Panthers QB Bryce Young seeks 'mastery of offense' under new play caller
CHARLOTTE, N. C. (AP) — Bryce Young was a little surprised when head coach Dave Canales called to inform him that offensive coordinator Brad Idzik would be taking over play-calling duties after the Carolina Panthers took a big step in 2025 and won the NFC South.
He knew how much Canales loved calling plays. But after speaking with Canales, the Panthers quarterback is embracing the change, saying that he’s thrilled about what Idzik — whom he described as having a “great offensive mind” — brings to the table. Idzik plans to experiment with a variety of different plays during the team’s upcoming OTAs in an effort to best utilize each player’s skill set.
“I appreciate his willingness to put us in the best situation,” Young said. “It’s not this blanket ‘we’re gonna do X, Y, Z’ or ‘we’re gonna do this X amount of times every game’ or ‘we’re gonna run this concept X amount of times. ’ We want to try a bunch of different things during OTAs.
He wants to challenge us with some new things. Young added, “So, we (as players) want to show him what we’re good at, and then as we find that out, it’s him being able to find different ways for us to get to that in the game. So I’m excited for that process.
” The fourth-year quarterback said players need to do their part by developing a “mastery of the offense. ” That means a deep dive into the playbook, thoroughly understanding all of its unique variations and concepts. The hope is that will result in a more seemless approach, helping Young get in and out of the huddle faster and avoid delay of game penalties and unnecessary timeouts — an frustrating issue that has plagued the Panthers offense at times over the past two seasons.