Mike Canales is in his first season at Bethune-Cookman, serving as Offensive Coordinator.
Canales has over 35 years of coaching experience under his belt, including 25 years as an offensive coordinator. Altogether, Canales has coached five different quarterbacks that earned All-America recognition and has been a part of teams that have appeared in nine bowl games.
He comes to B-CU after a stint at Maryland as an analyst, preparing the defense for offensive opponents. The team won the Pinstripe Bowl the year he was there.
Prior to that, he was at UT-EP for three years.
The Miners made gains in several statistical categories during the 2019 season -- scoring offense, first downs, rushing yards, passing yards and total offense. The campaign also featured numerous impressive individual performances. Senior running back Treyvon Hughes rushed for 12 touchdowns, tied for the sixth-top seasonal total in school history.
Quarterback Kai Locksley led the Miners in total offense with 1,864 yards -- passing for 1,329 and rushing for 535 while accounting for 11 touchdowns overall. Wide receiver Jacob Cowing led all Conference USA freshmen with 550 receiving yards. Cowing, Justin Garrett (446 yards) and Tre'Shon Wolf (433 yards) formed a formidable threesome to head up the UTEP aerial attack. Purdue grad transfer tight end Jess Trussell was a major addition as he registered the first receptions of his collegiate career and finished with 177 yards on 13 catches.
Three UTEP quarterbacks (Locksley, Brandon Jones, Gavin Hardison) threw for 300 yards or more last season. Locksley had the top individual performance with 358 yards passing at NM State. Together, the trio teamed for 2,292 yards passing and 581 rushing. For the second consecutive year, UTEP had three players with 300 yards rushing.
In 2018, the UTEP rushing attack gained 1,484 yards with 17 touchdowns. It was an improvement from 2017, when the Miners rushed for 1,147 yards and nine scores. UTEP gained a season-high 265 yards with a trio of scores at UNLV, and the Miners rushed for five TDs at Rice.
Locksley led the UTEP quarterbacks in passing yards (937). Jones threw for 673 yards while Ryan Metz, in his final season, added 576 yards through the air. Jones threw for 340 yards at WKU, the most yards by a UTEP player in five years. Metz produced the team’s first 300-yard game (313) of the season against North Texas.
Locksley became the first UTEP quarterback to hit the century mark twice in rushing (119 yards at UNLV, 106 yards at UTSA) since the 1983 campaign. He was also the first UTEP quarterback since 1994 to rush and pass for 100 yards in the same contest (106 rush yards, 117 pass yards at UTSA).
Prior to coming to UTEP, Canales served as the University of Tennessee’s quarterbacks coach during the 2017 season. He spent one year with the Volunteers, mentoring three different field generals during an injury-plagued campaign. Three different quarterbacks made starts that year.
Canales spent the 2016 season at his alma mater, Utah State, where he served as the assistant head coach and running backs/tight ends coach. Tight end Wyatt Houston ranked third on the team in receptions (36) and receiving yards (331), while catching a pair of touchdowns. The Aggies’ rushing attack averaged 170.8 yards per game and found the end zone 25 times in 2016.
North Texas saw much success under Canales when he served as the associate head coach/offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach for six seasons (2010-15). He also spent portions of the 2010 and 2015 seasons as an interim head coach for the Mean Green. During his six seasons in Denton, he mentored 20 offensive players who earned all-conference honors, while helping the program win just the third bowl game in school history – defeating UNLV 36-14 in the Heart of Dallas Bowl on Jan. 1, 2014. The 2013 offense scored 414 points, the second-most in school history, at the time, and the most since 1951. North Texas averaged 31.8 points per game, topping the 30-point average for only the third time in school history. The Mean Green reached over 4,000 yards of total offense during Canales’ first four seasons, including a 5,336-yard output in 2013. Under Canales’ guidance in 2013, North Texas quarterback Derek Thompson ranked second-best in school history for single-season passing yards (2,896), completions (251), completion percentage (64.4) and total offense (3,053). During the 2012 season, Thompson set the school single-game record for completion percentage (89.3) against Kansas State when he completed 25-of-28 passes.
Prior to North Texas, Canales served two stints at South Florida where he was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2009 and served as the passing game coordinator from 2007-08. Canales also served as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach from 1996-2000. He directed a 2008 USF unit that led the Big East Conference in scoring and finished second in total offense. He helped the Bulls reach a national ranking as high as no. 2 during the 2007 season and no. 10 during the 2008 campaign. Under his leadership, South Florida quarterback Matt Grothe became the Big East career leader in total offense.
Canales spent three seasons (2004-06) as the offensive coordinator at the University of Arizona. During that time, Canales worked with UTEP head coach Dana Dimel for one season (2006).
Canales also spent time in the NFL as he served on Herm Edwards’ staff with the New York Jets in 2003 as the wide receivers coach. He tutored Santana Moss, who finished among the top 15 NFL receivers that season with 74 receptions for 1,105 yards and 10 touchdowns.
From 2001-02, Canales was the passing game coordinator and quarterbacks coach at North Carolina State, where he helped develop NFL All-Pro quarterback and first-round pick Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers. Rivers was a two-time All-ACC honoree and a Heisman Trophy candidate. NC State finished 11-3 and ranked 12th in the final AP Poll in 2002, averaging 392.0 yards on offense. The offense featured a 3,000-yard passer in Rivers, a 1,000-yard receiver in Jerricho Cotchery and a 1,000-yard rusher in T.A. McLendon.
Canales also worked at Pacific (1995), Snow College (1987-94) and BYU (1985-86). During his time at Snow College, the team ranked in the top 10 nationally in seven of eight seasons. He also coached the softball team for seven years, leading the team to six regional titles.
A former quarterback at Utah State (1981-83), Canales earned a degree in speech communication in 1984. He earned a master’s degree in professional leadership from BYU in 1986.
