Energetic Dave Canales excited about new Bucs offense, calling plays and QB Kyle Trask

TAMPA — Eighteen years have passed since Dave Canales called his last play on offense, but doing it for the junior varsity team at Carson High in California is not like writing the script for the Bucs.

Even so, Canales is approaching his job as Tampa Bay’s new offensive coordinator with the same excitement, energy and — the Bucs’ hope is — execution that he did in his first job at his alma mater.

“That was really fun,” Canales said Wednesday of that JV job during an introductory news conference in which he answered questions with tempo and didn’t punt for more than 30 minutes.

“I didn’t answer to anybody, so we did all kinds of fun stuff. I didn’t have a head coach knocking on my door saying, ‘Hey, I don’t think that’s something we are going to do.’ Anyway, that’s way back then. But … I’ll touch on that, because that was a concern that came up in both interviews with Baltimore and with (Bucs coach) Todd (Bowles) and (general manager) Jason (Licht).

“I really respect the play-calling position. I respect how hard it is. I respect the skill that the guys that I worked for (have), that they had to have the mastery of the game plan and the call sheet. I know that I’m going to take some lumps and have to learn my lessons along the way, but I’ll learn quick. I am a quick study.”

Canales, 41, never got the chance to call plays during his 13 seasons in Seattle with coach Pete Carroll. But that doesn’t mean he didn’t contribute to the Seahawks’ success on offense.

He fed plays off the call sheet to four offensive coordinators, and one helped the Seahawks make an adjustment that led to the winning touchdown pass to Jermaine Kearse in an NFC Championship Game victory over the Packers in the 2014 season.

“It was that moment, you know — and there were other little moments along the way — but, like, at that point, I was just like, ‘Wow, this is cool to be able to have an impact by making an end-game adjustment.’ Really, really got me going, you know, and encouraged me to keep growing.”

In a statement, Carroll predicted success for Canales in his new role.

“I think he will do a great job of play-calling,” Carroll said. “He has always been around the game to understand how to be innovative, creative and also bold and take shots but yet have the baseline of an attack that gives you a chance to be really good.”

Improving the run game

What Bowles wants is for Canales to improve the Bucs’ ability to run the ball. Seattle was tied for fifth in the NFL with a 4.8-yard rushing average in the 2022 season; the Bucs were last in yards and attempts, and averaged a league-worst 3.4 yards per carry. Canales’ offense will be a blend of the coordinators he worked with in Seattle.

From Jeremy Bates he learned how to grind. From Darrell Bevell it was the pass game and “no synonyms” — every coach and player must use the same language. From Brian Schottenheimer it was how to present information to the quarterback. From Shane Waldron it was, creatively, where you had a “think tank” and did things a different way.

“That being said, if the run is not working, we’re going to throw it a little bit more. If the pass isn’t working, we’re going to run it a little bit more,” Canales said. “There’ll be days, if they’re not fitting the runs, we’ll run the ball 40 times. There’ll be days where you’ve got to match up outside with (receivers) Mike (Evans) or Chris Godwin, and we’re blocking him pretty good and we could throw for 400-plus yards.”

How Trask fits

Canales refused to speculate on whom the Bucs might add at quarterback, focusing on the only one under contract: Kyle Trask.

He said his quarterback-friendly system emphasizes distributing the ball quickly to playmakers, and he has worked with lesser stars, such as Seattle’s Geno Smith, the NFL’s 2022 Comeback Player of the Year. Trask has been the Bucs’ No. 3 quarterback during his two pro seasons and has played in only one regular-season game, connecting on 3 of 9 passes in a loss at Atlanta to end the regular season.

“I really liked (Trask) coming out of college,” Canales said. “If you look at some of the skill-position players he had (at Florida) — Kyle Pitts; Kadarius Toney; Dameon Pierce. He was able to distribute, and the thing we’re going to continue to help Kyle continue to build here is just be a point guard.

“Point guards don’t have to be the ones who score all the points. You just distribute. Play on time, get the ball out of your hands. Life’s better that way when you do that. You’ve got all these bears chasing you. If you don’t like bears chasing you, then get rid of the ham.”

Protecting the ball will be at the heart of everything the Bucs do under Canales. He said that’s why he’s excited about the hiring of Cowboys running backs coach Skip Peete. Dallas ball carriers had zero fumbles last season. Said Canales, “He could’ve started the interview with that, dropped the mic and he would’ve been hired.”

Canales made it clear that the Bucs’ offense will continue to evolve. “This is not the Seahawks,” he said. “This is not the Buccaneers of 2022. This is our new team. What scope can they handle? And then, do a little more so that we are not predictable so that teams can’t just pick us apart.”

Contact Rick Stroud at rstroud@tampabay.com. Follow @NFLSTROUD.

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