David Newton gives you Wilks

[top dawg]

Some of you like myself may wonder how Steve Wilks is really different from Sean McDermott from a coaching style or coaching philosophy perspective. I mean, we've already heard that the defense is going to be basically the same scheme-wise, so what's going to be so different? 

In my opinion, today's David Newton article kind of gives you the answers.  The differences will be subtle and perhaps not even tangible to us fans, but they're there.

One thing you should be able to perceive is more energy.

 

“I’ve always said the speed of the package is determined by the speed of the leader," Wilks said.

 

Wilks is not necessarily talking about speed, per se, he's talking about the team feeding off of his energy. And, of course, with more energy comes more intensity, which should be another difference that we should be able to perceive.

 

“Coach Wilks, he brings a different kind of intensity to our defense," defensive tackle Star Lotulelei said. “Coach Wilks, he’s not in your face, but he’s not afraid to tell you how he feels. He’s going to tell you how it is and what he expects from you.

“It’s a different kind of atmosphere. More intense."

 

This is Star talking, people. Not trying to throw shade at all, because every player is different from a personality standpoint, but Star seems like a more laid back, less excitable kind of guy. So if he feels a difference in the intensity level, there's a difference in the intensity level. 

Now Star didn't expressly say it, but Wes Horton pretty much did, and that's about the bar that has been set. There may not be higher standards, per se, but Wilks expects the players to meet their expectations.

 

“I just think from a style standpoint Coach Wilks brings just a little more of that in your face, like this is what we’re going to do, this is the bar that we’re setting and this is how we’re going to get it done."

 

So there you are. More energy, intensity, and a raising of the bar: That's what Wilks is bringing to the table that will make the defense better than what we've seen in the he past. Sure, there will be other philosophical tweaks that you will see, because as Rivera points out in the article, McDermott was a linebacker and Wilks was a defensive back, but the energy, intensity, and an expectation that a player will meet expectations is the big difference from what I gather.

There's more in the article regarding Wilks' take on a few players, including on Christian McCaffrey and how he affects the defense, so give it a gander. It's worth reading.

 

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/244696/steve-wilks-brings-a-different-kind-of-intensity-to-panthers-defense

 

 

[dpm0409]

One of the better DN articles I've read recently.

[Burnout189]

34 minutes ago, dpm0409 said:

One of the better DN articles I've read recently.

Agreed. I read the article earlier this morning and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it.

[dpm0409]

11 minutes ago, Burnout189 said:

Agreed. I read the article earlier this morning and was pleasantly surprised by the quality of it.

ikr.  It was quite surprising.

[ladypanther]

Love this quote from Wilks:

Quote

 “James Bradberry, he doesn’t have a clue how good he can be, and sometimes that’s a good thing because he’s going to stay humble and continue to work hard. His skill set, his ceiling is so high."

 

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

More energy, more intensity! A raising of the bar!

So, how would the last guy have described his setup? "Low energy, low intensity. A low bar."

No, I don't think so. 

This is talking-to-local-journalists boilerplate. It means either "I have no new ideas" or "I have plenty of new ideas but why the f*ck would I share them with you?"

Anyone who took anything from these anodyne comments is a born mark. Yeah, man - energy! intensity! high standards! Why did no one think of this before?!?

[The Huddler]

6 hours ago, ladypanther said:

Love this quote from Wilkes:

 

RIP Gettlmagic

[Murph]

3 hours ago, RetiredCollegeCoach said:

More energy, more intensity! A raising of the bar!

So, how would the last guy have described his setup? "Low energy, low intensity. A low bar."

No, I don't think so. 

This is talking-to-local-journalists boilerplate. It means either "I have no new ideas" or "I have plenty of new ideas but why the f*ck would I share them with you?"

Anyone who took anything from these anodyne comments is a born mark. Yeah, man - energy! intensity! high standards! Why did no one think of this before?!?

Might I suggest 

 

[SIGCHI222]

The more David Newton actually quotes who he is interviewing and the less he opines the better the article.  Go figure.

[top dawg]

3 hours ago, RetiredCollegeCoach said:

More energy, more intensity! A raising of the bar!

So, how would the last guy have described his setup? "Low energy, low intensity. A low bar."

No, I don't think so. 

This is talking-to-local-journalists boilerplate. It means either "I have no new ideas" or "I have plenty of new ideas but why the f*ck would I share them with you?"

Anyone who took anything from these anodyne comments is a born mark. Yeah, man - energy! intensity! high standards! Why did no one think of this before?!?

All you have to do is listen to the players to know that there's a difference in intensity, energy, and a bump in expectations. If you can't see that, then you're either daft or just gratuitously being facetious and sarcastic.

Journalism really doesn't have anything to do with it. Not really. Your post insinuates that there is some type of agenda. The meat of the article, and indeed my post, is in quotes.

And to your point about McDermott: no one is saying that he didn't project high energy or high intensity, or that he didn't have high standards. But if you can't see, or don't want to see any differences among the sameness, that's your damned problem. 

 

[RetiredCollegeCoach]

Reasonable response. I actually feel pretty optimistic about the team's vibe this year, too.

One thing I always disliked about dealing with the media was that you always find yourself in this bind of cliche. You don't want to go into football detail, which would really be the only interesting thing to talk about, so instead you end up blathering about generalities and intangibles, nothing much of interest gets said, and the reporter ends up with a story about how everybody's just so damn excited to be alive because they love football and coach and camp and hard work and the smell of the grass so durned much. It's a weird process to be a part of - feels like working at a saltine factory.

But really I'm just being a grump. This is a momentum team, and it does feel like the momentum is good.