INDIANAPOLIS — About a month ago, Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers nearly pulled off a playoff upset against the Los Angeles Rams. A couple months before that, the team picked up his fifth-year option. And roughly 18 months before that, they benched him.

It sounds chaotic. Dave Canales sees it differently.

Sitting in a downtown Indianapolis hotel during the NFL's annual coaching carousel, the Panthers head coach calmly explained how he and Young engineered one of the league's most dramatic turnarounds. The Panthers climbed from 5-12 in 2024 to NFC South champions last season. Young, once written off as a failed No. 1 overall pick from 2023, posted career highs in passing yards (3,011), touchdowns (23), and completion percentage (63.6%) in 2025.

"I had never lost confidence in Bryce, the guy," Canales told me. "We're all in the same boat. So there's a lot of grace and empathy that goes across the board for all of us really just becoming this thing."

The transformation rests on shared experience: a third-year quarterback, a second-year coach, a second-year general manager in Dan Morgan, and a roster of young players—including Offensive Rookie of the Year receiver Tetairoa McMillan and standout edge rusher Nic Scourton—who developed ahead of schedule. When you're all growing together, mistakes become learning opportunities.

The pivotal moment came in 2024, when the Panthers benched Young just two games into the season. New head coaches typically discard struggling incumbents at the first sign of trouble. The Panthers could have reset. Instead, Canales doubled down.

Rather than banish yet another young quarterback—like the Panthers did with Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold, who both remade themselves elsewhere—Canales kept Young around. He had him learn from veteran Andy Dalton, who started five games while Young watched, studied, and absorbed the system from the sideline.

"There was an emotional strain. I could feel that," Canales recalled. "I know because it was a hard decision. I know Bryce could feel that because of how this impacted him directly, and everybody else can feel it. It's like, 'Oh, this seems like a big deal.' But it's like, 'OK, this is the decision that was made. But how do we get better today?' And so there's, like, a daily focus on improvement. Bryce is wired that way."

Young never wavered. When his opportunity returned in Week 8, he was measurably sharper. He closed out 2024 with a string of strong performances and entered 2025 a different player.

The Panthers never entertained trade offers for Young, Canales confirmed. They ignored the skeptics and focused on what mattered: their team's future and their quarterback's development.

"What's the next step? What's the next step for him?" Canales asked himself. "Let's stay on track with that, because over time, if that's our focus, we'll build something really cool. And that's what he's done. He just continues to stack lessons."

During Young's benching, the two sat in a meeting room reviewing formations and defensive looks. Canales asked which play Young preferred against a specific defensive alignment.

"I want to get into this," Young said, pointing to a specific call.

"Do it," Canales replied.

That coaching philosophy—trust the process, ask the right questions, let the player decide—proved transformative. By 2025, Young's advanced metrics showed improvement: minus-0.08 EPA per dropback and a 42.6% success rate. Those aren't elite numbers, but they justified picking up his fifth-year option.

Now Canales keeps asking: What's the next step?

Young's progress has been linear when zoomed out, but littered with setbacks. That's quarterback development. He must sustain his upward trajectory.

"If this thing comes to a crescendo, which I believe it will, if Bryce goes where I think he's going to go this year and continues to improve ... we're going to have to make that [contract] decision," Canales said. "And I want to make sure, organizationally, or from a roster standpoint, we are in a position to say, 'OK, let's go.'"

Building Around Young

The Panthers' 2026 blueprint centers on continuation: draft well and get rookies on the field early. Sign free agents in their mid-to-late twenties who can contribute long-term. Most critically: establish the run game.

Canales, who learned under Pete Carroll in Seattle, believes a strong rushing attack is the greatest gift you can give a quarterback. It keeps him out of impossible third-and-long situations. It prevents the offense from playing from behind. It stops the constant high-volume throwing that stunts development.

"The greatest thing you could do for a quarterback is to develop a consistent run game. Sounds crazy, but it's the truth," Canales said.

The 2025 evidence supports him. Carolina backs Rico Dowdle and Chuba Hubbard combined for 1,587 rushing yards and seven touchdowns—proof the philosophy works.

The challenge ahead: committing long-term money to Young while maintaining that run-game emphasis becomes harder when a quarterback eats up significant salary cap space. The Panthers haven't yet made that second-contract commitment.

"Is it Bryce? I hope so," Canales said. "That's our goal, to make it so that we can build a strong enough team to be able to withstand that [contract] and continue to have that layered, progressive developmental approach."

For now, the Panthers are betting that their commitment to Young will pay dividends—that a quarterback who was nearly discarded will become the face of their franchise.