Twenty Years Coaching Football
Five Bowl Games as a coach
Studied under offensive gurus Lavell Edwards and Norm Chow
Tutored Quarterback Philip Rivers, the Fourth Overall Pick in the 2004 NFL Draft
Arizona secured the services of a coach with a solid background in the passing game when Mike Stoops hired Mike Canales off the New York Jets' staff in January 2004.
Canales, a former collegiate quarterback, will be Arizona's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
He came to Tucson after a year as wide receivers coach with the Jets, but he has predominantly been a quarterbacks coach and coordinator, notably with tutelage under Lavell Edwards and Norm Chow at BYU early in his career and a later assignment directing the high-powered passing game at North Carolina State.
"Mike's offensive background is outstanding and will give us the kind of emphasis we want, spreading the field," Stoops said in announcing his hire.
Canales, who turns 43 next week, lettered three years as a quarterback at Utah State for coach Bruce Snyder and Chris Pella from 1981-83. He received his degree there in 1984. He began his coaching career with a two-year stint as a graduate assistant at Brigham Young, working under then Cougar offensive coordinator Norm Chow. The 1985 Cougars finished the year 11-3, played in the Citrus Bowl and was ranked 16th in both final polls. The Cougar attack featured 4,000-yard quarterback Robbie Bosco and All-Americans Mark Bellini (WR) and Trevor Molini (TE). BYU had another bowl appearance while Canales was learning the trade - the 1986 Freedom Bowl. Canales earned a master's degree from BYU in 1986.
He was offensive coordinator and receivers coach for eight years at Snow College in Ephraim, Utah, from 1987-94, then joined the staff at Pacific as quarterbacks coach in 1985. At Pacific, he also worked with the Tigers' kicking game. Quarterback Graham Lee later was a Western Athletic Conference divisional offensive player of the year at New Mexico after UOP dropped football.
When Pacific gave up football after that 1995 season, Canales served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the University of South Florida from 1996-2000, then became passing-game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Carolina State for the 2001 and 2002 seasons, working with Phillip Rivers during his sophomore and junior seasons. He joined the Jets for the 2003 season.
At N.C. State, the 2002 Wolfpack finished 11-3 and No. 12 in the final AP rankings after defeating Notre Dame in the Gator Bowl. The team averaged 392 yards per game in total offense, including 247.7 per game passing. Canales helped direct a 2001 Wolfpack offense that averaged 358 yards per game - 247 per game through the air. The club set a school record with a .644 mark. N.C. State finished 7-5 including a Tangerine Bowl appearance.
The 2002 Wolfpack team had a 3,000-yard passer (Rivers, 3,353), a 1,000-yard receiver (Jerricho Cotchery, 1,192) and a 1,00-yard rusher (T.A. McLendon, 1,101).
Last year he worked with New York's Santana Moss and Curtis Conway, among others. Moss finished 2003 in the NFL's top 15 in receiving, with 74 catches for 1,105 yards, plus 10 touchdowns to tie for fourth in the league.
The Canales File
Born: Jan. 21, 1961, Coronado, Calif.
College: Utah State, 1984
BYU, 1986 (master's)
Family: Four sons: Christopher, Tyler, Dakota and Cameron.
Canales' Coaching Chronology
1985 Brigham Young, offensive graduate assistant
1986 Brigham Young, offensive graduate assistant
1987 Snow College, offensive coordinator, QB/WR coach
1988 Snow College, offensive coordinator, QB/WR coach
1989 Snow College, offensive coordinator, QB/WR coach
1990 Snow College, offensive coordinator, QB/WR coach
1991 Snow College, offensive coordinator, QB/WR coach
1992 Snow College, offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach
1993 Snow College, offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach
1994 Snow College, offensive coordinator, wide receivers coach
1995 Pacific, quarterbacks coach, kicking game coordinator
1996 South Florida, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
1997 South Florida, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
1998 South Florida, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach
1999 South Florida, offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach 2000 South Florida
2001 North Carolina State, pass-game coordinator, quarterbacks coach
2002 North Carolina State, pass-game coordinator, quarterbacks coach
2003 New York Jets, wide receivers coach
Canales in the Post-season
1992 Dixie Rotary Bowl, Snow College, offensive coordinator
1985 Citrus Bowl, Brigham Young, graduate assistant
1986 Freedom Bowl, Brigham Young, graduate assistant
2001 Tangerine Bowl, North Carolina State, quarterbacks coach
2002 Gator Bowl, North Carolina State, quarterbacks coach
