Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has criticised former offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski's tactics.

Chudzinski left the Panthers at the end of last season in order to become the head coach at the Cleveland Browns, a position that Smith feels he was eyeing up while still with the Panthers.

The 34-year-old five-time Pro Bowler believes that Chudzinski's tactics did not play to his side's strengths, and is hopeful that his replacement, Mike Shula, will change things.

"The prior offensive coordinator [Chudzinski] really was positioning himself to just apply for that head coaching job. I think our offence suffered a little bit because of that," Smith told reporters.

"At times, we got cute. We did things that weren't necessarily us, like the underutilizing of [running back] Mike Tolbert. But we're out of that. The past is the past.

"I think Coach Shula is going to change things up, and he has so far. He just does little different things. Some of it looks small, but we're focusing more on the details, and that's the difference."

The Panthers will face the Seattle Seahawks in their opening game of the season on Sunday.