The QB-OC partnership that could define the Panthers' season

THE CAROLINA PANTHERS' starting offense slumped to start the 2026 NFL preseason. Fourth-year quarterback Bryce Young and offensive coordinator Brad Idzik hadn't found their footing. The offense managed 26 total yards in its first four drives together. But on the fifth drive, against the Jacksonville Jaguars' backup defense in the second week of the preseason at EverBank Stadium, Idzik, Young and the Panthers adjusted for a seven-play, 58-yard touchdown drive. Young moved around the pocket and made quick tosses down the field to tight end Tommy Tremble and wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan, and the offense as a whole functioned with urgency during the series. It was a glimmer. It was a glimpse of how this offense can operate with Young and Idzik leading a new, more aggressive charge heading into the 2026 regular season that begins with the Panthers hosting the Chicago Bears on Sept. 13 (1 p.m. ET, Fox). Idzik is new to playcalling, but he's not new to Young. The coordinator, now in his third year with the title, will take control of those playcalling duties after inheriting the job from coach Dave Canales this offseason. And with a new voice in the quarterback's helmet on game days, the hope is that Young -- with a lucrative contract extension at stake -- will flourish during the biggest season of his NFL career and the Panthers will make another postseason run. "He's definitely been aggressive, which is huge for us," Young said about Idzik and his ability to guide the QB and the game. "That's a part of the offense we can build upon and we can expand in. We have the guys -- I have all the faith in the world in our guys out there. So giving them opportunities down the field; try to be more explosive, more dynamic." THE YOUNG-LED CAROLINA offense failed to get off to fast starts over the past two seasons with Canales calling plays. According to TruMedia, the Panthers' offense ranked 21st and 26th in first-quarter scoring average in each of the past two seasons, respectively. While Carolina had the 15th-ranked first-quarter time of possession average in 2024, that status dropped to 29th in 2025. The team has won five total games in the first eight weeks of the past two seasons during the Canales era, partially because the offense hasn't gotten off to hot starts on Sundays, especially before the calendar flips to November. But after finishing 30th in passing yardage and 29th in total yardage in 2024, and 26th and 27th in those respective categories in 2025, Carolina wants to push the tempo with Idzik at the controls. In theory, a quick and efficient procedure should allow the Panthers to control the momentum when Young is directing traffic on the field. "The biggest thing, and I think this would come in Year 3 -- whether I was calling it or Dave was -- is the aggressive nature of the pre-snap, breaking the huddle, getting to the line, and having confidence in if we're not checking a play, let's get this thing rolling," Idzik said. "Let's roll off the ball and put the defense on their heels." Training camp was the time to test the tandem's focus on urgency. And while the summer might have been a fun return to football for Idzik, Young and the Carolina offense, it wasn't necessarily smooth. Young had practices in which he looked like a bona fide star against his own defense. He also was stifled for prolonged stretches of joint practices against the Jaguars and Houston Texans. The starting offense's preseason performance will also do little to squash the outside concern for slow starts. Idzik and Young, though, feel comfortable with each other enough to make adjustments in the games that actually count. "I think it's been a really good learning period for us," Young said about training camp following the joint practice against the Jaguars. Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett, who signed with the team in March, has been in the room with Young and Idzik all summer. So has third-year quarterbacks coach Will Harriger. Both have seen Young and Idzik sort through the intricacies of each other's work. The comfort is there, and onlookers say it's evident. "I just think it's the natural evolution of an ever-deepening relationship," Herriger said. "And it's just nice that now, as the playcaller, [Idzik] has already got those two years of kind of developing a feel and kind of a general idea of what he thinks Bryce is going to say, but then ... he obviously makes a great attempt to get his opinion on that stuff as it goes." "You can tell it's [Young's] third year in the system," Pickett said. "I feel like he has a really good grasp of the offense. ... Has had these plays multiple times versus multiple different looks, so he knows where to go with the football with what he sees. He's playing really fast, so it's been really cool to work with him." THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN Idzik and Young has naturally evolved over the past three offseasons. But the 34-year-old coordinator has gone out of his way to build a bond with the signal-caller, too. Since his arrival in 2024, the coordinator and his wife, Emily, have hosted the quarterbacks at their home during offseason downtime. To Idzik, whose father, John Jr., was an NFL general manager, and grandfather, John Sr., was an NFL offensive coordinator, the ability to relate to his players on and off the field -- in particular, his quarterback -- is paramount. "Anytime you can welcome someone into your life and into your personal space, I think it's an important invitation of your intentions," Idzik said. "And him understanding I don't want to just go grab dinner at the fancy restaurant. I want you to come over to my house, so you understand who I am and what I care about. I want you to meet my wife and my dogs and see my living space so you have an idea of ... why I coach. This is my 'why.'" The message has been received by Young, who inherits his fourth playcaller in as many NFL seasons. "Just being able to meet the people in our lives, have that relationship [off the field], you want to go that much harder, do that much more for those people when you know the other side," Young said. That personal connection has bled into their shared work on 200 South Tryon Street. Young has trust in Idzik, and the coordinator wants the quarterback's continuous input, no matter how much it clashes with his point of view. It's a partnership, and Young and Idzik's careers will be intertwined based on how the offense performs this season. Finding a common ground is essential, not only for the two main stewards of the offense, but the unit and the team as well. "As a quarterback, you gotta get comfortable with the words yourself and where all the bones are buried on plays," Idzik said. "And then from there, he does a great job of recommending things that fit what we're trying to do as a whole." "We've been doing so much work behind the scenes," Young said. "So since Day 1, since right when he got hired and first gave me a call from that first conversation till now, it's been great being able to work with him. I feel like we have great chemistry and a great working relationship, so I'm excited for it to continue to grow." Canales, during his first season at the helm for the franchise, benched Young three weeks into the 2024 regular season. The then-second-year QB stood on the sideline with a clipboard for five games, as well-traveled veteran fill-in Andy Dalton led the Panthers to a 1-4 record. Young reemerged as the starter in Week 8 after his replacement sustained a thumb injury in a minor car accident. Canales has noted publicly that Young showed improved command of the offense during his first game back in the starting lineup against the Denver Broncos in a 28-14 road loss. Young has since thrown for 4,891 yards, 36 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, while leading the Panthers to a 2025 NFC South title -- albeit with an 8-9 overall record (Dalton started one loss due to injury) -- in his last 25 games. Idzik was there through the ups and downs. "Anytime you travel down that path and go alongside him and you're still there supporting him and he's still there working -- despite having to sit on the bench and watch Andy play for a little bit -- and then come back in and have a little bit of a resurgence, the consistency which you can present within the relationship during those good and bad times, I think that's what carries the weight going forward," Idzik said. "And I think that's what earns your mutual respect." Idzik followed Canales from Seattle to Tampa Bay to Carolina after starting his coaching career at Stanford. The pair have worked together since 2019, and while the coordinator and the coach share similar playcalling influences, such as Dallas Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer -- a former Seahawks offensive coordinator -- Canales chose to cling to the playcalling duties for his first two seasons as head coach. But Canales announced at the NFL combine in February that he would give his longtime pupil the play sheet on game days. That promotion will directly impact Young, but the team is optimistic Idzik's influence -- based on their shared history together -- will create a space for the quarterback to excel. Tremble, now in his sixth season with the Panthers, was also there through the highs and lows of the Young-Canales-Idzik dynamic. The tight end was also on the field last week when the Texans' defensive front dominated nearly every snap of joint practice and consistently pressured Young. He too saw the first four drives of the preseason. But Tremble believes Idzik and Young have found common ground with their operation. "They're really good at communicating that to each other," Tremble said. "And then every time they're going to a play that either Bryce suggests or that Brad kind of masterminds up, they look at each other, give each other that look and be like, 'Yeah, we got each other.'" THERE'S A LOT on the line as Young and Idzik head into the Week 1 matchup against the Bears, who had the league's 29th-ranked defense in 2025. Idzik's future as a coordinator -- and the potential for a quick rise to a head coach position -- will be under constant scrutiny this fall. Young will be under a microscope on every dropback; he is under the fifth-year option on his contract through the 2027 campaign. Maybe things will work out better than they did when Canales was steering the offense. Maybe they won't. But for Young and Idzik, the table is set for a collaboration that could pay off huge for both of them in short order. "The offense has been a lot of fun this year," Tremble said. "I know Bryce is loving it. I know Brad's having the time of his life." In order for the offense to reach new heights, great communication and fun vibes need to turn into great production and big plays. The conversations over the past three years need to translate into something tangibly better than the previous iterations of the offense, and the Panthers will sink or swim based on how effective Young and Idzik perform as a duo. For Idzik, the task isn't simple. But he knows what he needs to accomplish. "It's just finding the right balance of making sure that you're getting things started in that aggressive nature, but you're featuring the right guys that will get it going for you."