If Nicole Tepper wasn’t a film buff before this offseason, she may be one now.
The Carolina Panthers owner and chief administrative officer was the first of three special guests on today’s Bank of America Stadium-based episode of Up & Adams. Host Kay Adams asked Tepper about her impressions of the team’s new head coach Dave Canales.
“He has a passion for people,” she replied. “He has an uncanny ability to make this complicated game so simple. He worked 13 years for one of the greatest coaches of all-time, Pete Carroll. I mean, that in itself is amazing.
“I mean, you have to be hidden under a rock if you haven’t seen what he did last year to Baker Mayfield. I mean, the two of them together was dynamic, and he was a big part of that, right?
“He’s a visionary. I’m excited for him, and you wanna play for him, you wanna work for him.”
Tepper’s Panthers officially hired Canales back on Jan. 25. The 42-year-old served as the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2023 and worked under Carroll in Seattle—as a wide receivers coach, quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator—from 2010 to 2022.
Adams then asked Tepper if there was a moment where she knew Canales was the guy for the job.
“I think he was breaking down film in the second interview process, and I did not want it to stop,” Tepper said. “Like, I wanted him to keep going. I wanted to listen more. I would’ve sat down and talked film with him, or listen to him break down film, for hours.”
Maybe the Panthers might have themselves a high-profile guest in the film room for now on.
