CHARLOTTE — The numbers the Panthers are putting up on offense are cool and everything.

But it's the way they're coming that encourages them now and gives them hope for the future as the offense continues to evolve.

The Panthers are first in the league in passing offense (312.5 yards per game), second in scoring (35.5 points per game), and fourth in yards (409.0), a hot start for new play-caller Brad Idzik and a cast of characters that's largely familiar.

And that familiarity — and the comfort to communicate honestly that comes with it — might be the key to their early success.

Or maybe it's Idzik's energy, as he's just short of his 35th birthday, and barely older than his tight end who caught two touchdowns last week.

Or maybe it's his willingness to listen, hear feedback from the sidelines and throughout the week, and apply it in the headset.

Or maybe it's all of that, coming together with an ascending quarterback and a pair of receivers he's learning to trust, a running back who has earned that confidence, and with new parts at tight end and tackle who are stepping up at the perfect time.

"I love how collaborative he is, how much conversation and feedback that we're able to have on the sideline," quarterback Bryce Young said. "He's super diligent, on top of it as far as having notes, having thoughts, being that one or two plays ahead or two drives ahead on the sideline and being able to sit down and have that dialogue. That's something that's been great, and you know you don't really know that until you get into it, but that was one of the many things that stood out that I thought that Brad just did a great job with. And even now, building out the plan, all that stuff, just being able to have those conversations, just be on the same page, I want to be able to go out there and in the huddle drive what he wants to see and be able to know what he wants, how he sees things going, me being able to see the same one, so we can communicate it out to the guys and be the coach on the field for him.

"He did a great job making some on-field adjustments, sideline adjustments, and adding some stuff in based off what he was seeing, which is, again, just someone who has their stuff in order and is able to be that one or two drives ahead. I'm super excited for him and for us to continue to keep growing."

And that relationship is key, because the coordinator and the guy executing those plays have to be on the same page.

So Idzik and Young talk — a lot.

They both laugh when it comes up, because that's not just formal meetings. It's conversations in passing in the hall, and even when they leave the stadium, it's texts at night.

"I would say we have a couple, three or four hours in the morning, whether we're going in and out of meetings," Idzik began. "Even like bumping into the weight room while they're in there.
'Hey, I have one more thought,' and then when you take it out to the field, you're out on the field, and we're, we're constantly massaging the plan to make it fit our guys, and how he's feeling it come off from the defensive perspective.

"We watch a little bit more tape, might get a text at night, might shoot him a text at night. But you've also got to respect that they've got to rest a little bit at night too. They've got to go home. We're going to click into the red zone tomorrow, so let him put third down to bed and be able to click to the next day.

"I would say probably the normal amount that anybody wants to have with their quarterback while also giving him his space to live his life too, and be a little bit balanced in going home, resting, recharging, and coming back for another day tomorrow."

That doesn't sound, or look, like a normal amount of communication any two people would have. But one of the impressive things about Idzik is that it looks like that with a lot of people, not just Young.

Getting to this point has taken years, because Idzik's not new here. He's been the offensive coordinator since he arrived, but head coach Dave Canales passed off the headset early this offseason and backstopped Idzik with experienced voices to create the kind of offense they've been hoping to build.

Canales even joked that the previous play-caller must have been the problem, because this has been such an early-season eye-opener.

But this change happened gradually and then all at once, because Idzik has put in the time to get to know these people and what makes them tick, in addition to the skills they bring to the field. And since he's been down in it with them on the sidelines, they know him at a different level.

"Obviously he's laser-focused and locked in, does a great job of doing that, but he's collaborative in terms of, like, talking to us, allowing us to talk to him and give feedback, and then working with each other," veteran running back Chuba Hubbard said. "He has a lot of juice, a lot of energy, you see at times again. Getting riled up, and that's something to appreciate if you want a coach that's all the way in."

Of course, they saw that from his first day here, when he came to the practice field in cleats, so he could run routes with them better. And he's always among the first on the field on game day, working out during the pregame, getting a sweat in before the mental work begins. And that energy is another tangible part of what he's brought to the group.

"It's good to have him on the sideline to hear him out and then he kind of just bounces around from group to group and gets everybody on the same page," veteran wideout David Moore, who has been with him in Seattle and Tampa and here, said. "Plus he's young, and he can bounce around. He can still move; knees ain't hurting all day. Brad's still young. He wants to feel like he's in the game."

That energy is clearly a part of the formula, because when you watch Idzik work, it definitely has a "one of the boys" quality.

"He gets fired up," tight end Tommy Tremble said. "He likes when they've got a good play kicking up, and the best thing about it is he'll go on the field and be like, 'We're going to run this, X, Y, and Z, and then punch him in the mouth with A, B, and C.' And it gets you, because he says it with such conviction. It's like he's one of the players on the field, so it's like he believes in it so much; why wouldn't you? So it's super fun going to war with him, man."

Tremble said it was easily "the most explosive offense I've been a part of in my six years here," and it's clear that they're having a blast working with a familiar face in a new way.

"He's got the cleats on running routes; he's a guy's guy," Tremble said. "He's a younger dude, so you can kind of joke with him, but he's serious about his job too, about his business. And so that kind of guy, it's a little easier. Even though Dave is an awesome coach, super communicative, you can always talk to Dave, but this is a different kind of hierarchy when it's a head coach compared to the OC, and so it's, it's fun being with Brad right now."

That accessibility was also key to him deciding to stay put on the sidelines, where he's always been. In the old days, many coordinators preferred to be in the press box. That's where Joe Pendry and Dan Henning worked when they called plays for the Panthers in the '90s and 2000s, but the trend now is to have play-callers downstairs.

There are still 17 head coaches calling plays, but most of the rest of the play-callers on the sidelines. Only six coordinators call plays from the press box this season. That group includes 64-year-old Jets coordinator Frank Reich. Still, it's not just an old guy's spot, since three 30-somethings work upstairs (Baltimore's Declan Doyle, Philadelphia's Sean Mannion, and Atlanta's Tommy Rees) along with middle-aged play-callers Brian Daboll in Tennessee and the Giants' Matt Nagy.

Idzik still has a cast of characters upstairs to assist him (including associate head coach Darrell Bevell and offensive passing game coordinator Mike Bercovici), but you can also see things from field level as well.

"I always just enjoyed being on the sidelines standing about 15 to 20 yards back behind the defense," Canales said. "I could get a feel for safety rotation; I could get a feel for, are they chasing, are they playing up the field, that defensive end spot? How deep are the linebackers? Are they up at the line of scrimmage right now on our runs? Does our play pass, so that I can get a feel for that right from the sideline, and that's what I preferred."

And that's what Idzik clearly prefers, so he can get a feel for the game.

But mostly, it's about the communication, because they've put such a high value on it.​

While some coordinators just want to be close to their quarterback, Idzik stays in constant contact with the entire roster on game day.

He's talking to linemen, tight ends, receivers, backs, and yes, Young and Kenny Pickett. But for Idzik, it's about being able to get feedback from everyone.

"I think if you got guys up in the box you can trust to tell you what's happening, I think getting your vibe for what the team's feeling and what the guys like is good," center Luke Fortner said. "There's been plenty of times where he's come over and said, you know, what do you like? What do you see? What do you think? And as a play caller, you wouldn't be a good play caller if you just did what I said I want? But being able to take all that information from different sources and piece together the puzzle, I think it's important."

And most importantly, it's working, thanks to all the time Idzik has spent.