Panthers Coach Dave Canales Opens Up About Cancer Scare: ‘A Good Reminder'

Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales underwent a procedure to remove a small spot of cancer from his nose, he revealed at Carolina's minicamp on Tuesday, June 9.

Canales, 45, said that it was a spot of basal cell carcinoma that was discovered during a routine screening two months ago.

"It's a good reminder not to take these things for granted," Canales told reporters. "It was a basal cell type of skin cancer in a small spot, and they were able to get it off. So I'm really appreciative."

Basal cell carcinoma is a highly curable and common form of skin cancer. It often presents as a "slightly transparent bump on the skin" and is usually found on parts of the body that receive the most sunlight, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Canales said his mother also dealt with skin cancer in her 40s, which made him diligent about using sunscreen.

"You can imagine a Southern California kid playing outdoor sports and then getting into coaching, right?" Canales said.

Canales is entering his third season as Panthers head coach, his first such opportunity in the NFL. After going 5-12 in year one, he led Carolina to the playoffs in 2025-26, where the Panthers lost to the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card Round.

Dave made headlines in January when passages from the 2022 book he coauthored with his wife, Lizzy Canales, resurfaced. The book, titled, "This Marriage? The Question That Changed Everything," goes in-depth about what Dave called the "secret life" he was living, which included infidelity.

"I would be out with my friends and take my ring off, acting like I was single depending on who was around," Dave wrote. "This didn't happen all the time, but I left a crack in the door for deceit."

Dave and Lizzy got married in 2006 and they share four children: Ashby, Ben, Bea and Amaya.

"I cheated on Lizzy for the first time at my bachelor party one month before we got married," he added. "From the start of our relationship, I was binge drinking and going out with my friends, without Lizzy. Before I was ever unfaithful to her, I was already there in my mind. Bad habits combined with addiction made it hard for me to resist temptation."

The couple opened up about their marital problems in an effort to help other couples going through similar situations.

"We had to really think about how exposed we would be as a couple who already existed in a very public profession," Dave wrote in the preface. "Sharing our scars meant being willing to tell people the truth of how our marriage failed."

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 9:54 AM.