast. “That was like a three-step process. There was like a preliminary Zoom. Then there was kind of a group Zoom with a couple of people from the organization. And then they flew me out. Like a three- tier process where they were trying to filter candidates, so then I got to go into the in-person interview in Baltimore. What a great organization and culture they’ve got going there. So that was that was amazing.

Bucs OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

“Then the Tampa interview, I believe I was the last interview, so my agent Colin Robert – stud –he had some people in the building [in Tampa Bay]. He was like, ‘You’ve got to bring my guy in. You’ve got to bring my guy in. I’m telling you. You’re going to love to hear this guy, bring him in.’ And he just kind of stayed on them and he called me up probably three days after I got back from Baltimore and said, ‘Hey guess what? Tampa is going to bring you in.’”

Dave Canales spent 13 years in Seattle as the Seahawks wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator. But he hasn’t called plays at either the college or the pro level, which makes him somewhat of a risky hire.

Yet some of the league’s current great play-callers like Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt LeFleur, Zac Taylor and others were in the same boat at one point and had to get their start somewhere.

“I think there’s a benefit to one of the last guys [to interview in Tampa Bay],” Canales said. “They’ve been through the grind you know, and there’s light at the end of the tunnel. So the short story there, I was here interviewing and about halfway through the interview, Baltimore announced their offensive coordinator (Todd Monken). I was kind of waiting to hear, so I checked the check the text messages and somebody was like, ‘Hey, bummed you didn’t get the Baltimore deal.’

“So I go back into the meeting room with Coach Bowles, and I said, ‘Well, Baltimore just gave that job away, so I’m really going to put on a show now!’ He had a good laugh and it was a couple days later and he brought me [on board].”

Dave Canales And Todd Bowles Collaborated On Hiring Bucs Assistants

Canales and Bowles collaborated on hiring the rest of the offensive staff. Bowles fired offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich after the loss to Dallas, and also dismissed running backs coach Todd McNair and receivers coach Kevin Garver. Quarterbacks coach Clyde Christensen would have been fired had he not retired.

Bucs RBs coach Skip Peete – Photo by: Matt Matera/PR

Run game coordinator Harold Goodwin and offensive line coach Joe Gilbert were retained, in addition to tight ends coach Jon Van Dam. Thad Lewis was promoted from assistant receivers coach to quarterbacks by Canales and Bowles, and Canales got to bring Brad Idzik from Seattle to coach the Bucs receivers. Bowles hired Skip Peete to coach running backs.

“Coach Bowles had a good feel for a couple guys who had been around, and really had high respect level for those guys,” Canales said. “He was like, ‘I want to keep these guys. These guys are grinders and you’re going to love them.’ And then he’s like, ‘These are the spots we need,’ so we hired Skip Peete, running backs coach. He was in Dallas last year and had two fantastic backs.

“And then we hired a guy named David Raih, who’s been a receivers coach. He’s been a couple of different positions, and he’s our senior offensive analyst. We hired from within the assistant receivers coach is now the quarterbacks coach, Thad Lewis. He played in the league for seven-eight years. Then Jordan Somerville was at the University of Oregon as the assistant quarterbacks coach, and he I think he might be the smartest guy on our staff. So he came in and he’s been killing it and making sure stuff’s right, and just brings a lot of college football – you know, spread offense – and some cool stuff there.”

Dave Canales Knows The Weather Is Better In Tampa Than It Is In Seattle

Bucs OC Dave Canales – Photo by: Cliff Welch/PR

Dave Canales has yet to call the first play in Tampa Bay, but his energy and enthusiasm has been well received by the team and the coaching staff – as has the playbook he’s crafted from his time in Seattle.

And speaking of Seattle, Canales is certainly enjoying the warmth of summer in the Tampa Bay area.

“I was paddleboarding with my buddy Brad,” Canales said. “He’s our receivers coach, and so we’re paddleboarding the other day and it’s like 84, it’s 7:30 p.m. – sunset. And we’re like where are we are right now? Just blown away.

“We should be like bundled up right now in Seattle, getting ready for practice, but it’s wild. And I’m so blessed. I’m so thankful. And the cool part is the staff here, they’re grinders. And they’ve been able to cover me left and right on stuff. So it’s been pretty fantastic so far.”