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New Tennessee QB coach Mike Canales known as 'Chico' to old friends

Mike Strange

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

North Texas interim head coach Mike Canales shouts from the sideline during the first half against Tennessee at Neyland Stadium in Knoxville, Tenn. on Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015.

Less than a year ago, Mike Canales was thinking he might put down roots in Logan, Utah. Turns out he was mistaken.

After three decades in the itinerant world of college football coaching, Canales returned to his alma mater, Utah State, last March. He was in his mid-50s, fresh from a coaching purge at North Texas and glad to have a gig as assistant head coach and running backs/tight ends coach at the school where he played quarterback from 1980-83.

“I’d like to stay here,’’ Canales told the Deseret News at Utah State’s spring practice. “It all started for me here, so it would be hard to want to leave.’’

Canales, known as “Chico” to old friends, is leaving after all. He’s on the move to Tennessee to coach quarterbacks for Butch Jones.

Tennessee made the announcement on Friday afternoon.

Born in 1961 in the San Diego suburb of Coronado, Calif., Canales is the son of a military man. So moving every few years isn’t a shock to his system.

His longest tenure in coaching was eight years at Snow College in Utah from 1987-94. The shortest was one year with the New York Jets (2003) and this past year at Utah State.

Through the years, Canales helped develop a number of successful college quarterbacks, from Philip Rivers at North Carolina State (2001-02), to Willie Tuitama at Arizona (2005-06) to Matt Grothe at South Florida (2007-09).

“He’s one of the main reasons I came to Arizona … “ Tuitama told the Tucson Citizen in 2006. “Coach Canales has done so much for me as a person and player and I thank him so much for it.’’

Grothe became the Big East Conference career total offense leader as a dual-threat quarterback for the Bulls. Canales was passing game coordinator in 2007-08. When Canales was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2009, Grothe suffered a season-ending injury in the third game.

Rivers blossomed as a sophomore and junior with Canales as his quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator.

“The only thing I ever worked on with Philip was his footwork,’’ Canales said in a 2015 interview with the North Texas Daily, “because I thought he had two left feet.’’

Canales was hired twice by Jim Leavitt at South Florida. The first time was 1996 when the school was starting football. Canales came back in 2007 to rebound from a disappointing three years at Arizona under coach Mike Stoops.

“It’s not so much one person,’’ Canales said in 2015 of his influences, “I feel like I’m a mix of guys. Chuck Amato (N.C. State) gave me confidence. Jim Leavitt taught me toughness. Norm Chow (BYU) taught me the Xs and Os. Mike Stoops, I learned a lot about defense. Dan McCarney (North Texas), I saw how he turned this program around. I learned so much from him. I can take something from everyone.’’

Canales’ introduction to coaching was at BYU, where he did two years as a grad assistant under Hall of Fame coach LaVell Edwards. Chow was the quarterbacks coach.

“Chico was a good student of the game,’’ Edwards told the Tucson Citizen in 2006. “Certain people have an innate feel for the game, and he was one of them, you could tell. He had the extra ‘it’ factor. You could tell he was going to be a good coach.’’

During Canales’ second stint at South Florida he worked with Larry Scott, Jones’ choice to replace Mike DeBord as Tennessee’s offensive coordinator.

“He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around,’’ Scott told North Texas Daily in 2010, “as far as being able to get the best out of players, being able to motivate guys to their best, and relate to them.’’

Kevin Patrick, a defensive coach on that South Florida staff, described Canales as a “remarkable” recruiter: “Everybody plays a part, but Mike was the guy that really built those relationships with those players.’’

Canales was fired as offensive coordinator by Stoops at Arizona. North Texas chose not to retain him as head coach in 2015 after he finished the season as interim head coach for the fired McCarney.

He was in the wrong place at the wrong time on two occasions. Pacific cancelled football after the 1995 season, his only year at the California school. He was a casualty when South Florida fired Leavitt after the 2009 season following allegations of abusive behavior.

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