INDIANAPOLIS — There came a point early in this offseason when Dave Canales had to be brutally honest with himself. As he does at the end of every season, the head coach was evaluating the 18 games Carolina had just completed, evaluating what worked, what didn't, where the Panthers could take better advantage of their talent in the coming year, and where they might be lacking.

The young coach has never had a problem delivering hard news with grace, and he has faced the hard truths of what the season might be telling him and his team. But this time, the tape was proving a humbling point.

Wearing both hats as head coach and play caller was shackling Canales from doing either to his full ability.

"Certainly humbling to have to kind of swallow that and say, 'OK, am I the best guy for this job?' That was definitely what I wrestled with," admitted Canales on Tuesday as he met with media at the annual NFL combine.

When Canales took the head coaching job with the Panthers two seasons ago, it was after one year as the offensive coordinator and play caller with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. From the beginning, he made it clear he would continue calling plays with the Panthers. For the past two seasons, he's done just that, juggling the game plan, the call sheet, and all that comes with being a head coach on game day.

In many ways, the progress has been noticeable and positive. Carolina went from two wins the season before Canales arrived to five wins his first year, and eight wins this past year, earning a division title for the first time in a decade.

But with each game, series, and play Canales re-watched, it was clear how much more was left on the table. And for the man who made a reputation as a young quality control assistant obsessed with the details, it was hard to stomach that little tweaks had been left unaddressed by him during games.

"There were quite a few moments that way," he admitted as to whether or not he noticed moments in games he might have missed, such as challengeable plays, timeouts that could have been taken, or more.

"I think there was looking for some of the interactions to be more constructive and for myself to be available for the officials to have conversations that way, making game management decisions, all those things that you guys can imagine is a challenge to call plays and do those things.

"I understood the challenge of it," he continued, pointing to his decision to do both when he first arrived. "I was accepting of that challenge, but it goes beyond that. It's also being able to affect and impact your players really live, as guys come on and off the field, to be able to connect with them. To see something fundamentally, I know, can help this player. Let's not wait until Monday, when I watch the film, to be able to help somebody or talk to a coach and say, 'Hey, this is happening.'

"When I see a player, he may not realize that he's carrying the ball loosely. That's something I can go directly over, and as he's coming off the field, when I don't have to go to the next play, I want to be able to affect the culture and the general way we play our play style, you know, and the things that we always point back to.

"I want to be able to make sure that's happening on a play-in and play-out basis."

And so, taking the same approach and demanding the same accountability he did from his players and coaches, Canales changed his job description and removed the play-caller title. As he announced earlier on Tuesday, that role will now be handled by offensive coordinator Brad Idzik.

"Can I affect our whole team in a more positive way?" Canales said as to the impetus. "And this is an opportunity for me to do that."

Giving up the play-calling himself was admittedly a hard decision for Canales. There's a bit of ego to it, the coach concurred, and accepting that he could better serve his team in a way different from how he'd first believed.

"It was extremely difficult for me because I do enjoy calling plays," Canales said. "It's a part of the game that really thrills me. I get a lot of gratification out of watching the plan unfold on Sundays, and just the high-stakes moments like those are incredible moments to be able to make critical calls and to put guys in positions to give ourselves a chance to win, and so I certainly didn't want to give that part up."

There have been plenty of coaches who took on both responsibilities, handling play-calling and head-coaching duties in-game. But as both Canales and the Panthers continue to grow and improve, the coach knows he needs to be more available.

"Just thinking about wanting to make sure I'm doing the right thing for the team first and foremost, and that's always where I'm going to default with any of the big decisions that happen for the Panthers football team that I'm in charge of, it's going to be about putting our players in the best position to be successful," said Canales.

So while giving up the play calling itself was difficult, letting Idzik take over the role was the easy part. Canales promises the young coordinator (he's 34) is ready and has been in the trenches with him for the last couple of years.

"He's my primary architect for what we do offensively with the run game, the pass game, and the connection of it," shared Canales. "This is an opportunity to streamline the work that goes in during the week and then to have that come alive on game day for the play caller who has a vision for what we're doing."

Idzik has called a couple of preseason games during his two years as Panthers coordinator, and has also been responsible for managing the call sheet with Canales during games.

"The benefit is it's not a big—it seems like a big change, but it really isn't because I've been alongside of him the whole step of the way of his growth, and being an offensive coordinator from Tampa to here," shared Idzik on Tuesday, stepping into the podium room at the NFL combine to discuss his new role. "That part's been fun, pinging ideas off each other, learning from his experiences.

"So when he brought that up to me, I'm honored, I'm flattered, and it's obviously from a personal standpoint, it's something that I've always wanted to do as well. But I also recognize that it was hard for him. It was something that he gave up. He enjoyed it too. And I know he enjoyed it because I was right there on his hip watching him enjoy every minute of it.

"So, I have a lot of gratitude for him. I know I'm kind of going off and giving the full spiel, but just a lot of gratitude for him and trusting in me, continuing to invest in me, and we both believe this is the right thing going forward to propel our offense forward and for him to focus on the full team, and I'm excited to watch all that unfold."

It was a decision made completely by Canales. He kept general manager Dan Morgan and owner David Tepper informed, but said it ultimately came down to what he thought was best. And the front office trusted him to make the right choice.

"It's not about me, it's not about Coach Canales, it's about what's best for the organization," said Morgan. "And, you know, coach feels like that's the best thing, and I fully support him."

Morgan made clear this wasn't something he or anyone else in the organization pushed Canales to do. But he is excited to see the positives that can come from the change.

"There are times last year when we're down, and there's really nobody there to be like, get the guys up on the sideline, and that's Coach's superpower," Morgan pointed out. "He's a motivator, he gets the guys going and, yeah, so I think there were times where he definitely could have been useful in that way, kind of navigating the sideline and talking to the defense, talking to the offense."

The Panthers will use the offseason and preseason to determine if Idzik will call plays from the field or the box, but the offensive coordinator admits he hopes it works out to do the former.

"I love being on the field," Idzik said. "Just feeling out those little moments of communication that might not always get through the headset. So I do love having the pulse of the team.

"But I also know a lot of guys do it from up there, and it's a nice, removed environment to see the full picture. So maybe something that we could address and try out some different things in scrimmages and preseason play, but I do say I prefer to have the pulse of the team on the sideline."

Carolina also brought in longtime offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell to serve as an offensive specialist and assistant head coach. He has years of play-calling experience, much more than Canales' three, the head coach joked, and will serve as a resource for both Canales and Idzik throughout this change.

"Darryl's a big part of that, bringing his experience from a play caller standpoint, building our systems, helping us grow all those things, and really having that—allowing Brad to have somebody with that type of experience to lean on, you know, with my humbling three experiences that I have, he's lived all of those. I want him to be able to see more of that."

Canales also shared that he made sure to alert quarterback Bryce Young to the change as soon as the decision was made.

Now all that's left is to put it all into practice.

"I see an opportunity for two things to grow," explained Canales. "For Brad to be able to affect the offense in a positive way and for myself to be able to affect the whole thing in that way."